The pumpkins in the pumpkin patch have a pesky problem! The crows will not stop bothering them. They realize that the crows never bother the cornfield because there is a scarecrow up there. When they cannot get the cornfield to agree to part with their beloved scarecrow, they must come up with another plan to keep the pesky crows away. A fun, fall story!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given and my opinions are my own.

This is an amazing fall book that children will love so much! Not only is the story entertaining, but it teaches the idea of working together to achieve a common goal. Another big theme in the book is problem-solving, a skill that needs to worked on throughout our lifetime, starting from childhood. Parents and educators alike will love this book.

The illustrations are amazing, and as everyone knows, that is so important in children's literature. This author/illustrator team was perfect together, and I hope to see more books by them in the future.

I think what this book is trying to do is create a sort of cross between Spookly the Square pumpkin and The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. It has far too much text to appeal to young storytime listeners, but the problem and solution are too simplistic for older, more sophisticated audiences (pre-K-1st or 2nd grade). I think the non-fiction facts about pumpkin varieties were interesting but not enough to save the book. It was a sweet, simple story, but there wasn't enough meat for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atmosphere Press for this ARC.

A charming and funny tale of pumpkins and gourds outsmarting pesky crows, The Pesky Problem delivers a sweet lesson in teamwork and creative problem‑solving with vibrant, lively illustrations.

The pesky problem here is that a 'family' of disparate pumpkins and gourds are terrified of the local flock of crows – and so are the local heads of corn. When the heads of corn refuse to hand over their scarecrow, the pumpkins look doomed to suffer the pecking and the pooping – but they might have a way to sort things out.

This was perfectly adequate – although it suffered obviously from taking a plot point from one of my favourite books, so I could guess it far too early and even if the 'family' is a daft idea. I don't know why the art took two people in different countries to come up with it, but it again is very reasonable. I think the use of 'cockamamie' is not correct here, and somebody breaks into rhyme for no reason, but on the whole quibbles are minor, and this is worth a look. It's not done brilliantly, mind – and that fact and the deja vu I had reduce this to three and a half stars, but I'd not dismiss it right away.

This is super cute!! Love the art style, and love the story!!

Working together and listening always works out in the end.

Love it.

A sweet story of community, friendship and overcoming the odds - The Pesky Problem is a lovely fall tale to enjoy together as a family, or even a class.
It’s worth mentioning that the illustrations in this book at glorious, so charming and autumnal. Warty Goblin Pumpkin was my favourite, whereas my children (7, 5 and 2) all favoured Knucklehead Pumpkin.
A whimsical book to reach for when the leaves start turning yellow.

This book has a really cute storyline, unfortunately I was unable to see the illustrations that were with the book. Based on the cover, I believe it to be a very engaging read.

I liked the theme of the book - working together to find a solution to a problem. This is a great message to teach. I don't feel like the flow of the story was there, though. The artwork was nice. It would be good to pair with a non-fiction text about pumpkins for a fall lesson.

The message of the book is great and I love the diversity of the pumpkins and gourds, however something feels very off with the writing. First off, it is very, very wordy for the age audience it is written for. Secondly, there is no flow to the writing and it feels disjointed. Honestly, even as an adult I was ready to just skim the words instead of reading them, because of these two things. You need to grab and keep a child's attention if you are going to write so many words for a picture book and this book just doesn't do that.

My son loved this one. It got him excited for "pumpkin season". He also really liked to pick out what kind of pumpkins he lived the best and he knew that mama liked the fairytale pumpkins the best. Great illustrations too.

I loved how it teaches you all about pumpkins and gourds. This book teaches you how to be respectful when listening to advice and how to work together. This is perfect for all grade school ages, especially the ages 5-7 when they learn to really work together.

I love pumpkins and fall, so this one was a perfect feel-good cozy autumnal read for my nephew. Adorable photos.

Filled with scarecrows and pumpkins, The Pesky Problem is a fitting read for Halloween or the fall season. Best suited for preschoolers and early elementary readers, it offers a mildly spooky vibe that will work for younger audiences. The story includes simple problem-solving and conflict resolution, making it both engaging and educational. It's also fun to explore the many different types of pumpkins featured throughout the book, with a helpful explainer at the end that adds an extra layer of learning.

Thanks to Atmosphere Press and NetGalley for the advance reading copy.

overall the message behind this book is a great one for children which is if you work together you can achieve great things. I loved the illustrations however, the wording felt weird and didn't read very nicely and the way the story flowed seemed a bit disjointed

The illustrations were great but the plot was hard to follow at times, I wish it had been less wordy.

This story was super cute! I think when my little one grows up, he will love it. I'm going to put it on a list to get him physically. Plus I loved the little graphic at the end that talked about the different types of pumpkins.

3.5 stars

A cute story with adorable illustrations. A story about working together and defeating the enemy.
Glad I picked this one up.

A cute story about the power of teamwork. The illustrations are adorable and there the end even has a pumpkin glossary!

Thank you NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for providing this e-book copy.

This story is about a patch of pumpkins and gourds trying to save themselves from a group of crows who were planning to peck, poke and pester these sweet bunches of pumpkins and gourds. They decided to work together and figure out a solution!

What I enjoyed about this book:
1. The illustration is very homely based on the colours used. In addition, the creative part comes when each different type of pumpkins has a fun looking appearance. Some wore glasses, and some had hats, they’re very fun to look at!

2. Characters’ names - this was the most fun and enjoyable part for me!! Each of the characters have their very own name such as: ‘Fairytale Pumpkin’, ‘Munchkin Pumpkin’, ‘Casper Pumpkin’. I love when they give names to inanimate objects. It will encourage the children to think creatively. It gives them the idea that these little things can be named according to their very own imagination.

3. The author even dedicated a page on the different types of pumpkins and information on the gourd! Very educational, even for an adult. Honestly, when you’re adulting, all kinds of pumpkins are pumpkins to you as long as you’re able to know which can be used for cooking or decorating it for Halloween! Thank you dear author for providing extra information regarding the type of pumpkins and which can or cannot be eaten.

4. Of course, the moral of the story - teamwork and cooperation.

Who is suitable to read this?
Everyone, haha. Both kids and adults! For adults it is such a great read for you to take a break before continuing reading a long series or when you’re in a reading slump. Take a break and enjoy the illustrations of pumpkins and gourds cooperating to save themselves from being threatened by those pesky crows!

Good bedtime story, with different characters - parents and children can play different roles and make different sounds. Kids can explore a variety of roles and characters. As an ESL teacher, from my point of view teaching in one of the SEA countries - this book is recommended starting from Grade 3 Intermediate-Advanced up until Grade 6. Also recommended for teachers to use this as a role-play activity for Grade 3-Grade 4. For Grade 1 - parents and educators may need to do it as a story time where they hear and later on repeat each and every word just so they recognise the words and spellings.

I enjoyed reading this so much and can’t wait to purchase a physical copy of my own!
Rate: 4.5/5