Children's Books discussion

Throughout the autumn the pumpkins are ripening. We're making soups, pies and Jack O'lanterns. I love to teach place value at this time of year by counting pumpkin seeds. In keeping with this theme, What are some of your favorite books for reading about pumpkins?

Evelyn,

I just read Too Many Pumpkins which I thought was cute. It's about an elderly lady who lived through the Great Depression when all her family had to eat were pumpkins and she thus grew up despising pumpkins. The majority of the story focuses on how a pumpkin patch ended up sprouting in her front yard and she kept trying to ignore it but soon there were TOO MANY PUMPKINS! How she deals with the "problem" is festive and sweet! :-> I think it would fit great with your theme.

Thank you for the suggestion. I just requested Too Many Pumpkins from the Library.

Haven't read it yet, but it looks darling: Me and The Pumpkin Queen by Marlene Kennedy. MG.

There is Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. It is about three animals that are making pumpkin soup. It is not Halloween related.

I just read The Bumpy Little Pumpkin It was cute enough, a story of acceptance (little girl finds a tiny, bumpy "ugly" pumpkin but she still loves it and wants to carve it for Halloween and little animals come to help her). I think that "Too Many Pumpkins" is better, though.

Too Many Pumpkins is a winner. The illustrations are outstanding, very evocative of the Fall, Halloween, and an idyllic simple life in the country. It's not really a Halloween story, it's more a story about letting go of old prejudices and the joy that can come when you change an old routine. (These "morals" are very subtle, probably just my own interpretation of the story!) My 3 and 5 year old children love this book and obviously so do I.

My older son loved Too Many Pumpkins. I read it to him Too Many times. Each time was just as delightful as the first. I'm going to dig it out for my younger son now. Thanks for reminding me of that one. It's a great Thanksgiving gift, too. The illustrations are great.

If you are looking for ways to extend your child's learning with a pumpkin theme. Check out Pumpkins and Place Value. Learn place value by counting the pumpkin seeds and then roasting them for a snack.

It's more for the younger crowdy, but another cute one is Dan Yaccarino's illustrated version of the song, Five Little Pumpkins. My preschoolers love it! I actually need to replace our classroom copy -- tape just won't do the trick anymore!

The Pumpkin Fair was nothing especially "WOW" for me, but it is a cute little story about a girl whose pumpkin is perhaps not the prettiest one at the fair but is still adored! LOTS of pumpkins in this book!

My niece´s favorite book at the moment is The Ugly Pumpkin...about an ugly pumpkin who is looking for a place to fit in during Halloween only to discover he is really a squash...and wanted for Thanksgiving!

I just posted a list of pumpkin themed books on my blog yesterday, which don't seem to overlap with the great suggestions you already have here -

That "Ugly Pumpkin" book sounds great, Bernadette! And, Deborah, thanks for the great list. (By the way your "Scribbles" book sounds so cute--I'm going to try to find it at the library!)

Oops... I just noticed that I forgot to leave the link...
http://deborahfreedman.wordpress.com/...

(and thanks, Kathryn!)

Ok, this book was an absolute hit with my children. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
The pumpkin in it is a spooky Halloween pumpkin. The story and the old lady are fantastic.

I just read Mr. Murry and Thumbkin and thought it was absolutely marvelous! Tumbkin lives in a pumpkin, so I hope that counts for the theme! ;-)

A cute one is The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington is a soft pastel illustrated picturebook about growing harvesting and carving a pumpkin, and saving seeds for next year. With a totally different look is It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall, looking at the life cycle of a pumpkin, with a funny dog appearing in illustrations. A classic Fall book is Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, following a girl's visit to Comstock Farm, picking apples and pumpkins, carving a Jack-o-Lantern, and trick and treating. Three gentle but younger child pleasing choices.

Kathryn wrote: "Evelyn,

I just read Too Many Pumpkins which I thought was cute. It's about an elderly lady who lived through the Great Depression when all her family had to eat were pumpkins and sh..."

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll reserve Too Many Pumpkins at my library. Sounds enticing.

David wrote: "Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington is a soft pastel illustrated picturebook about growing harvesting and carving a pumpkin, and saving seeds for next year. With a totally different look is It'..."

I truly love Titherington's style, so naturally, I'll look for Pumpkin, Pumpkin in my local library. I love my library. Thank you for the recommendation.

In the middle grades book Sweet Home Alaska, the heroine is determined to keep her family together in Alaska during the Great Depression by growing a prize winning pumpkin.