From Seed to Glow! How to Help A Pumpkin Grow by Ashley Wolff

Where do pumpkins come from? A packet of freeze-dried powder? A can of orange glop? The frozen dessert section of the grocery?

No! Pumpkins come from pumpkin seeds! Cut off the top of any pumpkin and you'll see them, clustered together inside the pumpkin--seeds that came from a pumpkin patch somewhere on earth!

And how do we get pumpkins for Halloween Jack-O'-Lanterns and Thanksgiving pumpkin bread and pies and those ubiquitous pumpkin-spice flavored smoothies? We plant pumpkin seeds in early spring! And that's what author-illustrator Ashley Wolff shows us how to do in her just-in-time pumpkin-planting book, How to Help a Pumpkin Grow (Beach Lane Books, 2021). A helpful black and white Aussie dog recruits some friends and shows them how to cut a lid off the top of a pumpkin and separate the seeds from the glop inside to dry them for planting in the pumpkin patch.

DIG IT!

SEEDS TO SOW.

Protect them from the falling snow! Fence them and chase away a marauding crow. They like a bit of fertilizer and plenty of water from time to time. When the tender stalks and leaves begin to show, fence in the patch so their vines can go! Co-opt the bunnies and geese and goat to let the vines and tiny pumpkins just GROW..., losing their green color and gaining their orange glow!

FILLING UP THE GARDEN--WHOA!

When the big green pumpkins turn to orange, it's time to roast the seeds, to mix the filling, and bake the pies in the oven.

IT'S TIME TO CARVE THEM JUST SO!

Light the candles and watch them--

"GLOW!

With bouncy rhyming text and jolly illustrations of all kinds of friendly animals collaborating and cooperating to produce pumpkin treats together, this lovely book written and illustrated by Ashley Wolff does double duty for fall read alouds. After all, where do next year's Jack O'lanterns and pumpkins pies come from?

Share this one with Margaret McNamara's How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? (Mr. Tiffin's Classroom Series), reviewed here:

Planting Planning! How To Help A Pumpkin Grow by Ashley Wolff

DIG IT! SPADE IT! SEEDS TO SOW!

Gardeners have to plan for the future. It's early spring, with just the first tree blooming, but Farmer Dog is already getting ready to grow pumpkins for the fall.

He has his seeds in a pail and an intriguing assortment of umbrellas in a box and stakes out where his patch will be fenced and tilled. He spades away in his plot, but he is not alone. Curious animals appear, a goat who's been tasting the blossoms on the tree, a gray mouse who watches from a hole in a tree, a duck dunking for tidbits in the pond, a rabbit nibbling weeds, and a crow with a clear interest in seeds--all are drawn closer as the building and tilling continues.

When Farmer Dog raises an umbrella over each planting place to shelter the seeds from the late spring snow, the curious critters come closer. With a knowing eye especially on Crow, the farmer asks...

WANT TO HELP A PUMPKIN GROW?

And all the animals DO! He shows them how to take care of the growing plants, and they are eager to help. Crow steps up to hold the hose as Farmer Dog waters the little plants. Rabbit eats the weeds and Duck pulls them up, while Mouse watches from the fence. Goat helps wind the vines around the fence and stakes so the leaves can get plenty of sunshine and soon the little white pumpkins become big orange pumpkins, still growing in the long days of summer sun.

TWINE THEM, VINE THEM.

WATCH THEM GO!

FILLING UP THE GARDEN--WHOA!

All the animals pitch in to pick and load the pumpkins on a cart, and now it's Goat's turn to show off, as he steps into the traces to pull the load of pumpkins to the kitchen.

PICK THEM! STACK THEM!

OVERFLOW.

And in the kitchen there are soon piles of pumpkin seeds, some to toast and eat and some to save for next year, and there are plenty of golden pumpkin pies all in a row, even a small one for little Mouse. They're all happy they helped to make them grow.

And that's not ALL! There are still enough pumpkins to . . .

CARVE JUST SO

PLACE THEM SO THE CANDLES SHOW.

And what's left now for their pumpkins to do but...

GLOW!

A bright and shining new pumpkin book for the scary season, veteran author-illustrator Ashley Wolff's latest How to Help a Pumpkin Grow (Beach Lane Books, 2021) does it all, with warm rhymes, and fall scenes of a variety of animals adding to the fun of growing and processing pumpkins to share with all.

This new book by the celebrated illustrator of Joseph Slate's classic Miss Bindergarten books for early graders is a real winner, sure to take its turn in the read-aloud rotation of autumn stories, introducing various animals while also working in the themes of pumpkin gardening, cooperation according to abilities, seasonal stories, cooking, and Halloween and Thanksgiving symbols.

