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  • Published: 1 September 1998
  • ISBN: 9780803721241
  • Imprint: Dial
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $40.00

The Pumpkin Runner



"Nearly all the sheep ranchers in Blue Gum Valley rode horses or drove jeeps to check on their sheep. But Joshua Summerhayes liked to run...with Yellow Dog trailing behind him." So it's no surprise when Joshua decides to enter a race from Melbourne to Sydney. People laugh when old Joshua shows up in his overalls and gumboots, calmly nibbling a slice of pumpkin for energy. But then he pulls into the lead, and folks are forced to sit up and take noticeE?.Inspired by a true event (and just in time for fall's pumpkin harvest!) a talented team introduces a humble and generous hero who knows that winning isn't always the reason to run a race.Marsha Diane Arnold made "an impressive debut" (School Library Journal) with the multi-award-winning Heart of a Tiger (Dial). Brad Sneed most recently illustrated Smoky Mountain Rose (Dial), an American Bookseller Pick of the Lists that Publishers Weekly said will "make readers 'happy as a pig in a peanut patch.' "Marsha Diane Arnold lives in Sebastopol, California.Brad Sneed lives in Prairie Village, Kansas.

  • Published: 1 September 1998
  • ISBN: 9780803721241
  • Imprint: Dial
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $40.00

About the author

Marsha Diane Arnold

Marsha Diane Arnold wrote magazine articles before books, in a much-loved weekly column entitled “homegrown treasures.” The column was honoured three times with a California Newspaper Association’s Best Local Columnist award. She has been described as someone who "finds a universe in her backyard," which is what she aims to do with her picture books. Marsha enjoys sharing her love of stories in many ways, but most of all, reading to her granddaughter Gráinne.

She grew up on the Kansas prairies, lived in Northern California most of her life, and now, with her husband, calls Florida home.
When not creating imaginative worlds and wacky characters, Marsha enjoys travelling the world, scuba diving and snorkelling, hiking, creating beautiful gardens to surrounding her home, and, like her characters, always trying new things.

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