Nonfiction Monday: a pumpkin patch of children's books

What do you think of when you think of Halloween? Perhaps visions of witches, ghosts, and goblins dance through your head. Or perhaps costumes, and candy clutter your mind? Certainly one image that evokes Halloween spooky cheer is...the pumpkin. Big, round orange pumpkins are a symbol of Halloween and the fall season, and with them, comes fond memories of pumpkin picking, carving, and eating.

Did you know that pumpkins are a fruit? Do you know where pumpkins were first grown? Did you know pumpkins are part of the gourd family? Share the story of the pumpkin with your young readers with these beautiful picture books that follow the pumpkin from seed to sprout to pumpkin to pie!

Pumpkins by Ken Robbins
Ken Robbins is widely known for his sumptuous photo essays on numerous subjects of interest to kids. In this beautiful picture book, Robbins tackles one of everyone’s favorite autumn arrivals—pumpkins. The full-color photographs capture the lifespan of a pumpkin from a tiny seed to a blooming vine, then a small gourd, and finally a jack-o-lantern. To get you in the spirit of lighting up a dark Halloween night, the book also gives instructions to safely carve your own jack-o-lantern.


From Seed to Pumpkin (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1) (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) by Wendy Pfeffer
This book is part of an interesting science series, designed to explain the stages in the development of a seed into a pumpkin. The book explains the difficult subject of plant development in clear and easy to understand text. After your young readers understand how a pumpkin obtains and distributes water and nutrients, they can also find an easy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds and an activity on "How Plants Drink Water."


Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie (Picture the Seasons)
by Jill Esbaum
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie follows Apples for Everyone in the Picture the Seasons series by National Geographic. What's striking about this book are the beautifully photographed pictures of everyone's favorite fall treat. The glossy, festive images and lively text are sure to get your family in the mood to celebrate the season.


Pumpkin Pumpkin
by Jeanne Titherington
The text in Pumpkin, Pumpkin is very simple, but it's a great resource to accompany the books above and introduce children to the life cycle of a pumpkin, plant growth, and sequence concepts.



Pick from the patch of many pumpkin lessons, games and activities online:
AtoZteacherstuff.com
enchantedlearning.com
education-world.com


Today, I'm honored to be hosting Nonfiction Monday! Nonfiction Monday takes place at various wonderful blogs throughout the Kidlitosphere! If you'd like to see the schedule for Nonfiction Monday, please visit Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day.

Here's what the Kidlitosphere is reading this week...

1. Sarah N. (Reign of the Sea Dragons) 2. Simply Science (What Darwin Saw) 3. Great Kid Books (Claudette Colvin) 4. The Stenhouse Blog (Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough) 5. Michelle Markel (Dinos and Pirates Teach Math)

6. Picture Book of the Day (An Eye for Color) 7. Wrapped in Foil (Saving Water) 8. Chicken Spaghetti (Rabbit Hill Fest.) 9. INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (essays by nonfiction children's authors) 10. A Patchwork of Books (Teen Memoir)

11. Moms Inspire Learning (Books about Ben Franklin) 12. The Art of Irreverence (I Pledge Allegiance) 13.Katie's Literature Lounge (Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Prize) 14. 3T News and Reviews 15. Bookends (Years of Dust) 16. Wendie's Wanderings (Building a Bridge)

If you'd like to add your post to the pumpkin patch, please add it to Mr. Linky below.