Preschool Storytime Ideas
Pumpkins – revised
Pumpkins can be a great Autumn storytime theme, especially if you have parents who would prefer you avoided doing Halloween stories. Also, the pumpkin theme can work for the entire Fall season and not just October. There are plenty of great craft activities to go with the pumpkin theme, including those found here. One of the easiest is to make pumpkins out of paper lunch bags: stuff them with crumbled newspaper, and tie at the top. Add eyes, nose, and mouth, and cut out a few green paper leaves to attach to the stem – the area at the top where you tied the bag shut.
Christelow, Eileen. THE PUMPKIN FAIR. At this fair, pumpkins win prizes not just for the largest, but for the “best loved” and other categories.
Cooper, Helen. PUMPKIN SOUP. Squirrel, Cat, and Duck quarrel over how to make pumpkin soup.
Falwell, Cathryn. MYSTERY VINE: A PUMPKIN SURPRISE. Falwell’s distinctive cut paper illustrations and simple rhyming text show a boy and girl planting a garden.
Hall, Zoe. IT’S PUMPKIN TIME! A sister and brother plant a pumpkin patch so they will have a jack-o-lantern for Halloween.
Levenson, George. PUMPKIN CIRCLE. This nonfiction book for younger readers features a rhyming text and vibrant color photographs.
Lewis, Kevin. THE RUNAWAY PUMPKIN. Children will chant the repeated phrases as a giant pumpkin goes rolling downhill.
McNamara, Margaret. HOW MANY SEEDS IN A PUMPKIN? A nice math story that shows size doesn’t always matter – for example, does the largest pumpkin have the most seeds?
Rockwell, Anne. APPLES AND PUMPKINS. Another great factual story by Rockwell, that shows different plants growing for food.
Rockwell, Anne. PUMPKIN DAY, PUMPKIN NIGHT. A boy describes buying the perfect pumpkin to make into a jack-o-lantern.
Serfozo, Mary. PLUMPLY, DUMPLY PUMPKIN. A tiger-striped cat is looking for the perfect pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern.
Sloat, Teri. PATTY’S PUMPKIN PATCH. In this alphabet book, follow Patty as she plants a pumpkin patch.
Titherington, Jeanne. PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN. Jamie and grandpa grow the perfect pumpkin.
Van Rynbach, Iris. FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS. The fingerplay done as a picture book.
Wallace, Nancy. PUMPKIN DAY! Another of Wallace’s factual stories on cultivating an important plant.
White, Linda. TOO MANY PUMPKINS. An old woman who hates pumpkins finds herself with a full crop of them!
Also see the previous Pumpkins storytime ideas page from August 2000.