Maybe I’ve just got a hankering for pumpkin pie, or maybe it’s how my neighborhood is full of jack-o-lanterns since Halloween is right around the corner.
Regardless, this month’s Bonus Goody is another picture book list, and it’s deliciously pumpkin-themed. Enjoy it!
From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by James Graham Hale (August 2015)
From Goodreads: “Pumpkins can be baked in a pie, carved into jack‑o’-lanterns, and roasted for a healthy snack. But how does a tiny seed turn into a big pumpkin? With clear text and detailed, colorful illustrations, this book explains what a pumpkin seed needs to help it grow! This book also includes delicious pumpkin recipes and easy experiments to do with pumpkin seeds.
This is a Stage 1 Let’s‑Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explains simple science concepts for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Let’s‑Read-And-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.
Supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.”
Pages: 40
Reading Age: 3–7
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz, adapted by Kara McMahon, illustrated by Scott Jeralds (July 2015)
From Goodreads: “Spooky tricks and hilarious treats abound in this retelling of the beloved Halloween special that comes with holographic foil and embossing on the cover!
Celebrate Halloween with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang!
It’s Halloween night, which means costumes, trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples…and waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Linus is certain that the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch to bring toys to all the children of the world. Could this be the year that it finally happens?
Find out in this stunning storybook with an embossed cover with holographic foil!”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 4–8
It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (July 2019)
From Goodreads: “Join Mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as he decorates all the pumpkins in the patch in this sweet board book from Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond.
Mouse is excited for fall because that means it is time to decorate pumpkins! But one is missing. Where could it have gone?
This is the perfect Halloween book for the very youngest reader, and is just the right book to get kids and budding artists inspired to work on their own Halloween crafts.”
Pages: 24
Reading Age: 1–3
The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano, illustrated by Susan Banta (Jan 2018)
From Goodreads: “One day in the pumpkin patch the strangest little pumpkin hatched.… Spookley the Pumpkin was different. All the other pumpkins teased him, until Spookley proved that being different can save the day!
Spookley CD includes — A reading of the story by Farmer Hill — The Transylvania Twist — The Spookley Song — Bugs! I Love Them All!”
Pages: 23
Reading Age: 2–6
Patty’s Pumpkin Patch by Teri Sloat (Aug 1999)
From Goodreads: “Patty’s pumpkin patch is a surprisingly busy place all year long. There’s plowing and planting in the spring, weeding (and lots of growing!) in the summer, and much more than just picking pumpkins in the fall. For within the patch, creepy-crawly, furry, and feathered friends from A to Z are always on the move, keeping Patty company and watching her work.
The perfect lead-in or follow-up to a visit to a pumpkin patch, Teri Sloat’s bouncy verse and vibrant, detailed artwork make this an outing kids can enjoy any time of the year.”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 2–6
Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson, illustrated by Shmuel Thaler (August 2002)
From Goodreads: “We can be sure of this: It’s a circle without end. It’s pumpkin seeds to pumpkins to pumpkin seeds again!
This treat of a picture book comes cloaked in the colors of fall. Bouncy verse and glowing photographs show a backyard pumpkin patch move through its natural cycle–a bug’s eye and a bird’s high view of seeds sprouting, flowers blooming, bees buzzing, pumpkins growing …and then going back to earth.
An author’s note explains how to grow your own pumpkin.”
