I Like Pumpkins

by Jerry Smath

From talented author/illustrator Jerry Smath comes a rhyming story about a little girl who likes pumpkins!

Some pumpkins are tall; some pumpkins are squat.
Some pumpkins are big; some pumpkins are not.

It's that time of year again! The Halloween season is all about yummy candy, ghosts and goblins, and of course, pumpkins. In Jerry Smath's latest Halloween 8x8 title, a little girl tells her favorite things about pumpkins--like pumpkin masks, pumpkin seeds, and scary jack-o'-lanterns. But her favorite of all is . . . delicious pumpkin pie!

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Autumn, Childrens, School, Holiday

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Tim]

It's my daughter's birthday, and as I did last year (and hopefully will keep a yearly tradition) I let her pick out a book for me to review… which is why I'm reviewing a Halloween book about pumpkins in June.

The book tells of the wonders of pumpkins, making rhymes on each page about the various ways they can be. There's some pretty creative ones when talking about plastic decorative pumpkins, so there is some creativity to the phrasing which is always a plus. The illustrations are fairly nice (I like the classic monsters hidden throughout) and none are ever scary for the children. It's colorful and fun.

Overall it's a nice enough picture book (it includes a couple of activates in the back like a "seek and find" and a few others which may be a bonus for some readers), but not personally one I would consider a future Halloween favorite… that said, it may be a frequently read one based on my daughter's delight in it even now. 3/5 stars

[Mischenko]

A cute Halloween story about the different sizes of pumpkins. Some are big, some are small, some are scary, some aren't at all. The story shows many different ways we use pumpkins during the Halloween season. Easy to read for young ones and the end of the book has a few seek and finds. 

[Vee Precourt]

i like pumpkins

[Jane]

I Like Pumpkins is a cute rhyming book that shows children all the ways to compare and contrast pumpkins. The illustrations are bright and attractive to young children making this a good book to use for the two months of October and November when we use pumpkins to celebrate holidays in the fall.

[Abigail]

"Pumpkins here, pumpkins there, I see pumpkins everywhere! / Pumpkins, pumpkins, they come in all sizes. / I like pumpkins, they're full of surprises!" So begins this rhyming seasonal tale from author/illustrator Jerry Smath. The narrative describes different kinds of pumpkins, and the various ways they can be used, particularly at Halloween. The book closes with a selection of pumpkin-themed games and puzzles...

I enjoyed Smath's Wee Witches' Halloween —the only other book I have read from this creator—so I picked up I Like Pumpkins with every expectation of pleasure. I was not disappointed, finding the rhyming text a lot of fun to read and the accompanying artwork cute and appealing. Unsurprisingly, given my fondness for witches, my favorite scene was the one in which the witches fly across the sky, with jack-o-lanterns guiding their way. Recommended to younger picture book audiences at Halloween.

[Jessica Neubauer]

The story is about a little girl who loves pumpkins! They came in many shapes and sizes and are all full of surprises. They can be used for many different things such as carving, scarecrows, lanterns, and much more. Her favorite way to use the pumpkin is to make a pumpkin pie.

This is a very cute Halloween story all about pumpkins and their purposes. I love how much she loves pumpkins! I really enjoyed the illustrations used in this story.

This could be used as an activity in a classroom where children get to color their own pumpkin. Teach how every pumpkin is going to be different just like each student is different, but special in their own way! I would highly recommend this book!

[Aimée]

Was für ein fürchterliches Buch! Auf jeder Seite Kürbisse jeder Form und Größe und die Pointe, dass die besten Kürbisse zu Kuchen verarbeitet werden, widerspricht völlig meiner Hobbybäckerei! Also mal im Ernst - inzwischen wisst ihr ja, dass ich ein furchtbares Kürbisopfer bin und dieses Büchlein wollte natürlich in meine Kürbisbibliothek. Es ist super niedlich, die Reime passen prima und welcher Tag kann durch Kuchen nicht besser gemacht werden? Am Ende gibts noch 5 Rätselseiten, wo Kürbisse gesucht und verglichen werden müssen. Perfekt!

