Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

by Ron Fridell

How big can pumpkins grow? Why do pumpkins have very big leaves? What can we make with pumpkins? Explaining concepts through stunning photographs and simple text, Life Cycle of a Pumpkin takes an in-depth look at this familiar but fascinating plant.

Genres: Picture Books, Autumn, Science

32 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Fridell earned a Master's degree in radio, television, and film from Northwestern University. He taught English as a second language while a member of the Peace Corp in Bangkok, Thailand. He currently lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Reviews

[Arissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pumpkin begins as seed, which grows into a plant, and eventually a fruit on the vine. Pumpkins can fully grow in a minimum of 16 weeks. The pumpkin can eventually be harvested and cooked into pumpkin pie. This story can be used to write an informative essay about a plant to tell the way it grows.

[Katie Plumley · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Example of non-fiction, informational text
* Gives the entire life cycle of the pumpkin with excellent pictures, captions, and sub-texts
* This is a MUST read before carving the class pumpkin!
* Students can sequence the pumpkin life cycle in a hand-made book, drawing, journal, etc.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of information for a little book.

[Alexus Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin written by Ron Fridell and Patricia Walsh is a beautiful informational picture book that teaches children about the life cycle of a pumpkin. The book does an excellent job explaining to children what a pumpkin is, where they come from, how the grow, and how they are harvested.
The book goes in depth about the cycle of a pumpkin, but it is worded simply enough for children to read it. The book has amazing illustrations that decorate the text. The illustrations are real life photos that include, pumpkin seeds, the seedling, the flower, pumpkin patch, etc. In addition to large illustrations on the page, on the bottom portion of the page is a timeline that shows children how the seeds blossom into pumpkins over the many weeks. This book is geared toward second grade students, and is about 62 pages long.
This is a great book to have, especially around Halloween and Thanksgiving time. This book can show the students where the pumpkin actually comes from, and how it got there. Educating children on where their food comes from is very important. This book can even be used to introduce children to gardening and agriculture. A fun activity that can go with this book is planting a classroom pumpkin, or any other seed. When I was in the 3rd grade, I planted a flower for science class. This book is a great way to introduce children to nature and teach them why they should take care of the earth.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book about the life cycle of a pumpkin which my 2 year old could understand.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures and descriptions of each stage of a pumpkin’s life cycle.

[CFAITC]

Learn how leaves protect pumpkins, how large they can grow, and look inside of them.