Good Things in Small Packages: How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara

Charlie is the smallest kid in the class, and because Mr. Tiffin lines his class up by height, he's always last and least!

But then, "one chilly fall morning," little Charlie arrives at school to find three fine pumpkins, one large sized, one medium, and one, well, rather small pumpkin lined up on the table at the front of the classroom. When Mr. T. challenges his class to guess which one has the most seeds inside, Charlie is too timid even to hazard a guess.

But when the "messy business" of separating the seeds from the slimy stuff inside the three pumpkins is done, there are "three empty pumpkins and three full bowls" of pale yellow seeds to count. Amazingly, it's the smallest pumpkin, by a small margin, which turns out to be the pumpkin with the mostest!

"Small things have a lot going on inside them!" Charlie points out, and Mr. Tiffin agrees, lining the class up smallest to tallest, with Charlie leading the way to lunch.

In her new book, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? author Margaret McNamara provides a lot of pumpkin science (e.g., pumpkins with a lot of vertical lines have the most seeds), pumpkin math (counting by twos, fives, and tens), with a bit of values learning as well, with the reminder that physical size isn't the whole story--in pumpkins or in people!

Also known for her similarly themed book, The Pumpkin Patch, McNamara is ably supported by the illustrations of G. Brian Karas, (Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!). Their new book comes along just in time to be a worthy addition to older seasonal standbys for pumpkin picking, pumpkin decorating, pumpking carving, and pumpkin pie baking time in the primary grades.

This Little Light of Mine....: Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli

THE WIND BLEW, THE LEAVES FELL, AND A TINY SEED HID IN THE GARDEN.

"BOO!" SAID THE SEED TO A LEAF.

The leaf snickers and finds Little Boo not the least bit scary.

Sad, the little seed doesn't give up. He tries out his boos
on a passing grub, with the same results.

Then the snowflakes started to fall. They are not intimidated by Little Boo either.

"THERE'S MORE OF US THAN THERE IS OF YOU!" THEY BRAG.

"IT'S NOT TIME TO BE SCARY," SAYS THE WIND.

"I WANT TO BE SCARY NOW!" LITTLE BOO INSISTS.

But winter will have its way, and the little seed sleeps through the cold months. Then suddenly he wakes as a little green sprout ready to try out his boos on the spring butterflies--who are not flustered either.

As the soil warms and the sun shines down. Little Boo becomes a bright orange blossom, blowing sweetly in the spring breeze. who laughs at his boos, along with the shovel and the watering can. But soon he grows into a green pumpkin. And as summer wanes, the chill wind returns to see that Little Boo is now a big orange pumpkin, ripe for the picking.

And on Halloween Little Boo is big--a big, glowing Jack o' Lantern.

"Y-E-E-O-W!" SHRIEKS THE CAT.

"GOOD SCARING!" WAILS THE WIND.

Stephen Wunderli's new Little Boo (Henry Holt and Company, 2015) is a shining new addition to picture book stories for the scary season. For an autumnal tale, this one has it all--a lesson in the life cycle of a seed and the cycle of the seasons, a poignant when-will-I-be-big premise, and a Halloween hook that will keep children captivated until Little Boo finally gets his own chance to shine! Artist Tim Zeltner's glowing acrylic paintings, done in full-bleed two-page spreads and spot art on wood shine bright as well. It's not easy to imbue a pumpkin seed with as much personality as Zelter does with his emotive little protagonist, but in this story author and illustrator blend their talents into perfect read for a primary grade October unit or story circle.

Pair this one with Margaret McNamara's evergreen How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? (Mr. Tiffin's Classroom Series) (read my review here) for a cross-the-curriculum story and project that almost teach themselves.

Finding Autumn: Penguin and Pumpkin by Salina Yoon

IT WAS FALL AND VERY WHITE ON THE ICE, AS ALWAYS.

"I WONDER WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE OFF THE ICE?" MUSED PENGUIN.

"LET'S GO TO THE FARM AND FIND OUT!" SAID HIS BUDDY BOOTSY.

Penguin's baby brother Pumpkin clamors to go, too, but Penguin has to tell him he's still too little to travel so far.

Waving good-bye to his sad little sibling, Penguin and Bootsy hop the nearest northbound ice floe and finally arrive at the farm, where fall is in full swing. There are big pumpkins in the pumpkin patch and red, gold, and orange autumn leaves sailing through the air and covering the ground. It's gloriously colorful, but Penguin can't help thinking about poor little Pumpkin back home in the snow. Then he gets an idea.

Penguin and Bootsy pick the biggest pumpkin, carve it out to make a floating freighter, and load it up with a little pumpkin and and crate full of colored leaves. They even add a few autumn storybooks for good measure. Boarding a southbound floe, they tow their cargo back toward Penguin Land, where little Pumpkin is busy trying to imagine what Fall looks like. Is it perhaps in outer space? Are Penguin and Bootsy taking a spaceship to Planet Pumpkin? He can't wait to tell his big brother all about his own imaginative adventures.

