HIT: Pumpkin books

["Kathryn K. Lafferty" <klaffert@PEN.K12.VA.US>]

Thanks to all who sent title suggestions and ideas for pumpin
related ideas for a friend who is taking a lit class.  Here are
the suggestions received:


Do you remember the McBroom series by Sid Fleischman?  One of
those hilariously involves a pumpkin patch and would make a
lively addition to your friend's unit.





Just used "Pumpkins and Apples" this week with head start.
After reading

the book and talking about apples and pumpkins I divided the
class in

half (the teacher was in one half and I was in the other) One
group was

"Apples" the other "Pumpkins".  They were to stand if the
statement I

made was true for them.  For ex:  I am orange.  I am round.  I
grow on a

tree.  YOu can make a pie with me.  I grow on a vine on the
ground.  The

teacher chimed in with some statements that blended concepts
they had

been working on.  Could easily be carried over into Kindergarden

classes.  Introduces thes young students to the concept of
attributes and

sorting by them.  Besides we had fun moving around.  Can't
remember the

author from home.





Tomorrow I'm going to try my hand at storytelling (something
I've only

done a handful of times) and I'm going to do, "The Little Old
Lady Who

Wasn't Afraid of Anything."  I'm telling the story to
Kindergartners

whose teacher is doing a pumpking unit right now.  The only
thing it has

in it about pumpkins is that the head of the "thing" that
follows the old

lady is a pumpkin (jack-o-lantern).  The thing at the end of
the story

turns out to be a fine scarecrow.  It's a fun story with a lot
of

repeated lines so the kids can participate.







Try "The pumpkin blanket", (Jeanne Titherington, I think)

   * "The biggest pumpkin ever", Steven Kroll

    "Big pumpkin", Erica Silverman



 *The biggest pumpkin ever" is a great book for study of
plants, size,

comparison, cooperation, counting etc.



    You might even wish to adapt the story of "The turnip", the
cumulative

tale where all join together to remove the turnip from the
patch.  Best

wishes!





Add to your list The All-Around Pumpkin Book by Margery Cuyler,
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever
by Steven Kroll, The Magic Pumpkin by Bill Martin, Jr., Pumpkin
Moonshine by Tasha Tudor, This Year's Garden by Cynthia Rylant.

     Did You Ever See A Pumpkin (tunedeDid You Ever See A
Lassie)

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Did you ever see a pumpkin on the vine?

Did you ever pick a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin.

Did you ever pick a pumpkin from the vine?

Did you ever take a pumpkin home, pumpkin home, pumpkin home?

Did you ever take a pumpkin home and cook it for pie?

Did you ever carve a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Did you ever carve a pumpkin for Halloween night?





Rocking Pumpkins

   Invite children to sit on the floor crossed-legged, holding
their knees

and rocking, like round pumpkins.



>From :  First Time Circle Time

There are some good activities in this book for smaller
children.  I have

the author but I'm to lazy to look for it.  I'll get it later
if you want

it.  I also do pumkin stories with my fall unit.  Also, The
Vanishing

Pumpkin is good but I can't recall the author.





Smashed - I think is the title and it was a wonderfully funny
book that

came out the same year as Missing May.  The young girl is
raising a

pumpkin for the contest and she sings to it and covers it and

generally takes good care and she wins over the old codger who

normally wins.  I can't think of the author.  Will look for it
and

get back to you





How about _The Great Pumpkin Switch_?  It is about 3 or 4 years
old.

Illustrations are great.





Old but goodie is Mouskin's Golden House.  I also sent a title
to my

grandsone a year or tow ago that was crafts to do with
pumpkins.  They

loved it.  There are lots of pumpkin books out there





The Halloween Performance by Felicia Bond.  Young children, K.







How about The B. Bears and the Prize Pumpkin?  Another is The
Biggest

Pumpkin Ever by Kroll

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll





 One of my favorites is _The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid
of

Anything_. Can't remember the author, but if you need more info
and don't

have Books in Print to check, let me know and I'll look it up
at work. I

like to use paper cutouts of the shoes, pants, shirt, etc and
'tell' the

story with help from the kids until the pumpkin man is
assembled at the

end of the story.





A favorite here is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of
Anything by

Linda Williams.  Also I do a cut & tell story with a piece of
orange

construction paper about a witch building a house and in the
end the

house turns out to be a pumpkin.  Unfortunately, I don't have
the source

for this story any more, but it was one of those cut 'n tell
books.





