September 20, 2018

The Legend of the Pumpkin-Head Costume - Halloween Ride by Elaine Kaye


You can find my Author Toolbox Blog Hop post here


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Please welcome my mom Elaine Kaye to Write with Fey!

The pumpkin-head costume is legendary in my family…

It all began on one Halloween night many years ago when my son wore the pumpkin-head costume. There were many tears. And screaming. And flat-out refusal. My son did not want to be a pumpkin! I don’t know why. I handmade the costume. It’s silky-soft and adorable. But my son wasn’t having any part of it.

My son in the pumpkin-head costume.

Having five kids, it’s tough to get a new costume for each of them every year, so many Halloweens they wore the same costume or a costume was handed down from one to the next.

And that is how the pumpkin-head costume struck again…

This time, my youngest daughter was the victim. There were many tears and the saddest face you ever saw. I couldn’t even get her to smile when I was putting red lipstick on her. Just imagine that smeared work! My daughter did not want to be the pumpkin. She wanted to be the princess, the costume my oldest daughter wore that was too big for her. So, she was stuck, trapped, destined to be the pumpkin.

Chrys Fey in the pumpkin-head costume.

As a matter of fact, my youngest daughter still has that pumpkin-head costume. Now, she thinks it’s adorable. Will the pumpkin-head strike again…?

Well, in Halloween Ride, Sammy wears a pumpkin costume, inspired by this legendary outfit. There were no tears, no screams, no flat-out refusal, just a happy little bear in a pumpkin costume.


NEW RELEASE:


BLURB: One Halloween night, Gregory and his teddy bear Sammy go trick-or-treating, hoping for lots and lots of candy. But Sammy is scared of everything and is constantly asking, “What’s that?” Gregory gets annoyed until one of those things turns out to be a flying broomstick. And this broom wants them to go for a ride. Where will it take them? 

*Story picture book Ages 4-8.

EBOOK 99 CENTS:

Print:



ALSO ON SALE FOR 99 CENTS!

Pea Soup Disaster: Amazon / Nook / Kobo

Doctor Mom: Amazon / Nook / Kobo


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 
Elaine Kaye is the author of A Gregory Green Adventure series. She first created Gregory Green after her son, who loved her homemade pea soup.
Kaye has worked as a library assistant and teacher's assistant in elementary schools in the Sunshine State. She currently lives in Florida, but she has called Michigan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan home.
She is a grandmother of three boys.



GIVEAWAY:

Enter here to win a signed paperback copy of Pea Soup Disaster, a hand-stitched bookmark, and a pea pod key chain! Open to all from September 16, 2018 – October 1, 2018!


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59 comments:

  1. Chrys, I don't blame you for not wanting to be the pumpkin.

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    1. It's funny because I can even distinctly remember now wanting to be the pumpkin and being so upset about it. lol

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    2. I still don't know why my kids hated that costume so much. haha

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  2. Hi Mom!! Oops, that was a bit too formal, hi Ms. Elaine! I love your Halloween tale. I can relate. Lots of hand me downs in our family too. Congratulations on your book!

    Elsie

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    1. My mom actually doesn't mind people calling her "Mom." :)

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    2. Hi Elsie! Hand-me-downs was all I could do with five kids.

      Thank you so much!

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  3. Great story, Mom! I sure get the re-used costumes thing--we did much the same, on the relatively few occasions when we trick-or-treated at all. No pumpkins, though :D

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    1. I was the youngest, so I never got a new costume.

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    2. Hi, Rebecca! Re-used costumes is sometimes the easiest thing to do.

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  4. Congratulations, Elaine! This new book looks so cute. Kids will LOVE it! Oh, Chrys, you are the cutest in that costume. :) Halloween was a traumatic time when my kids were little. My son always hated his costume and there were always tears.

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! I have a feeling many kids cry about their costumes. lol Until they get older and can pick out their own and see how much fun it is.

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    2. Thank you, Lisa! I am hoping kids will love it. :)

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  5. Hehe, I've fought with kids over costumes too. It's like "no, you can't be superman because that costume fit you when you were two and you're five now!" We actually have one stuffed pumpkin costume that actually goes on the kid's head!

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    1. That sounds cute. I want to see that. lol

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    2. I remember when my grandsons were little and wanted to be Transformers again but their costumes were from the previous year and too small. They were quite upset by that news and didn't understand why they couldn't be a Transformer again.

