We Planted a Pumpkin

July 31, 2023
In a sweetly seasonal picture book from Ramsden, two young gardeners anguish over growing a pumpkin in time for Halloween. Starting with a packet of seeds, a brown-skinned child usually sporting overalls and a pale-skinned child generally clad in stripes attend a resultant plant across spring, summer, and fall. Shape-based forms and printmaking textures summon a stage-like backdrop against which the children cheer (“Go, seed, go!”), fret (“oh, too slow”), and coax (“come on”), while pollinators, raindrops, and rays of sun work their unhurried magic on the would-be squash. Less gardening primer than accounting of a slow-moving triumph, this In the Garden series starter depicts a parent-free project in the works alongside the delayed gratification that gardening can represent, all leading up to the protagonists’ breathless delight around holiday harvest. Ages 2–5.

October 6, 2023

PreS-K-How does a pumpkin grow? Children will learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin while sharing in the anticipation displayed by the characters. A boy with pale skin and girl with brown skin plant a seed and wait for a pumpkin to grow, but it is too slow for their liking! The children see leaves sprout up and flowers bud from the stem. One day, they see a small, round, green ball beneath the flowers. It's a tiny pumpkin! As the pumpkin continues growing, the children hold onto their faith that soon they will have a full pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Young readers will learn the virtue of patience in gardening, and that many of Earth's creatures play a role in growing a plant. This book does not have a consistent rhythm; however, the simplicity of two friends planting a seed and having patience to see what comes is an appropriate and pleasant theme. VERDICT Steer children under six toward this fun, fall themed book.-Kelly Richards

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