It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall and Big Pumpkin by Erica
Silverman are both fun titles!





One of our old favorites is "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not
Afraid of

Anything."  While not about pumpkins, it does have a pumpkin in
it, and it

is so much fun.  I have another book (I'm at home now) and I
can't quite remember the title.  It's something like From
Pumpkin Seed to Jack-o-Lantern.  I'd be happy to check for sure
tomorrow if you'd like me to.



Closely related and a cute story is Squashed.





Off the top of my head....The Proud Pumpkin (an oldie but
goodie), In a

Pumpkin Shell, .....at a stretch, perhaps the chapter from
Farmer Boy

(Laura Ingalls Wilder) about Almanzo growing the prize winning
pumpkin...

Not much but maybe it helps.





I just received a new title in my Follett order today: It's

Pumpkin Time.  Can't say who the author or pub is but will

check if need be.  Just say the word.

--



I didn't know whether she wanted fiction stories or nonfiction
or whether

or not it could be Halloween.  Here are a few suggestions I've
read:



Great pumpkin switch by Megan McDonald

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Vanishing pumpkin by Tony Johnston





Squashed by Bauer is terrific!  Lynda





The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything





_Mousekins Golden House_ (forget author) is good with kids K-3
depending on interest and ability.

It is the story of a mouse who finds a pumpkins and decides to
furnish it

with bird feathers, fall weeds, etc. and sleep through the
winter.  I have

found it is better half read/half ad libbed.  I introduce this
book right

after Halloween and we talk about "trashed" and vandalized
pumpkins and

animals preparing for the fall.  The kids like the idea of
creating a cozy

environment that is also safe from predators - like owls,
foxes, etc.  Good

colors, interesting art.

I have put pumpkins stickers on a piece of paper and then the
kids can draw the scene around the pumpkin - with mouse, etc.
If there is a computer lab we them tried to draw a mouse or
pumpkin, a fall leaf, etc., using the pencil or paint brush.





My students really enjoy "The great big enormous pumpkin."  You
could tie that in with guessing the weight of a pumpkin you've
used to decorate the LMC.





"The Perky Little Pumpkin" by Margaret Friskey, Childrens Press
c1990



"It's Pumpkin Time!" by Zoe Hall, Scholastic, c1994





I have several books for you that might help with pumpkins:

          The Vanishing Pumpkin by Tony Johnston illustrated by

              Tomie dePaola

          Grinkles by Trish Collins

          One Dark Night by Edna M. Preston

          Sir William and the Pumpkin Monster by Margery Cuyler

          Witches, Pumpkins and Grinning Ghosts by Edna Barth

I also saw in Taste of Home Oct/Nov 95 a place to write for more

information about pumpkins:  The International Pumpkin Assoc.
Inc.

                             2155 Union Street

                             San Francisco, California  94123

Hope this helps.





Palazzo-Craig, Janet.  _Joey the Jack-O-Lantern_. Troll 1988.

        Joey the jack-o-lantern longs to be scary for
Halloween, but no on

is frightened until Willie Witach lends her help to Joey.



Dillon, Jana. _Jeb Scarecrow's pumpkin patch.  Houghton Mifflin
1992

        Jeb Scarecrow comes up with a wonderful plan to scare
the crows away from his pumpkin patch.



Kellogg, Steven.  _The mystery of the flying orange pumpkin._
Dial 1980

        When a new owner takes over the garden where they have
been growing a pumpkin, the neighborhood children find their
Halloween plans for the pumpkin in jeopardy.



Mahy, Margaret.  _The pumpkin man and the crafty creeper._
Lotthrop, 1990.

        A bossy and demanding plant insists on going home with
Mr. Parkin,

who usually only tends quiet pumpkins, and from that moment his
peaceful

existence is challenged.



All of these are lower elementary/picture books.





Another great title that I just used with our second graders is
The Great

Pumpkin Switch by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Ted Lewin.
Has

terrific illustrations and the story lends itself to lesson
extensions

(making apple butter, comparing present day tools, daily life,
etc. to

the time period of the story).  Enjoy!





How about The B. Bears and the Prize Pumpkin?  Another is The
Biggest

Pumpkin Ever by Kroll


--
Kathy Lafferty
klaffert@pen.k12.va.us
Patrick Henry Elementary School
Alexandria, VA