Tag: farm

Activity and Coloring Sheets, Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Here a Creak, There a Shriek by Kelly Conroy and Nikolas Ilie

BentenShisho

Conroy, Kelly. (2026). Here a Creak, There a Shriek. Tiger Tales.

*Downloadable activity sheets at the end of this post!

The premise of this book is pretty simple and fun. It’s based on the song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” except they’re exploring a haunted farm. Instead of pigs that go “oink oink” here and “oink oink” there, you have scary beasts that growl-howl, dead-ends (in the corn maze)…

cackling witches with animal friends, OOOoooo-ing ghosts…

click-clacking of skeletons (this illustrations is one of my favorites in this book), bats, and the barn…oh my goodness, the barn!!!!

Well, that might just be the best of all.

Super cute picture book. Great fast read. Lots of Halloween giggles to be had and Ilie’s illustrations are gloriously colorful and spooky. Highly recommend.

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Activity Sheets:

Original Source:https://www.kellyconroy.com/books/here-a-creak-there-a-shriek/free-activities-for-here-a-creak/

Here a Creak There a Shriek – Activities

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor

BentenShisho

Tudor, Tasha. (2000). Pumpkin Moonshine. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

The original copyright date for this book was 1938. But it is as delightful now, as it was then, if not more so. Let’s get to it.

Little Sylvie Ann, staying with her grandparents on their farm, decided she wanted to make a jack-o-lantern (they call it a “Pumpkin Moonshine” which I’m assuming may be a New England turn of phrase). So, she went out in the field, with the little dog Wiggy, to find the biggest pumpkin she could for the purpose. (They call it a cornfield, which I’m hoping means that farmers of the time used the 3-sisters method, taught to them by their Indigenous brethren. I’ve never seen it referred to so casually before!) She finds it, but being the prize it is she can’t lift it, so she rolls it. The only problem is, it starts to roll down the hill! RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!

It frightens chickens and goats and geese (which made me chuckle) and knocks over poor Mr. Hemmelskamp with his pail of whitewash (diluted white paint often used to freshen up a fence or the outside of a house), before it comes to rest at her grandparents’ door with a great big THUMP.

I think this part is so sweet, Sylvie Ann apologizing to Mr. Hemmelskamp and helping him up, though he looks pretty miffed.

She tells her grandfather (Grandpawp) of her adventure, and he comes out to help her with the pumpkin, carving a wicked face!

“It was evening by then so they put a lighted candle inside the pumpkin to make him look as fierce and horrid as all true Pumpkin Moonshines should.” My favorite part is when they hide in the pushed to see how terrified people and animals are as they pass it by. The skamps.

Sylvie Ann takes the pumpkin seeds and plants them the following year so that all good little children can have a Pumpkin Moonshine, too.

Honestly, this is probably one of the sweetest books I have read in a very long time and it warmed my heart with all the nastiness in the world. It’s very reminiscent of Holly Hobby, or Toot and Puddle. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise because Tasha Tudor illustrated and/or wrote over 100 books in her lifetime, and was known for this “cottagecore” sort of vibe and existence. I wish I had known about her when my kiddo was younger or even when I was. But I am immensely grateful to have found it now! Highly recommend!

Recommended Ages: 3-6

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: How to Help a Pumpkin Grow by Ashley Wolff

BentenShisho

Wolff, Ashley. (2021) How to Help a Pumpkin Grow. Beach Lane Books.

“How to Help a Pumpkin Grow” by Ashley Wolff is a book about patience, cooperation, gardening, friends, Fall and more. Let’s get to it.

This little border collie is starting a garden. He is planting pumpkins! First, he must dig, and sow (plant) his seeds.

Then he keeps them warm and safe, with a little mouse watching. The little mouse wants to help a pumpkin grow! Together they help secure the garden from a hungry crow.

Then they ask the crow “You want to help a pumpkin grow?” Together, they tend the garden with onlookers from outside the fence.