While including all these items in the early education curriculum, Wolff also works in a charming visual joke in which she "hides" the little mouse throughout the story: Mouse, visible partially on almost every page, offers some counting fun for sharp-eyed young "readers." All this comes with the warmth of color-saturated acrylic gouache illustrations that glow with the outdoor pleasures of the growing seasons, especially autumn.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "A rhythmic seasonal read-aloud with rich, detailed illustrations." A first purchase for school and public libraries for sure!

Blues Are Best! Sweet Pea Summer by Hazel Mitchell

MOM HAS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, SO DAD WAS TAKING ME TO GRANDPA AND GRANDMA'S HOUSE FOR SUMMER VACATION.

Strapped into the back seat, hugging her toy rabbit on her lap, the little girl shares snacks and sings with Dad, but she misses her mom more and more as the miles roll by. But in their pleasant little village Grandpa and Grandma welcome her warmly, and a litter of kittens play around her in her cozy bedroom.

And the next day, Grandpa proudly shows off his garden, one with carrots and lettuces coming along, but the girl is drawn straight to the fragrant sweet pea patch, especially the blue ones, the most beautiful of all. Grandpa suggests that if she cares for them well, she can enter them in the town Flower Show. He warns her gently that the blue ones are the hardest to raise. Every day she gently ties the new vines to the poles, pulls weeds, and waters them with Grandpa's secret flower formula. But one sunny morning there's a tragic scene.

ALL THE FLOWER BUDS HAD FALLEN OFF THE SWEET PEAS.

She looks for clues to the problem in Grandad's gardening book. She tries protecting them from chilly nights and shading them during sunny, hot days, and she waters them carefully from the watering can every day. But the new buds continue to fall off before they can bloom. Until one day when Grandpa is spraying his vegetables in the next patch, she gets sprinkled with the icy-cold water from his hose! Aha!

GRANDPA! STOP! STOP!

And with no more icy-cold showers, her sweet peas flourish, especially the blue ones, the prize-winning, only blue sweet peas in the village Flower Show. And that's not the only surprise at the flower show! Her parents are there!

I GAVE THE SWEET PEAS TO MOM!

It's a happy conclusion to Hazel Mitchell's Sweet Pea Summer (Candlewick, 2021), a sweet story of family solidarity with the kindness and gentle care that nurtures both a young child and fragile flowers together. Shown rather than told through author-illustrator Hazel Mitchell's homey pencil and water-color drawings, this lovely picture book portrays a warm and loving family working together to do what good families do, care for each other and their world.

The Garden That Keeps On Giving! The Ugly Garden by Grace Lin

IN THE SPRING I HELPED MY MOTHER START OUR GARDEN. IT WAS HARD WORK.

WHEN WE STOPPED TO REST, I SAW THAT THE NEIGHBORS WERE STARTING THEIR GARDENS, TOO.

But the neighbors get their gardens dug faster because they use big shovels. Ours are small.

And when the neighbors' seeds sprout, green leaves begin to show right away. When ours came up, the green things look like grass blades!

Soon the neighbors' gardens are beginning to bloom--with big flowers of all kinds of bright colors. They smell so fragrant that the bees buzz all around them.

OUR GARDEN WAS ALL DARK AND UGLY. I SAW ONLY BLACK AND GREEN-PURPLE VINES AND WRINKLED LEAVES. OUR VEGETABLES WERE BUMPY.

SOME WERE JUST PLAIN ICKY!

It's very sad.

But one day we pick our vegetables, and Mom works hard, peeling,  chopping, and dropping a mixture of them into a really big pot of water on the stove.

And it's not long before a delicious aroma is drifting out of the kitchen, all the way into the neighbors' yards. The neighbors begin to follow their noses to the kitchen door, bringing bunches of beautiful flowers to trade for some  of the soup. They all sit down and have an ugly vegetable soup party!

IT WAS THE BEST DINNER EVER!

It takes all kinds to make a world and all kinds of gardens to make people happy, in the award-winning Grace Lin's spring tale of two kinds of gardens, The Ugly Vegetables (Charlesbridge Books). Author-illustrator Lin's cheery story of garden envy is resolved in appreciation for all that the good earth gives us, edible and beautiful. Grace Lin is also the author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Pied Beauty: The Imperfect Garden by Melissa Assaly

In the spring, we plant seeds in the soil. This year Mom says I am old enough to help pick the fruits and vegetables.

In June, we find cucumbers growing on vines in all kinds of twirly-whirly shapes!

