October is many things, most of them very, very good. Here in Vermont the leaves change and fall, the days are often crisp and cool but still a little sunny too and of course, it is the month of pumpkins. I'm not entirely sure what exactly it is about pumpkins that is so wonderful, but I suspect that we can all agree that pumpkins are something quite special. What other vegetable do you know that makes small children squeal with delight? (And yes, I do understand that pumpkins are technically a fruit). Broccoli is all well and good, but it doesn't get nearly the love around my house that a nice, round pumpkin does. So, for you on Library Monday, a few favorite pumpkin-centric picture books.
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? is a particularly good book about pumpkins, math and the oft-cited truism that good things can come in smaller than expected packages.
I used The Pumpkin Circle quite a bit back in the days when I taught a lot of garden and outdoor education. It provides a nice overview of the plant life cycle with the added benefit of being about pumpkins, which as we've already established, is a good thing.
Gail Gibbons. Need I say more?
From Seed to Pumpkin is a non-fiction title from the Let's Read and Find Out Science Series. I'm not sure how many of you are already fans of this series of books, but they are seriously great. We have a lot of the Stage 2 books, which are slightly more involved, but to date, we haven't read one of these books from either of the levels that we didn't thoroughly enjoy. They manage to achieve the delicate balance between being simple enough for small people to understand while also being detailed enough to satisfy scientific curiousity.
Oh, and it looks like Tanya is the winner of the BIG Kids Magazine giveaway. Your copy of the magazine was in my mailbox when I arrived home this afternoon, Tanya, so I'll be in touch via email about a mailing address!
