Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Adventure-packed sequel still spooky, but not as dark.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
HOUR OF THE PUMPKIN QUEEN finds Jack and Sally celebrating the first anniversary of their marriage. Although she's happy with her life, Sally takes on too much responsibility, hoping to feel worthy of the crown and to feel like she really belongs in Halloween Town. At an exhibition she's organized to foster friendship and cultural understanding between holiday towns, Sally's assistant, Luna, demonstrates how to make a potion. But one of the ingredients is wrong, and the demonstration turns into a disaster that pulls Sally and Luna into a vortex that drops them in a land neither of them has ever heard of before. In order to return to Halloween Town, they'll have to make their way through places—and times—they never could have imagined.
Is It Any Good?
Fans will enjoy this next installment of the story that started in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas movie and continued in the book Long Live the Pumpkin Queen. Sally is still the main character in Hour of the Pumpkin Queen, but the overall mood and atmosphere are not as dark as in the previous story. Seeing the movie and reading the first book will help readers understand the world and the characters since, even though this volume has a different author, it assumes you're familiar with them. Where author Megan Shepherd shines is in the exciting action sequences like whitewater river rafting. Problems, puzzles, and strange new worlds keep the pages turning. The safe resolution at the end doesn't solve the mystery, though, and leaves the door wide open for another installment.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the scariness in Hour of the Pumpkin Queen. Is it too scary? What do you do to feel better when you get scared?
What gives Sally the courage to visit unknown places and confront people she doesn't know, and what gives her the strength to keep going when it gets difficult and scary?
How does teamwork help Sally, Luna, and Scorch solve problems and overcome difficulties?
Have you seen The Nightmare Before Christmas movie, or read the first Pumpkin Queen book? If you have, which is your favorite? If you haven't, do you want to now?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Holidays
- Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Disney Press
- Publication date : July 8, 2025
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
- Number of pages : 368
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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