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  6. Hi Chrys - so sad, but so true ... but great it's been turned into a character for you and your Ma - great to see Elaine here ... cheers Hilary

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    1. We just had to put Sammy in a pumpkin costume, and then we bought him a pumpkin costume just like the one in the illustrations! lol

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    2. I have fun putting silly things like that from when my kids were little into these stories. :)

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  7. My son was a pumpkin for his first Halloween. There were no tears, well besides the normal baby tears. LOL

    I think your kids look adorable in the pumpkin head, especially Chrys. :)

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    1. I've seen pumpkin costumes for baby's and they are so cute!

      Aw. Thanks. :)

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    2. Thank you, Elizabeth! I always thought they looked cute in the costume, too. Even if it was handmade. :)

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  8. My mother made a lot of my costumes, too. Fortunately they were ones I wanted to wear, like Snoopy.

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  9. What a wonderful family story. Chrys was so cute. All of them.

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  10. haha they sure don't look like happy campers with pumpkin head. Hopefully the candy brought them around.

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    1. I think the candy probably did. And the fun of the night.

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  11. Your mother has been busy publishing and that pumpkin costume is incredible.... the Great Pumpkin has arrived, it should be Peanut’s special!

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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    Replies
    1. It's all thanks to Chrys' help. :) Thanks for commenting, Sage!

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  12. It's almost as if the costume was cursed...

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  13. Great to meet Elaine Kaye! Best wishes for a smashing success. My parents had four kids withing six years. I don't know how they managed but God Bless them they and we seemed to turn out at least somewhat normal.

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  14. A wonderful mother you have Chrys,,,,and a taleneted writer into the bargain.
    Loved the post,

    Yvonne.

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  15. These pics are SO adorable!!! Love the pumpkin head costume. Cute as can be. <3

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  16. I love smiles with my morning coffee. Such a cute story and a cute book.
    sherry @ fundinmental

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    1. I'm glad that I could give you smiles with your morning coffee. :)

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  17. I'm sorry, Chrys, but that story and picture of you just amused the crap out of me. LOL!

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  18. Oh. My. Gosh. Can I relate to this Elaine. I made a lot of homemade costumes for my 5 children also. And as you say, some of them weren't great sellers, like the ghost Dalmatian dog costume. Oh well. I've followed you on facebook and twitter. I don't have a bookbub account as of yet. All the luck with your releases. I enjoyed the Pea Soup adventure.

    Thanks for sharing your blog with your Mom, Chrys. All best to both of you!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Victoria!

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    2. I'd like to see that ghost Dalmatian dog costume. Thanks for following me on Facebook and Twitter, Victoria!

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  19. Such a precious story! Love the pictures!!!

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  20. Aww...such a lovely story. Lovely photos!

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  21. Lol, we have a similar pumpkin costume tradition in our family. It's been going on for 2 generations now:)

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    1. That's great! The pumpkin costume in my family hasn't been worn yet be a child in the second generation, but maybe one day. :)

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  22. Those pictures are adorable! I probably would have made the same face if I had to wear the pumpkin costume. :)

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  23. More than one writer in the family--cool!

    I laughed at the costume story. My daughter wasn't a pumpkin, but she cried the first time we tried to take her trick-or-treating. When I gave up and carried her into her room, she nearly climbed over my shoulder to get into her crib. Her costume was a soft one-piece that zipped on like PJs, and apparently, in her mind, it was bedtime! LOL

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  24. I was a pumpkin once too! I loved it though, and had a little green "vine" cap and green tights that went with it. I loved making my kids Halloween costumes all of their childhood...

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  25. That's the nice thing about writing. We can create our characters the way we want them. Our real children have their own likes and dislikes, and often disagree with their parents. Lovely story about the costumes.

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  26. The pumpkin head costume looks cute to me. But- I know sometimes we have our eyes set on a specific costume. :) Great story!
    ~Jess

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  27. I once dressed as a pumpkin for a parade. This costume was made of wool and puffed out so my arms just bearly stuck out. I actually had fun in it. For Halloween, whenever I actually dressed up for it, I was always a black cat.

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  28. Aww, those looks like cute books.
    Congratulations to your mom on all of her publishing.
    Poor pumpkin. I guess it would get expensive to have an outfit that can really only be worn once.

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  29. Those pictures look adorable, and congratulations on the new book! I think that when it comes to things like which costume to wear, kids can become very strong-willed when they have their hearts set on something. That makes it very difficult to change their minds because they focus just on that one thing they want. I remember that quite well from my own childhood. :)

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  30. One year, my brother wanted to be a dinosaur, so my mother made him the most amazing costume...and then proceeded to make him wear it every single Halloween until he had outgrown it. Then it went around the neighborhood for all the other kids to wear, too.

    I love that Sammy wears a costume inspired by the legendary pumpkin head!

    Congrats on your latest release!!

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