And so the dog asks “You want to help a pumpkin grow?”

Together they continue to tend the garden, and stake up the plants as the pumpkins get bigger and bigger as does their friend group. Together they have made an amazing harvest!

Just look at all the pumpkins they have grown together.

Now it is time to enjoy them together, whether in yummy pies…

…or by the glow of candlelight. Happy Halloween!

This is a great rhyming book, which is, of course, excellent for early learning skills, but also, as I said above, a great example of patience, friendship and reward. Sometimes littles forget the good things that come at the end of long chores or tasks. It’s important to remind them, everything in good time. It’s worth the wait.

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Non-Fiction), Reviews

Review: The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons

BentenShisho

Gibbons, Gail. (1999). The Pumpkin Book. Holiday House.

Gail Gibbons The Pumpkin Book, teaches you all about pumpkins, from different varieties (though there are many more now, than there were in 1999 when this book was written), to how a seed works, to how you plant it the best way possible…

…to even the different parts of the flower and how pollen helps to create a pumpkin! It talks about how the first two leaves emerge and how the secondary leaves look different, and exactly what they need to grow. It talks about the tradition of pumpkins in people’s lives, at fairs and includes…

…a somewhat simplified version of the first Thanksgiving, in the context of Native Americans teaching Pilgrims about pumpkins, and includes some cultural aspects of them doing so. It also has, again, simplified origins of Halloween as well, that I take some issue with.

However, it also includes instructions on how to carve a pumpkin, or decorate one if you so choose, as well as how to dry/bake the seeds and some background on the ways people use/used pumpkins and why.

From a horticultural/gardening standpoint, this book is phenomenal for teaching kids about how a pumpkin grows! I was really impressed, though it might be a little too complex for younger preschool kiddos. Again, not wholly impressed with the cultural implications, though there were some points that they touched on (like women in some tries being the tenders of pumpkin fields, and they talk about “The Three Sisters,” and cultural significance for Pueblo tribes, which were good.

Recommended Ages: 5-8

*I could not find a publisher released activity sheet for this book but, someday, I might just make my own. Check back for updates.

Activity and Coloring Sheets, Children's Literature (Ages Birth - 7), Picture Books/Easy Books (Ages 3 and up) (Fiction), Reviews

Review: Amara’s Farm by JayNay Brown-Wood

BentenShisho

Brown-Wood, JaNay. (2022). Amara’s Farm. Peachtree.

*Downloadable activity sheets at the end of this post!

We start the book meeting Amara and getting a look at her farm. She has many plants and animals on her farm, but she needs to pick some pumpkins for a Autumn-time harvest potluck at the end of the day and she needs your help!

Then the book tells you all about pumpkins so you can identify one if you see it in the book! Then you go on an adventure with Amara and her dog, discovering all the different types of fruits and vegetables on the farm, comparing the description of the pumpkin to the plant you are looking at, to determine if this is a pumpkin.

For example, this fluffy white veggie looks like it is growing on stalks (Great opportunity to ask kiddos what they see to increase their early literacy skills!) but pumpkins grow on the ground, in leaves on a vine. Is this a pumpkin? NO! It’s cauliflower! And the book tells you that and some of the differences.

And here is one of the examples of fruit on the farm you can compare to a pumpkin. Figs! It’s a lot of fun!

Will we find Amara’s pumpkins for the potluck? Read and find out? Plus, there is a yummy pumpkin molasses bread recipe in the back! (also included in the activity sheets below)

I absolutely recommend this book. Super cute illustrations by Samara Hardy throughout and specifically, the illustrations and descriptions of the fruit and veggies are spot on, familiarizing kiddos with produce they may not normally see or ones they might like to try, or try to grow!

Recommended Ages: 3-7

Activity Sheets:

Original Source: https://janaybrownwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AmarasFarmActivitySheets.pdf

Amaras Farm – Activity Sheets