Learning about pumpkins is fun anytime of the year but is particularly suitable in the fall or around Halloween. Kids will love these engaging stories that take them on adventures, help them understand how pumpkins grow, and teach them about the world all around them.
Whether you are looking for a realistic book on pumpkins or a fanciful tale to entertain your preschooler, you’ll find a book or two on our list.
Great Pumpkin Books for Preschoolers
In this story, a little boy named Jamie watches his pumpkin grow from a seed to full-size, when it’s ready for a special purpose. The soft pictures are lovely to look at and the simplicity of the book lends itself well to young readers.
This is an excellent story that lends itself well to in-person application and discussion. Use this cute story in a fall curriculum, beginning life sciences curriculum, or to help kids understand the life cycle of a pumpkin. Don’t hesitate to get Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington.
Watch as a sweet, itsy bitsy pumpkin rolls through town one day. Kids will laugh at the silly things he sees as he tries to find his way back home. This story features a little jack-o-lantern and is an enjoyable, imaginative story for young kids.
The use of Halloween imagery and elements makes this a great text to use leading up to the holiday in October. Grab The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sonali Fry to read to your preschooler(s) today.
This sweet story about a boy named Charlie and counting seeds in pumpkins will touch your heart and remind kids that its okay to be small. The book is a higher level text and features more words and the advanced concepts of counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. It is an excellent read-aloud to introduce young preschoolers to this concept while engaging them in a story.
No clear holiday nor season is discussed in this book, making it perfect for reading any time of year. The message of the story is that you can’t judge small things just by their size. Kids and adults alike will enjoy How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara.
Marla Little has a giant pumpkin that rolls way from her. She chases it through town trying to catch it. Her repetitive, predictable dialogue will have kids reciting it along with you as you read. You can also ask kids to predict what will happen next.
Each person she encounters joins in the chase until the pumpkin reaches its final purpose. Find out what happens in Junia Wonders’ book, The Roll Away Pumpkin. This fanciful tale will have kids guessing what will happen to the giant pumpkin up until the end. Don’t hesitate to add this to any preschool curriculum.
If you are working on a unit that includes life sciences like growing and decomposition, this adorable story about a boy named Tim and his pumpkin, Jack is the perfect addition. Kids will follow Tim’s journey in saying goodbye to the Halloween magic his jack-o-lantern brings to watching it break down and regrow throughout the year.
In this easy-to-understand story, kids will see the growth cycle of a pumpkin and you can even do your own pumpkin experiment to watch this happen in real life too! Whether you need a non-scary Halloween story or a book on plant life cycles, Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell is sure to be a hit.
From fanciful to real, what could you do with a giant pumpkin? In this book, the author imagines all of the things you could try with a pumpkin of enormous size. Each page features a synonym for “big” and introduces kids to some real attractions across the United States featuring pumpkins. The illustrations are colorful and stunning, and will surely draw kids in on the very first page. Use this as a simple story or for launching some fun adventures.
There is even an informational section in the book to tell you more about the actual attractions featured in the story. How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor could be a great starting place for some giant pumpkin adventures in the future for your preschooler. Don’t be surprised if your child asks to go on a road trip.
This touching mother/child book shows kids that all mommies take care of their little ones. Preschoolers will identify with and appreciate how the momma pumpkin wants to prepare her little pumpkin to run away on all of his adventures. She promises to give him the tools he needs to accomplish all of his plans.
The fun illustrations show the little pumpkin enjoying all of his adventures just the way he imagines them. Once his mother equips him, will he be ready to head out on his own? Find out in The Runaway Pumpkin: A Halloween Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis. Pick this up for a fun Halloween tale today!
This amazing story is based on the real-life adventure of a 61-year-old Australian farmer named Cliff who won a race from Sydney to Melbourne against professional runners. The story’s main character goes by the name of Joshua Summerhayes, who runs across his pumpkin farm everyday. One day, he finds out about a race with a large prize and decides to enter.
Kids will cheer him on as other runners tell him about the “usual” things runners should do and he just goes on in his own “usual” way. This story reminds kids that even the most ordinary people can achieve extraordinary feats just by being themselves. Get The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold to inspire kids while keeping with a pumpkin theme.
For a great non-fiction book about how a pumpkin grows, this is the one you want. With stunning, full-color photographs, kids will watch a pumpkin grow from a tiny seed to a fat pumpkin. The photos take care to zero in on the minute details so kids can truly see and understand. This is particularly great if you plan on planting a garden and watching seeds grow.
With vivid description and rhyming, kids will feel like they are actually watching a pumpkin grow, step by step. Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson is an excellent way to introduce children to plants and how they grow.
This adorable story follows a tiny seed who wants nothing more than to scare the objects around him. But the seed isn’t scary and the wind keeps telling him it isn’t time yet. Kids will get to see how the seed grows and changes, eventually growing into a pumpkin and finally, a jack-o-lantern.
Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli shows kids step-by-step how a pumpkin grows through the eyes of the seed. It is sure to engage and entertain kids both old and young. This story is great for fall or Halloween curriculums or can be used any time of the year, too.
Conclusion
Reading to kids builds their comprehension and listening skills while entertaining and teaching at the same time. If you’re looking for books with stories or facts about pumpkins, you’ll love any of the books we featured on our list. Get one or all of the books above to add to your fall, Halloween, or life science curriculum for preschoolers.
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