From My Reading Chair…
We Planted a Pumpkin takes us from one tiny seed to one glorious Halloween pumpkin.
Although first, we must pass through the considerably more adorable stages of:
Bumpkin. Plumpkin. PUMPKIN! (Urgh, my heart cannot process this cuteness overload! Genius wording, Rob, utter genius!)
Rob Ramsden’s bold shapes and rich textures are sumptuous and really easy on the younger eyeballs and busy minds. There’s a layered, printmaking feel to the artwork, giving it something rustic but recognisable. A creeping vine threads its way across the book, quietly pulling us along the journey from seed to pumpkin while the repeated waiting makes us feel just how slowly the stubborn little thing is growing.
Very, very slowly… because pumpkins apparently have zero regard for my eternal Halloween timetable.
The children must plant their seed, water it and wait. And wait. And wait some more. I feel that this slow, steady, reliable pace makes the eventual appearance of their bright orange pumpkin feel even more exciting. In a world of instant gratification and overstimulation, there’s something rather grounding about having to reconnect with nature and accept that it will take time. Perhaps we should try to slow ourselves down too. Become rooted in patience, if you will. (Pun absolutely intended.)
You can’t swipe for a bigger pumpkin. You can’t zoom in on the soil to see what’s happening. It’s hope and patience and care. You have to keep giving to something before it has anything particularly exciting to show you. Which is an enormous thing to ask when you’re small (and BIG!) and it feels like Halloween is taking FOREVER to arrive.
This would make a gorgeous companion book to revisit as you plant and nurture your seeds into BUMP-PLUMPKINS. Muddy hands, ruddy cheeks, mucky clothes and endless page turning.
Although growing your own does require considerably more patience and gardening competence than popping to the supermarket, I imagine it’s infinitely more rewarding. After all, saying “I PLANTED A PUMPKIN!” has been a life goal of mine for a frankly absurd amount of time… Maybe this is the year it finally makes it off my to-do list and into my very own pumpkin patch.
Creep on Reading, Pumpkins!
