The Pumpkin Runner

About this book

"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 its 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 notice. Inspired by a true event (and just in time for falls pumpkin harvest!) a talented team introduces a humble and generous hero who knows that winning isnt 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.