The Pumpkin Runner

From Publishers Weekly
Though he may have the appearance of a tall tale hero, Arnold's (Heart of a Tiger) protagonist is inspired by a real 61-year-old Australian farmer who won a 542-mile race in 1983. Joshua Summerhayes, an eccentric sheep farmer from Blue Gum Creek, and his sidekick, Yellow Dog, enter the 12th annual Koala-K Race from Melbourne to Sydney. With the help of energizing slices of pumpkins that grow "round as a wombat's belly," they finish first together and share the $10,000 prize money with the other runners. Arnold's loquacious storyteller style and the farmer's aw-shucks humility lend a hardy, ageless humor to the somewhat meandering plot. Sneed (Smoky Mountain Rose) revels in the contrasts between the farmer's sense of generosity and his workaday attire, set against depictions of the single-mindedness and swaggering bravado of the other runners in their fancy shoes and shorts. When the villain, Damien Dodgerelle, brags that he has "run two hundred kilometers a week for three months training for this race," Joshua says simply, "I just check my herds, from sunup to sundown." As the other runners lift 300-pound weights, perform one-handed push-ups and drink power fluids, Joshua stands in his blue bib overalls and orange gum boots and eats pumpkin stewAand runs for the love of it. Sneed's cleverly skewed perspectives and Arnold's engaging style make this book, like its star, an easy winner. Ages 4-8. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-With a Woolly Boolly Barbecue, wombats, eucalyptus trees, Platypus Pond, and a famous Koala-K Race in evidence, readers know that this picture book takes place in Australia. A curious mix of tall tale and morality lesson, the plot is pegged on a true incident of a race run and won by a 61-year-old farmer who outdistanced much younger and supposedly better-trained opponents. Long-legged, overall-clad Joshua Summerhayes trains by herding sheep on his ranch, runs in gumboots, gulps down all manner of pumpkin concoctions as fuel, and splits his $10,000 winnings with his competitors. The oils-on-canvas paintings, awash in warm oranges and dappled pastels, shine through wide-open spaces. The rancher's "Ah, shucks" nature combines with his large, almost disproportionate body to create a Paul Bunyan-like figure. Although there are moments of tension in the race and positive feelings for the underdog, the text is not as strong as the artwork. The story ambles along with more or less simple declarative sentences that do not engage readers or sustain the tall-tale quality of the events described. All in all, a pedestrian effort.Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NYCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Based on the real-life experiences of Cliff Young (here portrayed as Johsua Summerhayes), this is the story of a 61-year-old Australian farmer who won a 542-mile foot race against younger and more traditionally and technologically trained opponents. The story opens with young Joshua eating pumpkins for energy and then running for the joy of it. When Josuha becomes a sheep farmer, he decides that he prefers to run out to the fields to check on his herds rather than use a jeep like the other farmers. One day, he sees an ad for the Melbourne to Sydney race, so he loads up a jeep with a pile of pumpkins and heads off. Kids should enjoy the idea of someone running a race on pumpkin power, and they will respond to Yellow Dog, Joshua's faithful companion. However, it is the oil-on-canvas illustrations that will really grab their attention. Sneed uses perspective and foreshortening in inventive ways, with human figures interestingly elongated. All of the art is suffused with a lively glow. This will be an additional purchase for some libraries but may prove popular where picture books for older readers are in demand. Elizabeth Drennan


From Kirkus Reviews
Noting her story's origins in the true tale of a 61-year-old Australian farmer who beat much younger runners in a 542-mile race from Sydney to Melbourne in 1983, Arnold (The Chicken Salad Club, p. 808, etc.) pens a folksy, aw-shucks piece. Joshua Summerhayes, unlike other ranchers, relies on his feet instead of a vehicle to check on his flocks. He attributes his endurance to the home-grown pumpkins he consumes. When a flier about a $10,000 racing prize blows across his porch, Joshua borrows a friend's jeep and loads it up with pumpkins, his dog, and Aunt Millie, and heads for the starting line. At first onlookers laugh at Joshua's overalls and boots, but as he gradually overtakes all the other runners, their laughs turn to cheers. Sneed's drawings are done in a midwestern vernacular style, with the undulating rhythm of Thomas Hart Benton. They place this legend of a long-distance, Down Under runner somewhere between a tall tale and a picture-perfect front-porch anecdote. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
"Nearly all the sheep ranchers in Blue Gum Valley rode horses or drove jeeps to check on their sheep. But Joshua Summerhayes liked to run...with Yellow Dog trailing behind him." So it's no surprise when Joshua decides to enter a race from Melbourne to Sydney. People laugh when old Joshua shows up in his overalls and gumboots, calmly nibbling a slice of pumpkin for energy. But then he pulls into the lead, and folks are forced to sit up and take notice. Inspired by a true event (and just in time for fall's pumpkin harvest!) a talented team introduces a humble and generous hero who knows that winning isn't always the reason to run a race. Marsha Diane Arnold made "an impressive debut" (School Library Journal) with the multi-award-winning Heart of a Tiger (Dial). Brad Sneed most recently illustrated Smoky Mountain Rose (Dial), an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists that Publishers Weekly said will "make readers 'happy as a pig in a peanut patch.' " Marsha Diane Arnold lives in Sebastopol, California. Brad Sneed lives in Prairie Village, Kansas.


Card catalog description
An Australian sheep rancher who eats pumpkins for energy enters a race from Melbourne to Sydney, despite people laughing at his eccentricities.


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