The returned explorers are impressed at the little penguin's fantastic ideas.

"SPACE-TACULAR!" THEY SAY.

"BUT I WISH I GOT TO SEE WHAT FALL REALLY LOOKS LIKE," PUMPKIN SAID.

Penguin puts on his thinking cap. He's got a pumpkin and he's got a lot of autumn leaves. How can he re-create the farm in the fall for his little brother?

In the Penguin Queen Salina Yoon's latest South Pole story, Penguin and Pumpkin (Walker Books, 2014), Penguin uses his creativity to find a way to set his autumn leaves to blowing all over penguin country.

"FALL LOOKS LIKE... IT'S SNOWING LEAVES!"

Yoon's illustrative style, with her thick black outlines and rich autumnal colors are perfect for youngsters just learning about the seasons. Her characters, shown mostly in profile, are iconic cartoon penguins, with Penguin himself sporting an orange scarf, while Bootsy sticks to her pink hairbow and signature boots. making this unusual location for a fall story into a unique fall story for young readers. Kirkus Reviews says "Readers with a generous tolerance for quirkiness will find that this seasonal tale, that’s also a bit about little brothers, adventures and the endless diversity of pumpkins, hits the spot."

Salina Yoon's other Penguin books include Penguin and Pinecone, Penguin on Vacation, and Penguin in Love.

Let's Make a Record!: 10 Little Pumpkins by Stacy Peterson

10 LITTLE PUMPKINS, SITTING ON A GATE.

"OH, MY!" SAID ONE. "IT'S GETTING LATE!"

It's the familiar nursery counting rhyme/song, expanded to a countdown from ten to none, in bouncy rhyme, with jolly illustrations by Stacy Peterson. But Record a Story: Ten Little Pumpkins (Publications International Kids, 2011) offers one twist that has appeal for grandparents, favorite aunts and uncles, or anyone who can't always be there to read this popular preschool concept book to a small child. Press the purple button, and voila', you can record your own performance of the story, done as a rhythmic verse or, if you are a daring diva, as a song to the familiar tune.

Instructions are played back to start off, and each page can be re-recorded until the performing artist is satisfied with the product. The recording can be also be locked in so it cannot be accidentally erased by little fingers. It sounds like a lot of fun, even for precocious readers who may want to record their own reading of the famous Halloween tale of ten pumpkins on their big night out.

Smashing Pumpkins: Marley and the Runaway Pumpkin by John Grogan and Susan Hill

All summer and fall the family had tended the pumpkin.

All summer and fall they kept their big puppy, Marley, out of the garden.

And against all odds--with the "world's worst dog" around, the pumpkin flourishes under the Grogan family's tender care, and by fall it has become absolutely gigantic.

"Will it win a prize at the state fair?" asked Cassie.

"We might even win a blue ribbon" said Daddy, "but first we have to get it to the fair."

The pumpkin is so very, very big that it's all Mommy and Daddy can do to roll it to the back of their truck, and they soon discover that there is no way they will be able to lift it into the load bed. Then Daddy gets an inspiration, hurries into the house, and returns with the ironing board, which he puts into service as an impromptu ramp. With Cassie and Baby Louie trying to help, they roll the giant pumpkin up and finally into the truck.

Triumphantly, Mommy gathers everyone in the truck bed to take a memorable picture. Marley has been watching all this activity with great excitement, and as the family smiles for the camera, he leaps into the truck's bed and scrambles on top of the pumpkin. The startled family watches as, seemingly in slow motion, the pumpkin starts to roll back down the ironing board, and keeps on going, with Marley, Daddy, Mommy, Cassie, and even Baby Louie in pursuit.

Alas, their chase is fruitless, and the pumpkin, predictably stops only when it rolls into a large tree, becoming a smashed pumpkin in the process.

But the Grogans are used to such canine-induced catastrophes. Mommy takes the scene in, and with a sigh, philosophizes:

"When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

When life gives you a smashed pumpkin, make PIE!"

Together the Grogans pare and puree, mash and mix, and soon they have lots of pumpkin pies, one of which looks so picture-perfect that they enter it in the state fair pumpkin pie contest, with true happy-ending results:

"It was a blue ribbon pumpkin after all," Cassie said.

Marley: Marley and the Runaway Pumpkin (I Can Read Book 2) (Harper, 2010) is an engaging addition to this I-Can-Read (Level 2) series, the perfect Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving readaloud, a proven kid-pleaser, with a controlled vocabulary for early readers as well. John Grogan's best-selling memoir, Marley & Me tie-in: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, has delighted adult readers and movie-goers for years, and his original book has become the inspiration in the venerable Harper Row I-Can-Read series of easy readers about the rambunctious retriever puppy Marley.

