The mask can provide a source of inspiration for a pumpkin lantern design which can be cut into a pumpkin. Talk about the pumpkin as you make the lantern, the smell, the feel and how it looks both inside and out. Plant seeds Everyone is happy when they have their own job to do. What jobs and routines do people do to keep everything organised? Do you have any classroom jobs? Throughout the story it contains repetitions which could allow children to join in whilst the story is being read to them. The use of capitals in the story allows the children to see which words are being shouted this will allow the children to start thinking of expression whilst they read stories.

Pumpkin soup sounds so good, but Ill admit the only times I’ve eaten it are in restaurants, even though I have no doubt I have access to many recipes for it. Helen Cooper is an author and illustrator whose work includes classic titles such as The Bear Under the Stairs, Pumpkin Soup, The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed and Tatty Ratty. One of the illustrations shows the animals making their soup, as seen through the window. Can you draw a picture with a view through a window (looking into or out of a building)? Make a list of the different words that are used instead of ‘said’ in the story, e.g. murmured, snapped, squeaked, wailed. Retell the story to a friend. Can you use different voices and expressions? Listen to the audiobook version of the story.Helen Cooper creates a warm, inviting world in her “Pumpkin Soup.” It tells the story of three friends working through the challenges of friendship all while enjoying pumpkin soup. Put the beets in a medium-size saucepan. cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes. Drain the beets and let them cool. The skins will then be easy to peel. Chop up the beets. (Make sure you wear an apron because beet juice is very pink!)

added later] We made the pumpkin soup, and while our girls were pretty excited that we were making the recipe from the book (and they even got to add their own "pipkins" of salt), they weren't as enthusiastic about the taste. I thought it was lovely. Oh well... The story got a bit scary at one point, even though the fear was limited to the imaginations of two of the friends. The tale itself was a pretty good one, with everyone wanting to try each other's jobs and taking each other's skills for granted. On the whole, it's a fun story to read aloud and would be a good precursor to a discussion about fighting among friends, different skillsets and wanting to try different things. It has an easy recipe for pumpkin soup at the end of the story and our girls are excited to try it.We’re still looking for the perfect recipe for pumpkin soup, ours always tastes bland and boring. We’d love you to share your favourite pumpkin soup recipe in the comments 🙂 I feel this book would provide excellent opportunity for enhancing language skills, exploring food and animals as themes, and could be an excellent starting point for an interesting classroom display.

The narrative is very text heavy. Cooper relies more on words than illustrations. This could make it less appealing to younger readers with shorter attention spans. However, she does use different fonts and formats to help make the text more interesting.The Pumpkin Soup books celebrate pumpkins, and cooking, and family life. Full of scrumptious colour and a riotous array of vegetables, they encourage an appetite for cooking and discovering new foods, whilst also exploring different character traits and how we all get along. All three have been highly acclaimed, and translated into many languages. Some of the illustrations were just precious (in a good way) and some I wanted to appreciate more than I did. They are unusual and wonderfully large. I think part of my issue was with the three animal characters. The soup, house, outdoor scenes were all lovely and/or spectacular.