THE FIERCE YELLOW PUMPKIN

Appropriately for All Hallow's Eve, one of the season's holiday standouts is a posthumous publication. The late great Brown (Goodnight Moon) tells the story of a "fat little, round little, yellow little pumpkin [who] began to think he was a very fierce vegetable." The pumpkin fantasizes about being as frightening as a scarecrow, and when three children carve him a "zigzag grin," he gets his wish: "Ho, ho, ho!/ He, he, he!/ Mice will run/ when they see me." Egielski's (Jazper) nostalgic pictures conjure up warm gold-and-sepia country fields, and he suspensefully keeps the pumpkin's face hidden until a wordless double spread reveals its candlelit glory. A polished presentation. Ages 3-6. (Aug.)