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Last month, I shared some apple books that had been listed in a course I created earlier this year entitled Foods and Food Production.
This course, which was published on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, includes information about 26 different foods and how they are grown, harvested, processed, and used.
Well, now that we are in October, I thought it would be fun to share books based on another food listed in the course. Pumpkins!
Within the pumpkin section of Foods and Food Production, I provided the following:
- introduction questions for students to answer
- links to videos showing a pumpkin plant time lapse, an explanation of how pumpkins are harvested, how they grow, and the life cycle of pumpkins
- lists of books about pumpkins (fiction and nonfiction)
- more reading about pumpkins with links to other resources
- a list of the top ten pumpkin producing countries
- a flag match worksheet with the flags of the top ten pumpkin producing countries
- information and links to videos that show what products are made with pumpkins
- three pumpkin recipes to try
- closing questions for students to discuss what they had learned about pumpkins
Today, I am sharing the lists of books about pumpkins that were included within the course. I was able to check all of these books out from my library.
Fiction Books about Pumpkins
These are the books about pumpkins that were found at my library in the fiction section.
This book is a My First Reader book that includes a total of 48 different words. It shows a young boy planting seeds in the spring, pulling weeds, watching the pumpkin plant grow, seeing a variety of pumpkin sizes, picking a pumpkin, and going to a pumpkin show to win a prize.
Oh My, Pumpkin Pie! by Charles Ghigna
This is a Step 2 Step into Reading book. It is a rhyming book that shows the varieties, shapes, and sizes of pumpkins and different things that can be made from pumpkins.
P is for Pumpkin: God’s Harvest Alphabet by Kathy-Jo Wargin
This rhyming alphabet picture book goes from A-Z of items found in the fall such as apples, barn, and corn. It reinforces the fact that God made the Earth and everything. It ends with “…may you find every blessing that God’s autumn brings.”
A little mouse shows Cat how pumpkins grow by planting seeds, watering, waiting, transplanting the little seedling outside, watching, making a scarecrow, picking a pumpkin, and finally making a jack-o-lantern cat. The end of the book provides instructions for how to grow your own pumpkin.
Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub
A group of kids is going on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. The book counts down from twenty to one in a fun way and has illustrations for kids to find more pumpkin information and orange items. The illustrations show how pumpkins grow, what bees get from flowers, and different kinds of pumpkins. The book ends with a song to practice counting backwards.
Pumpkin Day! by Candice Ransom
This is a Step 1 Step into Reading book. It is a rhyming book that shows a family going to a pumpkin patch and picking out pumpkins. At home, they turn the pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.
The Pumpkin Patch by Margaret McNamara
This is a level 1 Ready-to Read book that is part of the Robin Hill School series. The class goes on a field trip to a pumpkin patch, and a little girl named Katie tries to pick out the perfect pumpkin. She chooses a small pumpkin, but she worries her pumpkin may not be perfect until her dad helps her turn the small pumpkin into a pumpkin pie to share with her class.
Nonfiction Books about Pumpkins
These are books about pumpkins I found in the nonfiction section of my library.
A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch by Jenna Lee Gleisner
This has simple text that talks about what you would see at a pumpkin patch including rows of pumpkins, people picking pumpkins, sorting the sizes of pumpkins, face painting, hay rides, and pumpkin treats. It also mentions that people take pumpkins home to make jack-o-lanterns to decorate for Halloween. At the end of the book, there are directions on how to paint a pumpkin.
From Pumpkin to Pie by Lisa Owings
This book tells when pumpkin seeds are planted, how the pumpkin plants grow, when pumpkins are harvested, how pumpkins are prepared for baking, what part of the pumpkin is cooked, and how pumpkin is prepared to make pumpkin pie.
Grow a Pumpkin Pie! by Jane E. Gerver
This book is a Hello Reader book that shows the process of planting seeds and growing pumpkins to make a pumpkin pie. The end of the book provides a sorting activity, matching activity, pumpkin patch maze, rhyming activity, and drawing activity.
