Pumpkinhead

by Eric Rohmann

Thumbs, uh, thumbs don't even come into this one.

This is the most bizarre picture book I've ever read. From inside the back cover, "Eric Rohmann is a painter, printmaker, and fine bookmaker whose work both explores and generates the excitement of an imagination unleashed." Yes. Well. This pretty much sums up the book.

The story follows Otho, a boy with a pumpkin for a head, who is none-the-less loved by his parents. He loses is head in a traumatic fashion and the rest of the plot is what is happening to his head while it is separated from his body. And how they come to be rejoined.

And the Oh, so stunning moral, "You must be careful, Otho. You know the world will always be difficult for a boy with a pumpkin for a head."

The book as a whole is visually appealing. It has a nice thick cover with a cut out window featuring Otho. The illustration prints are interesting and add to the whimsy of the story. But I just can't get past the somewhat nightmarish quality of the plot.


My kids all love it. Frightening.