Little Jay finds one cuke in the shape of a J, the beginning of his name, and one in the shape of the number six.

"Why are the cucumbers at the supermaket all straight?" I ask Mom.

Jay's mom tells him people like only straight cucumbers. And when Jay helps dig the carrots, he find one that seems to have two legs, but he also finds that carrots taste same, no matter how many legs they have.

And late in the fall the apples are ripe. Some are yellow and red, and some are just red.

Some are bumpy. I find one that looks like a funny face.

But Mom and Jay use all of the apples to make two pies, one for them and one for their neighbor.

I am glad we had enough apples to make two. If we had thrown away the bumpy apples, we would have only had enough for one pie!

And when all the food from their own backyard is eaten up, Mom and Jay have to shop at the supermarket. He notices there are no apples with faces, or carrots with extra legs or curly cucumbers.

Don't grownups know they all taste the same?

Melissa Assaly's The Imperfect Garden (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2019) is a story that celebrates home gardens and the value of less-than-perfect produce, most of which sadly goes to waste. Illustrated with charm, this picture book is perfect for school gardening units and an effective plug for spring planting in home gardens. Author Assaly provides an appendix, "Tips for Planting with Children," for big backyard or balcony and window container gardens. Artist April Milne fills the endpapers with delightfully shaped fruits and veggies, seed packets, and garden tools.

Says Booklist, "Here's a book that's clever, sweet, and provides some very useful information. . ."

The Secret Garden! The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karen Yan Glaser

Laney's mind was bursting with ideas for the garden. "It's our secret project," Jessie and Oliver coached Laney as they walked back to gather their money so they could head to the garden store.

"Do you think it's okay if we go in there even though Mr. Huxley said not to?" Hyacinth asked.

"Mr. Huxley never specifically said we couldn't," Jessie clarified. "He just said things about liability and not wanting the church to get sued. Look," said Jessie, "if it makes you feel better, I'll write up a liability release form when we get home."

They filed into their brownstone. Mama was on the phone, saying things about "ambulance costs" and "preexisting conditions." Mama gave Jessie money for lunch at Castleman's since she hadn't had time for grocery shopping. Laney couldn't believe the luck! A garden discovery, a trip to the garden store, and now Castleman's!

The Vanderbeeker's summer has not been what they had expected. Jessie's twin Isa is off at music camp, so they are short one Vanderbeeker; Mr. Beiderman, their landlord and reigning grouchy top-floor neighbor, had reverted to being a total recluse and living on cans of Spam, much to their nutrition-obsessed mother's distress; and then Mr. Jeet, their adopted grandfather figure upstairs, had had a stroke. He was very sick, and Miss Josie was staying around the clock at the hospital with him.

So when the Vanderbeekers discover a ivy-covered entry door to a walled plot next to the local church and big brother Oliver cracks the combination on the lock, they decide to turn the weed-and-trash-filled area (complete with abandoned toilet) into a beautiful garden to lift Mr. Jeet's and Miss Josie's spirits when he is discharged from the hospital. Pooling their savings to buy tools and plants, they spend days cleaning up the hidden plot. Oliver recruits his friend Angie, and Hyacinth even enlists the help of Oliver's nemesis, Herman Huckley, with whom she shares a mania for knitting. They discover what seem to be "abandoned" bags of garden soil in a corner their brownstone's backyard, and haul them for blocks to begin planting everything they can afford in their secret garden.

All goes well at first. Mr. Jeet is scheduled for discharge and the plantings are all in and thriving, when Herman's father discovers their secret garden. The Vanderbeekers are dismayed when they learn from Mr. Huxley that the plot has just been sold to make room for an upscale condominium development. Desperate to save their garden, they turn for help to, who else, Mr. Beiderman.

The lively and adventurous Vanderbeekers of South Queens/Harlem are back, in Karen Yan Glaser's second book in series, The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018). Glaser again portrays a close-knit family and their close urban neighborhood in a summer adventure for the whole clan, as they again show that "It takes a village." In the style of Ramona Quimby's "good sticking-together family" and a neighborhood of friends and sometimes rivals, the Vanderbeekers are a welcome return to the middle-grade family fiction genre of Eleanor Estes' The Moffats, the Quimbys and the Hugginses of Henry and Beezus (Henry Huggins), and Jeanne Birdsall's more contemporary The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (see review here)--albeit one set in the times of gentrification and smartphones as well as warm cookies, beloved neighbors, and kids who undertake big ideas with a true sense of "agency." As Kirkus Reviews adds, "With refreshing and realistic attention to socio-economics at work, [it is] perfect for individual reading while tucked away in a treehouse or as a family read-aloud."