17 Best Pumpkin Books for Kids

One of the best vegetables in autumn is the PUMPKIN! Here are pumpkin books to read to your kids and students that will teach them about pumpkins.

The first section lists fall-themed pumpkin books. The second lists Halloween and Thanksgiving-themed pumpkin books.

Happy reading!

Fall Pumpkin Books

Amara’s Farm by JaNay Brown-Wood, illustrated by Samara Hardy
Learn about pumpkins with Amara, who needs to harvest her pumpkins. As she searches the farm, we learn about the features of pumpkins with a search and find and compare and contrast. For example, “A pumpkin is large and round. Is that a pumpkin? // No. That’s an apple. An apple is round, but not large like a pumpkin.” A good fall book to read aloud for the fall harvest season.

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
Three good friends, Cat, Squirrel, and Duck, always make pumpkin soup the same way, doing the same thing. Everyone has a job until Duck wants to stir instead of adding in salt. The friends fight, and Duck storms off very mad. Luckily, the three resolve their differences, learn to compromise and support each other, and still enjoy their pumpkin soup at the end. No matter how messy the process is. I love the messages of friendship and cooperation!

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
On a glorious fall day, a little girl picks apples and looks for the perfect pumpkin.

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
Tim loves his pumpkin so much that he names it Jack. After Halloween, he takes his slowly rotting pumpkin to the garden. There, Tim watches Jack decompose and notices that in the spring, pumpkins grow in that same spot. A great story about plants, life cycles, and seasons.

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum
Colorful photographs and well-written text explain the life cycle of a pumpkin from seed to root to vines and pollination, all the way to harvest.

How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor
Have you heard about pumpkin festivals where the biggest pumpkins win awards? What else could you do with your enormous pumpkins? The author imagines if there were giant pumpkins all over the United States — as big as the Grand Canyon or at a balloon festival in New Mexico or carved and used as a boat in a race! Playful fun!

The Roll-Away Pumpkin by Junia Wonders, illustrated by Daniela Volpari
Just like the Gingerbread Man ran away, this pumpkin is rolling away. As it does, more people join the little girl named Marla as she chases after it. Each time she sees a new person, she exclaims, “Diddle-dee-doo! Oh, what shall I do?” The exquisite illustrations, repeating sentences, and a charming story make this a favorite pumpkin-themed story about helping and sharing.

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, illustrated by Megan Lloyd
Rebecca loves to garden but she hates pumpkins because as a child she ate them all the time. So when a pumpkin falls off a truck near her yard, she shovels dirt over it and forgets it. Until…the pumpkin seeds sprout up and pumpkins take over her garden. Rebecca shifts her thinking to use the pumpkins and pumpkin recipes to spread joy through her community.

Halloween & Thanksgiving Pumpkin Books

Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin? by Karen Katz
Don’t you just love Karen Katz books? In this adorable Halloween-flavored story, baby searches around the house for her pumpkin. Help her find it by lifting the flaps. Where will it be?

We’re Going on a Pumpkin Hunt by Goldie Hawk, illustrated by Angie Rozelaar
A fun adaptation of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” that is absolutely pitch-perfect to read aloud to celebrate Halloween! Trick or Treating friends are looking for the perfect pumpkin, but to find it, they must brave cobwebs, bats, and a spooky house. But they’re not scared!! Lots of fun spooky sound noises like “creaky-squeak, flap-flap, tickle-swish, and meow-meow” for readers to chant along.

Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas
Duck starts to carve a jack-o-lantern but accidentally falls into the pumpkin– and gets stuck. And the results are hilarious! Duck’s antics will keep your kids (and you) in stitches.

It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! By Laura Numeroff
Learn about feelings in this simple board book. Mouse paints seven pumpkins with different kinds of faces — silly, scary, friendly, and sad. Love it.

The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sonali Fry, illustrated by Sanja Rescek
Using the nursery rhyme “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” as inspiration, this Halloween story is about a pumpkin trying to find his way home. With a little help from a witch, the itsy bitsy pumpkin makes it back to his porch. Kids love that you can sing or read this darling pumpkin book to them.

The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz
The rhyming text narrates the tale of a pumpkin who never gets picked. Finally, he leaves the pumpkin patch in search of where he belongs. And then he finds the truth — he’s a squash — and he has a place on the beautiful Thanksgiving table.

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
How can the witch get the biggest, heaviest pumpkin off the vine? You’ll be surprised who can help! (Hint: It’s not the vampire or the ghost.)

Invisible Inkling Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins
(CHAPTER BOOK for ages 6 – 9)
Invisible Inkling is an invisible bandapat that lives with 4th grader Hank. He also LOVES to eat pumpkins. Unfortunately, Inkling destroys the pumpkins that Hank’s sister is entering in the Dangerous Pumpkins contest and Hank gets blamed. Will things work out for Hank and Inkling? We sure hope so!