Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins

by Emily Jenkins, Harry Bliss (Illustrator)

Overview

It’s Halloween in Emily Jenkins’s Dangerous Pumpkins, the second title in the chapter-book series about a Brooklyn fourth grader and his invisible furry pal.

Hank Wolowitz hates Halloween. Every year his older sister, Nadia, scares him half to death. But Hank’s invisible bandapat, Inkling, loves Halloween. Pumpkins are his favorite food. Hank has serious trouble stopping Inkling from devouring every jack-o’-lantern in their neighborhood, including the ones his sister carves. And that’s not his only problem: Will he ever figure out a cool costume? Will he finally get to pick the holiday flavor in his family’s ice-cream shop? Will Hank ever get revenge on Nadia?

Kids will love Hank and Inkling’s latest adventure, illustrated by acclaimed artist Harry Bliss.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061802232
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/24/2012
Series:	Invisible Inkling , #2
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.82(w) x 7.88(h) x 0.66(d)
Lexile:	520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Emily Jenkins is the author of two previous books about Hank and Inkling. She also wrote the chapter books Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home, plus a lot of picture books, including Lemonade in Winter, That New Animal, and Skunkdog. She bakes excellent pumpkin bread and, when swimming, wears a purple swim cap and blue goggles.

New York Times bestselling artist Harry Bliss is a cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine. He is the author and illustrator of Bailey and Luke on the Loose and the illustrator of A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, Which Would You Rather Be? by William Steig, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, and Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo. His self-titled single panel gag cartoon Bliss appears in newspapers internationally. He lives in New Hampshire. You can visit him online at harrybliss.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gentle humor and a realistic urban setting add interest to this solid middle-grade read. Appealing any time of the year.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Jenkins’s chapter book fantasy, with its strong sense of place and realistic family dynamic, will have new readers wishing for an invisible pal of their own. Bliss’s droll illustrations allow readers to see Inkling in all his furry glory, even when the characters in the book do not.” — The Horn Book

“The Halloween details, from giant eyeballs to black spiderwebs, in Bliss’ wry, spot drawings add to the farce, and kids will appreciate both the conflicts and Hank’s warm bond with his bossy sidekick.” — Booklist

From the Publisher

The Halloween details, from giant eyeballs to black spiderwebs, in Bliss’ wry, spot drawings add to the farce, and kids will appreciate both the conflicts and Hank’s warm bond with his bossy sidekick.

Booklist

Jenkins’s chapter book fantasy, with its strong sense of place and realistic family dynamic, will have new readers wishing for an invisible pal of their own. Bliss’s droll illustrations allow readers to see Inkling in all his furry glory, even when the characters in the book do not.

The Horn Book

The Halloween details, from giant eyeballs to black spiderwebs, in Bliss’ wry, spot drawings add to the farce, and kids will appreciate both the conflicts and Hank’s warm bond with his bossy sidekick.

Booklist

Brooklyn fourth-grader Hank Wolowitz faces his worst Halloween ever when his invisible friend, Inkling, discovers that pumpkins are his favorite kind of food. It's hard enough to keep the bandapat in the laundry basket a secret from his parents, his sister, Nadia, his downstairs neighbor Chin and his classmates. Just keeping him fed takes all the pay from his job at the family ice-cream parlor, and he's had to invent a top-secret project to explain all the squash he's been buying. When Inkling goes bananas and chews up Nadia's artwork--four intricately carved pumpkins--Hank takes the blame for the violence. Worse, although his father had promised to use one of his ideas for their special Halloween ice-cream flavor this year, they are advertising his sister's stupid candy crunch. Finally, he has no one to go trick-or-treating with. Hank's first-person narration is appropriately self-pitying. But while his unseen pet can cause trouble, the bandapat also helps. Gentle humor and a realistic urban setting add interest to this solid middle-grade read. Unlike Hank, readers can actually see the bandapat in Bliss' gray-scale cartoons. (Final art not seen.) Events of the first book (Invisible Inkling, 2011) are summarized early on, and Jenkins introduces her characters and the situation so smoothly that readers can easily start here. Appealing any time of the year. (Fantasy. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

A perfect choice for an early school year read-aloud: straightforward, zippy plot, likable characters, and believable family. And its last line is exactly what second and third graders love to read: ‘Anything could happen next.’

The Horn Book Magazine