Pumpkin Countdown

By Joan Holub
Illustrated Jan Smith

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Mrs. Blue’s second graders are going on a field trip. They are getting ready for their Pumpkin Patch visit. is a favorite fall tradition that many families enjoy doing. Since this is a counting book, they are counting down name tags, and almost everything else ( ie: kids on the bus, things to see at the farm, the animals at the farm – just to name a few).

Each page has a pumpkin with a number  in the corner. This is an interactive picture book that second grader teachers can use as a read aloud and will love. Students can listen and respond to the teachers’ questions about the content and the colorful, cute illustrations. On nearly every spread of the book, there are questions that can be asked. Some have bubble quotes of the classmates and teacher speaking. Some of the bubbles have facts about what is on the page- several show all the different kinds of pumpkins. There is lots to see and do in this great book.

Second graders will also have fun reading this by themselves. Early in the school year, teachers could build a learning center around this book with many reading comprehension activities such as: name the kinds of pumpkins, name the animals at the Pumpkin Patch Petting Zoo, how do a pumpkins grow?, what is the buzz on bees?, along with the many pumpkin facts on the end papers.

Check out Joan Holub’s website which shows her many books, along with her popular Apple Countdown: http://www.joanholub.com/.

Jan Smith’s website tells more about her and her work. You can see many of her illustrations. Perhaps students could view this to use as story starters for their own stories: http://www.jansmithsillustrations.co.uk/.

  • Pumpkin CountdownTitle:  Pumpkin Countdown
  • Author:  Joan Holub
  • Illustrator:  Jan Smith
  • Publisher:  Albert Whitman & Company, 2012
  • Reviewer:  Susan Couture
  • Hardcover:  30 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0807566602
  • Genre: Fiction, nature

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