Long Live the Pumpkin Queen
Kids say
Based on 1 review
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Long Live the Pumpkin Queen is a book that continues the story from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas movie, this time with Sally taking center stage. Seeing the movie first is recommended to help readers understand the world and the characters in it. There's no direct violence, but locations and words used are creepy, spooky, dark, and morbid. Most likable characters are traditionally scary or macabre, like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and a character who has an axe embedded in his head. The villain puts people in a permanent sleep to steal their dreams. A married couple kiss, caress, and lie in bed together, and see other people kissing on the neck. Adults drink mulled tulip wine once, and an extinguished pipe and smell of tobacco are mentioned.
What's the Story?
LONG LIVE THE PUMPKIN QUEEN picks up the story of Halloween Town begun in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Sally and Jack just got married, which makes Sally the Pumpkin Queen. The only trouble is, she's not sure she's cut out to be a queen, or at least certainly not the kind of queen Halloween Town's residents expect her to be. In a panic in the woods, she opens a hidden door to a long-forgotten realm, Dream Town, and accidentally leaves the door to Dream Town open over night. What climbs through the door and into Halloween Town eventually spreads to all the holiday towns, and even into the human world. Can Sally put an end to the nightmare?
Is It Any Good?
For those who like things a little on the dark side, this movie to-book spin-off could be a delightfully spooky reading experience. But it's definitely darker than the movie, so it may be too much for sensitive kids. Fans of Tim Burton's classic movie The Nightmare Before Christmas will enjoy the chance this book brings to revisit Halloween Town, and to experience it through Sally's eyes this time.
Author Shea Ernshaw chooses morbid, macabre, and creepy words that create a mood steeped in dread, decay, the dead, and the undead. And she relies pretty heavily on readers being familiar with the world and most of the characters in it, so seeing the movie first is recommended to better understand what's going on.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the scariness in Long Live the Pumpkin Queen. Is it too scary? What do you do to feel better when you get scared?
Why do we sometimes like feeling a little scared, especially around Halloween time?
Did you see the movie before you read the book? Which do you like better? If you haven't seen the movie, would you like to now?
Book Details
- Author: Shea Ernshaw
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Adventures, Great Girl Role Models, Holidays, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Character Strengths: Courage, Empathy, Perseverance
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Disney Press
- Publication date: August 2, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 12 - 18
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: October 24, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
-
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Tim Burton magic with just a touch of scariness.
-
Doll Bones
Tween tale is both creepy and sweetly poignant.
-
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
Clever retelling of horror classic from female perspective.
For kids who love spooky stories
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