Pages: 40
Reading Age: 4–6
Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub (September 2018)
From Goodreads: “In this rhyming picture book, a classroom of children goes on a field trip to the pumpkin patch, where they count everything in sight. The book is perfect for the fall season, and an extra fun way to teach children to count backward from twenty.”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 4–8
The Pumpkin Fair by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Eileen Christelow (September 2001)
From Goodreads: ““A bouncy rhyme and delightful artwork bring this pumpkin fair to life. The young narrator is ecstatic to be at the local pumpkin fair, where pumpkins of every size are on display—and that’s not all! There’s pumpkin bowling, a pumpkin pull, and every sort of food you can imagine made from the orange stuff, from ice cream to stew.… Christelow’s good-natured watercolor-and-ink illustrations are filled with things to look at and laugh about, including a marching band in pumpkin suits. Keep this book around to read for autumn story hours—but you might want a piece of pumpkin pie when you’re done.”—ALA Booklist
“Christelow’s jubilant illustrations in watercolor and pen and ink add to the general atmosphere of gaiety—everywhere readers look, families are interacting happily and having fun.… Halloween is never mentioned, so the book could be used to celebrate the harvest season in general. Of course, it will also serve as a good non-scary Halloween story.”—School Library”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 4–7
Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper (September 2005)
From Goodreads: “Deep in the woods in an old white cabin, three friends make their pumpkin soup the same way every day. The Cat slices up the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs in the water, and the Duck tips in just enough salt. But one day the Duck wants to stir instead, and then there is a horrible squabble, and he leaves the cabin in a huff. It isn’t long before the Cat and the Squirrel start to worry about him and begin a search for their friend. Rendered in pictures richly evoking autumn, Helen Cooper’s delightful story will resonate for an child who has known the difficulties that come with friendship. Included at the end is a recipe for delicious pumpkin soup.”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 2–6
Pumpkin Town! (Or, Nothing is Better and Worse Than Pumpkins!) by Katie McKy, illustrated by Pablo Bernasconi (August 2008)
From Goodreads: “One pumpkin makes a tasty pie. Two pumpkins can be carved into grinning jack‑o’-lanterns, and a couple hundred more make for a decent pumpkin patch. Gather one thousand pumpkins and you’ll have a grand fall festival.
But what happens when a town has an accidental abundance of pumpkins?
What do José and his brothers do with a mountain of pumpkins? An EXPLOSION of pumpkins? Step into Pumpkin Town and see!”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 4–8
Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke (August 2012)
From Goodreads: “A classroom guinea pig finds a way to plant his own garden in this funny tale of pumpkins and patience.
After watching the first graders grow plants from seeds, Hercules, the class guinea pig, is inspired. He wants to grow things, too!
With the help of a rabbit named Daisy, Hercules plants his seeds and waits. And waits and waits.… He learns that growing things takes more than seeds and soil, sun and rain. It takes patience. But sometimes having to wait makes the reward even sweeter.
“Duke’s story brims with humor of both the classroom and animal-buddy varieties, and her featherlight paintings capture every ounce of Herky’s enthusiasm, impatience, and eventual satisfaction.” —PW, starred review”
Pages: 40
Reading Age: 5–8
The Halloween Pumpkin: A Halloween Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, illustrated by Aaron Zenz (September 2018)
From Goodreads: “A cute little Halloween pumpkin announces that he is ready for a Halloween adventure. So he prepares to set out on the exploration of a lifetime. However, his ever watchful and caring mother wants to make sure he’s prepared before he takes that first step outside.
The little pumpkin will begin his adventure on a witch’s broom, where he will fly through the skies. Next, he’ll dare to venture through the very spookiest haunted house. And to celebrate the night, he’ll dance to the “Monster Mash”! It’s scary out there on Halloween night, but his mother is packing a parachute just in case he falls, a blankie for reassurance, and his favorite monster shoes so he can boogie-woogie all night long. Whatever adventures he has, he is sure to be prepared. Halloween isn’t so scary when you have a mother pumpkin making sure you’re ready for whatever frights might come your way!”
Pages: 22
Reading Age: 2–6
This NOT a Pumpkin by Bob Staake (August 2007)
From Goodreads:
“It
may
be round like
a pumpkin and even orange
like a pumpkin, but this is NOT
a pumpkin! If it’s not a pumpkin,
then what is it? Preschoolers and
toddlers will love knowing the
answer and enjoy the fun,
“unexpected” ending!”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 1–3
Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, illustrated by Megan Lloyd (January 1996)
From Goodreads: “What can you do with too many pumpkins?
Rebecca Estelle has hated pumpkins ever since she was a girl when pumpkins were often the only food her family had. When an enormous pumpkin falls off a truck and smashes in her yard, she shovels dirt over the pieces and forgets about them. But those slimy pumpkin smithereens sprout up in autumn, and Rebecca Estelle finds a sea of pumpkins in her garden.
A heartwarming classic for more than twenty years, this story shows what happens when one thrifty gardener figures out how to make other people happy with the squash she can’t stomach.
Filled with colorful illustrations from a season of gardening, this is a perfect book for young gardeners and pumpkin lovers. Its wonderful lesson about helping others can be appreciated in the classroom or at home.”
Pages: 32
Reading Age: 3–7
The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz (August 2008)
From Goodreads: “Putting a wacky twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling, Horowitz tells this story of an ugly pumpkin that doesn’t fit in. He leaves the pumpkin patch, and by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, he discovers the truth about who he is. Full color.”
Pages: 40
Reading Age: 2–6
