Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
10 FUN FACTS ABOUT PUMPKINS
Like summer squash, the winter squashes–among them pumpkins–are identified by botanists as a fruit and by cooks as a vegetable. Technically, pumpkins are fruit–fleshy vessels that hold the seeds of the plant.
For our purposes, though–since we’re focused more on food than science here (not that they aren’t very closely related!)–and because in their raw state, pumpkins are more savory than sweet, we’re calling them veggies.
Read moreSummer Squash vs. Winter Squash
A QUICK QUIZ ABOUT COUSINS: SUMMER & WINTER SQUASH
Do your kids know the ways that summer squash and winter squash are different? It’s not as easy as it sounds!
Here’s a fun quiz to see how well they (and you!) know your way around squash. The answers contain explanations and additional information.
QUESTIONS
1. Which picture shows summer squash and which shows winter squash?
Read moreA Book that Begins in an Orchard…
AND ENDS WITH GOOD FRIENDS SHARING FRUIT PIE.
Now that’s farm-to-table!
Some books just stay with you. Each Peach Pear Plum, aimed at the very young, first debuted in 1978, 25 years after I was the right age to have it read to me. But when I discovered it as a university student studying early childhood education, it became an instant favorite and has remained at the top of my list of classic picture books. If it isn’t already, it just may become a favorite for you and your children too.
Read moreOnce Upon a Pear: Color Me Curious!
A GIANT PEAR TO PONDER–AND COLOR
Today’s coloring pages come from Ben Mann, my good friend and the illustrator for one of my picture books. No pears in Once Upon a Parsnip, though–unfortunately, since he paints pears so beautifully! Maybe the next book….
In fact, no story has been written about this giant pear–and surely there’s a story here!
Get out the crayons and ask some leading questions to help kids come up with a story for the painting: How did the pear grow so enormous? Who’s the guy in the hat and boots? What is he thinking? What do you think he’s going to do? What’s up with the ladder? What’s going to happen to the pear? To the man?
Read moreZany Zucchini Books (& More!)
1 ZUCCHINI, 2 ZUCCHINI, 3 ZUCCHINI, 4! FUN VEGGIE BOOKS FOR KIDS
“Zucchini.” Doesn’t the word just roll off the tongue? Somebody ought to write a song about it.
Somebody has written a children’s book about it. In fact, four somebody’s! Here’s a quartet of fabulous zucchini books to introduce this giggle-inducing veggie to your kids.
Make the introduction. Read a book, and the kids will be clamoring for a zucchini all their own!
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