Upon moving to Coldbrook, Sandra and Ron Lightburn learned that autumn not only brought the spectacular colours of fall, it also heralded the arrival of many special visitors to the Town of Kentville. These unusual townsfolk had large orange heads, cornstalk bones and lots of personality! They had discovered the annual gathering of the Pumpkin People, who help celebrate the Kentville Harvest Festival. When they saw hundreds of these fun figures cavorting throughout the town, they knew they had moved to their kind of place! And as they saw the Pumpkin People reappear from year to year, Sandra wondered what they did at night while the town slept. This question inspired her to write her story, Pumpkin People. It has been said that the Pumpkin People are one of the purest forms of folk art. Her idea in creating a story about the “secret life” of the Pumpkin People was to turn folk art into folklore. Her picture book reveals that while the town sleeps and the October moon rises, the Pumpkin People come to life and gather at a nocturnal party to dance and play. Their secret revelry is seen through the eyes of two lucky children and their cat who join in the magical fun. Ron Lightburn’s colourful illustrations bring this secret world to life. And there is a special section at the back of the book to teach pumpkin fans how to build their own pumpkin person.

Sandra’s first book, Driftwood Cove, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize for text and illustration and was shortlisted for the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature.

 Pumpkin People reviews:

“The Lightburns…use gentle rhymes to guide readers through the otherworldly celebrations as the Pumpkin People sing and dance around bonfires.  The illustrations are slightly eerie, sure to send shivers down the spines of young readers.” Deborah Wiles, Bookworms, Chronicle Herald

“Highly recommended for elementary school classrooms.”  Resource Links