Grow It Yourself!: Grow Your Own Soup by John Malam
This book talks about what a pumpkin is, different kids and sizes of pumpkins, how pumpkins grow, steps to plant and grow your own pumpkins, taking care of a pumpkin plant, and a recipe for pumpkin soup and pumpkin seeds.
Harvest to Home: Pumpkins by Lynn M. Stone
This book talks about what pumpkins can be used in, the variety of pumpkin sizes and shapes, pulp, pumpkins being processed for pumpkin paste, growing pumpkins, pollen, bees helping, and harvesting pumpkins.
How Did That Get to my Table?: Pumpkin Pie by Emily J. Dolbear
This book talks about how pumpkin pie requires pumpkins that grow on vines. It discusses how the seeds are planted, when they are harvested, what happens at the factory, how pumpkin pie is made, and how pies get in stores.
In a Pumpkin Shell: Over 20 Pumpkin Projects for Kids by Jennifer Storey Gillis
This book offers 20 pumpkin activities to do with kids such as making your own pumpkin patch, painting a pumpkin, making a pumpkin seed necklace, carving a pumpkin, and cooking various pumpkin recipes that are provided.
Life Cycle of a Pumpkin by Ron Fridell and Patricia Walsh
This book talks about what a pumpkin is, different stages of pumpkin maturation in step-by-step details, pollination, ripening, pumpkin problems, pests, harvesting, possibilities for pumpkins after they are harvested, the pumpkin life cycle in pictures, and pumpkin facts.
Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson
This book offers actual photographs instead of illustrations. It discusses seeds and the pumpkin plants as they grow. It shows closeups of the large leaves, twisty tendrils, flower buds, little hairs, blossoms, and a bee, spider, and grasshopper on the pumpkin plant. After picking the pumpkin, it shows a pumpkin with seeds rotting into the ground and producing a new pumpkin plant. The end offers more information on how to grow pumpkins.
Pumpkin Harvest by Calvin Harris
Simple text that talks about fall being pumpkin season and shows pumpkins growing, vines drying, farmers picking pumpkins, and pumpkins being turned into jack-o-lanterns and pie.
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Simple text talks about a young child who planted a pumpkin seed and watched it grow until it produced a large pumpkin. The child picks the pumpkin, carves a face, and saves some seeds to plant another time.
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum
This book goes through the steps of pumpkin plants growing starting with seeds being planted and leading to pumpkins of many colors, shapes, and sizes. Even giant pumpkins you can sit inside! It also tells what pumpkins can be made into.
See It Grow: Pumpkin by Jackie Lee
This book shows a seed progressing into a pumpkin plant with vocabulary words such as true leaves, seed leaves, shoot, roots, and nutrients. It also has pumpkin facts such as “a pumpkin vine can grow 30 feet long.”
The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons
This book has illustrations instead of actual photographs and talks about the different shapes and sizes of pumpkins, how fields are prepared, what seeds have within them, how seeds are planted, what is needed for the seed to grow, the different stages of the pumpkin plant, the parts of the flower, pollination, the amount of time it takes to grow, history of pumpkins with Pilgrims and Native Americans, a history of Halloween, how to carve and decorate pumpkins, and other pumpkin facts.
The Pumpkin Patch: Story and Photographs by Elizabeth King
This book talks about and shows pictures of the work done in a pumpkin patch before pumpkin seeds are planted, where pumpkin seeds come from and what they look like (coated with a pink powder), how the plants grow, how they are harvested, and what pumpkins can look like.
For more fun with pumpkins, check out Our Grand Pumpkin Experiment from last year.
If you would like to look at more books with themes, check out these posts:
- 14 Children’s Books About Seeds, Plants, and Gardening
- 14 Children’s Books About Flowers
- 21 Children’s Books About Apples
- 5 Interactive Educational Children’s Books
- 25+ Books About Owls
- 10 Cookbooks for Kids
Brigitte Brulz 