When Pumpkins Fly

Written by Margaret Lawrence

Illustrated by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-249-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

September 2020

 

Though Halloween will be a very different holiday for many children this year, author Margaret Lawrence demonstrates for young readers how different it must always be in her territory of Nunavut when getting a pumpkin into the community is a very big thing.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

As always in remote communities like Margaret Lawrence's home of Sanikiluaq on Flaherty Island in Hudson's Bay, cargo flights play an important role in delivering much needed provisions. Getting a pumpkin is not as easy as heading to a field of thousands and picking out one.  When the pumpkins arrive and one becomes part of each class's celebrations, which includes carving and eating, a draw is held to select the lucky student from each who gets to take the carved pumpkin home.

As with all children who go out trick or treating, the children of the community dress up in the costumes but also in heavy coats and mittens and carry flashlights to ward off the darkness. But it's after the trick-or-treating and the community hall dance is over that young minds go to the dark places of the night.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

As I drift off, I think about the tunnaat who live out on the land. Halloween is a night to think about these ancient and wise beings that like to visit our community.

As the wind blows and temperatures drop, the child wonders about the pumpkin on the steps outside which may be appropriated by a fox or ravens but also perhaps tunnaat.

From When Pumpkins Fly by Margaret Lawrence, illus. by Amanda Sandland and Margaret Lawrence

The cargo planes may bring the pumpkins to Margaret Lawrence's home but When Pumpkins Fly brings all young readers to this Inuit community to experience a Halloween that is a little bit different. Though illustrator Amanda Sandland may live in the Toronto area, her artwork, with contributions from Margaret Lawrence, takes us to that cold climate for this annual holiday, ensuring authenticity of location with her landscapes and people. 

At its heart, Halloween is still an event of pumpkins and trick-or-treating for the children of Sanikiluaq and When Pumpkins Fly depicts it as such. But it is also a one-of-a-kind occasion for a community that enjoys the popular aspects of the holiday along with their own traditions. By allowing Inuit children the opportunity to see themselves and for non-Inuit children to learn about cultures other than their own, When Pumpkins Fly takes us all out on Halloween.

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When Pumpkins Fly is also available in Inuktitut from publisher Inhabit Media.