[Althea]

Great book to read with students for fall. One reason this is a good classroom book is because it includes some activities at the end of the book. We read this book to help build students use of adjectives and descriptive words. At the end students designed pumpkins and used descriptive words and adjectives to write about their pumpkins.

[Cheryl]

3.5 rounded up because it has the kind of rhyme I would have enjoyed reading over and over, and which is also helpful to little ones getting ready to read. It also has fun games/ exercises in the back.

[Joy Gerbode]

Cute rhyming book about pumpkins ... some great illustrations that kids love!

[Sarah Westgate]

Genre: Fiction
This book is great for Kindergarten and up! One unique feature of this text is the story rhymes!

[Carly MJ]

Basic children's book about pumpkins.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee)]

Sweet book about pumpkins and all their shapes and sizes

[KaitandMaddie]

This was fairly cute and it rhymes nicely.

[Lacey]

Very cute with fun and engaging activities that my 5 year old enjoyed doing once we finished the story.

[Gabby]

Pumpkin chaos is now coming in book form. However this was fun, cute and with many a colourful character to spot within the story. Not just humans like pumpkins.

[Kevin Casto]

A fun little rhyming book for kids to learn about art and pumpkins

[YouthLibrarian_GetReading]

Cute fall/Halloween book about pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Good for Halloween story time because there are pictures of witches and monsters in it.

[Cassandra Ball]

This book was about a little girl and her adventures and thoughts about all the different pumpkins that she sees throughout the book. This would be a really cute book to read around Halloween, and then maybe do an activity with the kids having to do with pumpkins. In the back of the book it has a couple of work sheet type things for kids to do and they are super cute, plus I thought that was a great idea to put in the back of a book for teachers. I loved all of the colorful and funny faces that the pumpkins had on them and I think that children would enjoy this story.

[Derek Cooke]

The little girl talks about how much she likes Halloween, but more specifically pumpkins. She loves pumpkins. The little girl goes page by page and describes exactly what characteristics she likes about them. Big and tall, short and round, she likes them all. Scary and funny pumpkins, ones that hold candy or punch even ones that are mushed into cans she likes them all. This goes on until the very end of the book when she tells you exactly what kind of pumpkins she like the most – the ones made into pies.

[Caroline Barnett]

This is a fun book to read or have your students read around Halloween. I would use this book as a comparison activity. Also at the end of the book there are some fun puzzles you can make copies of for your students to have festive puzzles to go along with the book; find the different pumpkin, find the pumpkin that looks like the girl in the book, etc.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

The fun begins in a pumpkin patch. There are a few Halloween twists throughout the story, but it ends with pumpkin pie. The last couple pages include pumpkin activities for readers to enjoy. (The activities are skipped during storytime.)

Theme: Pumpkin Fest
Additional themes: Halloween

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Rowe Northwestern]

This book is about a lil girl that likepumpkins.
what i like about this book is that the lil girl likes pumpkin pie and i like pumpkin pie.









LOVE,PAUL

[Jessica Benson]

This book was about a little girl and her adventures and thoughts about all the different pumpkins that she sees throughout the book. This would be a good book to read around Halloween, and then maybe do an activity with the kids having to do with pumpkins.

[Sherry Thornberry]

This id sure likes pumpkins. From plastic pumpkins to pumpkin lanterns. But in the end, he likes Pumpkin Pie most of all. This book repeats pumpkin over and over but the story flows and is tinged with humor. The pictures help smooth out the new words such as "pumpkin."

[Nicole Flores]

This story is about a little girl who really likes pumpkins.In the story she shows all the ways pumpkins can be.

[Miss Ryoko]

Cute story and illustrations - enjoyed that it had fun little activities at the end :)

[Seher Patka]

The character in this book describes what kind of pumpkins she sees and what kind of pumpkin things she likes.I would include this book in my K-2 library for students to independently read.

[Kimberly Maughon]

great story about a little girl who likes pumpkins and all the different kind she sees. this story uses great comparisons. ex small big. round square. etc... also a great fall time book

[Holly E Bacon]

my six year old daughter loves this book