(GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Oct. 2026
Synopsis:
This rhythmically rhyming holiday homage begins at the pumpkin patch with an unnamed family picking pumpkins, "tall and lean/or short and fat./Vivid orange,/ghostly white,/or speckled green/might be just right," then heading home. Before carving can begin, pumpkins must be cleaned, tools gathered, friends invited, and innards removed - "Lumpy chunks. Sticky strings./Clumpy seeds. Guts and things." Now the carving can begin with all its creative choices - "A kiss. A frown./A toothy grin./ A zigzag gap/cut long and thin./A smirk. A snarl./An eerie O./Or pointy fangs,/all in a row." Next comes decorations, then costumes and finally with a light inside, "LOOK! /It's not a pumpkin anymore - It's a…JACK-O'-LANTERN!"
This book captures the spirit of Halloween traditions in a family friendly way. Using pencil, chalk, paint and digital coloring, Jarvis' illustrations have the look and fell of collage.
Discussion topics: To be posted soon ...
Craft ideas: To be posted soon ...
*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions.
You can use them, but you don't have to use them.
You can expand upon them, or add your own twist.
Remember, though, that the focus of your time should
not be on the development and execution of a craft;
the focus should be on the read-aloud and the
enjoyment of the book!