Some of the other books in the Marley series include A Very Marley Christmas,Marley: Snow Dog Marley (I Can Read Book 2), and Marley: Strike Three, Marley! (I Can Read Book 2).

Pumpkin Hunt: Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hill

"Nice pumpkin, Thistle."

"Yes, it is."

"I want a pumpkin, too," said Goose.

"Duck, let's go find one."
Admiring their friend Thistle's lovely orange specimen puts Duck and Goose into instant pumpkin lust. The two set out to find their own, but they have no idea where pumpkins are to be found. A hollow log turns out to be a pumpkin-free zone. Then the frisky friends jump into a pile of autumn leaves and toss them at each other.

"Is our pumpkin in the leaf pile?"

"No," said Duck.

"Is our pumpkin up in the apple tree?"

Well, no, and it's not in the pond where Duck admires his own relection either. Goose climbs on top of Duck's shoulders to peer at the top of a big stump, to discover only an acorn.

Then they come upon their friend Thistle again, who asks a salient question.

"Have you tried the pumpkin patch?"

"The WHAT?" ask Duck and Goose.

Needless to say, the two friends are soon congratulating each other on their amazing search strategy from their perch on top a beautiful orange pumpkin.

Tad Hills' Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin is the latest in his best-selling picture and board books starring his admittedly adorable gosling and duckling pals, just in time for visits to that elusive pumpkin patch for preschoolers everywhere.

Boo! Five Pesky Pumpkins by Marcia Vaughn

Five pesky pumpkins on a scary night
Are out to make mischief and give their friends a fright!

In a glowing orange and black flap and pop-up book, five bright orange pumpkins set out to visit a spooky castle and find a way to scare each other as well. Counting down from five, one by one they disappear--into a dinosaur skeleton's mouth, inside a locking dungeon door, with the wave of a wizard's wand, or a slurp from a warty witch--until at last only one pumpkin, now neither perky nor pesky, finds herself all alone in a dark wood beside a bare, black tree:

One worried pumpkin
All alone tonight.
Out jump the others..."BOO!"
And give her such a fright!

Marcia Vaughn and Viviana Garofoli use the surprise flap and pop-up devices to good effect in Five Pesky Pumpkins: A Counting Book with Flaps and Pop-Ups! which will delight young children who love a surprise and a sudden scare.

Can't Scare Me! The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

For a Halloween readaloud for young children, Linda William's gloriously ebullient The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything has it all.

A variant of the folk tale in which a ghost appears part by part, this story begins with a little old woman who sets forth on a windy autumn afternoon to gather a basketful of herbs and spices, nuts and seeds. As a golden sliver of a moon rises, she turns back for home, only to meet up with a pair of big brown shoes who confront her with a slightly threatening "Clomp, Clomp!" Well, this lady is not to be easily intimidated. "Get out of my way, you two big shoes. I'm NOT afraid of YOU," she says and continues on her way, only to hear behind her the "CLOMP, CLOMP" of the following shoes.

In true cummulative tale formula, the little old lady meets a pair of green pants which go "WIGGLE, WIGGLE," a white shirt which goes "SHAKE SHAKE," and a pair of white gloves and a tall black hat which go "CLAP, CLAP," and "NOD, NOD." At each appearance she orders the apparitions out of her way and repeats, "I'm NOT afraid of YOU," but as the ghostly apparel line up noisily behind her, she walks a bit more hurriedly through the dark woods.

At last, with her lighted cottage windows just in sight, the little lady is startled by a "very huge, very orange, very scary pumpkin head" who goes, "BOO, BOO" This time the little old lady does not stop, but runs, with the entire entourage trailing behind, until she's on the inside of her own front door.

Just as she tries to catch her breath before her fire, she hears an ominous "KNOCK KNOCK" on the door.

"Should she answer it?
Well, SHE was not afraid of anything.
So she went to the door and opened it.
What do you think she saw?

Two shoes go CLOMP CLOMP.
One pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE,
One shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE,
Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP,
One hat go NOD, NOD,
And one scary pumpkin head go BOO, BOO!"

When the little old lady declares bravely that she is not afraid of the whole lot of haunted haberdashery, the poor pumpkin head is crestfallen to have failed in his mission. But then the little lady whispers advice in his ear, and he smiles.

As the little lady looks out the window early the next morning, the text asks, "What do you think she saw?" Most kids can guess that, to the old lady's delight, the assorted apparitions have assembled themselves into a highly effective figure, topped with a jack-o'-lantern face, which scares ALL the crows away.

With its recurring refrain and opportunity for great listener participation (clomping, and wiggling, shaking, nodding and clapping, and shouting BOO, BOO!), this makes a wonderful readaloud for preschool groups or for a single child. The folksy illustrations are just right, and the final page, with the jolly scarecrow guarding the little cottage garden, is splendidly satisfying.

This story is also available with a paperback paired with a listen-along CD.