Tag Archives: Pumpkin

Top Ten Tuesday: Picture Books About Pumpkins

The text reads, “Top Ten Tuesday. www.thatartsyreadergirl.com.” Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

For this week’s fall-themed freebie post, here are ten adorable picture books about pumpkins. 

Book cover for Pumpkin Spice by Arie Kaplan. Image on cover shows a drawing of a little brunette white girl and friendly jack-o-lantern who are both gazing up and smiling at the orange autumn leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Pumpkin Spice by Arie Kaplan

 

Book cover for The Bumpy Pumpkin: A Read-Aloud Story About Embracing Differences and Loving Yourself by Natalie Horseman. Image on cover shows a sad little orange pumpkin covered in bumps. He or she is surrounded by pumpkins that are smooth and don’t have blemishes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Bumpy Pumpkin: A Read-Aloud Story About Embracing Differences and Loving Yourself by Natalie Horseman

 

Book cover for Where Is Baby's Pumpkin? (Karen Katz Lift-the-Flap Books) by Karen Katz. Image on cover shows a drawing of a white brunette baby who is pulling back a blue curtain with stars print on it. Behind the curtain is a jack-o-lantern!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin? (Karen Katz Lift-the-Flap Books) by Karen Katz

 

Book cover for Grumpkin by Nicola Edwards. Image on cover is a drawing of a pumpkin who has a very grumpy expression on his or her face. They are sitting outside underneath a tree and the full moon. Orange leaves are gently falling around them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Grumpkin by Nicola Edwards

 

 

Book cover for You Are My Pumpkin by Joyce Wan. Image on cover is a drawing of a little orange pumpkin whose cheeks are red. He or she is smiling, and there is a curled section of the leaves on its head that looks like a curl of hair falling down its forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. You Are My Pumpkin by Joyce Wan

 

Book cover for The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Image on cover shows a jack-o-lantern sitting by the side of a road as an old woman begins walking on that road. At the end of the road is a small house whose windows are illuminated with light as dusk approaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

 

Book cover for Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. Image on cover shows a drawing of a cat, a white duck, and a squirrel sharing a bowl of pumpkin soup together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

 

Book cover for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Justine Korman Fontes. Image on cover shows Charlie Brown, the comic strip character, sitting joyfully in a pumpkin patch after dark. Snoopy the Dog is running around with a scarf and a pair of goggles on his head in the distant meadow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Justine Korman Fontes

I couldn’t possibly have created this post without including this old classic in the list!

 

Book cover for This Is NOT a Pumpkin by Bob Staake. Image on cover shows a perfectly round pumpkin floating in the air above a flat, green field. The sky behind it is partly cloudy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. This Is NOT a Pumpkin by Bob Staake

 

Book cover for The Biggest Pumpkin Surprise Ever by Steven Kroll. Image on cover shows about eight little mice who are all wearing clothes gathered around a gigantic pumpkin in a garden. One is climbing a ladder to better inspect the pumpkin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. The Biggest Pumpkin Surprise Ever by Steven Kroll

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A Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe for Halloween and Thanksgiving

A slice of pumpkin chocolate chip cake on a black and white side plate

I’m veering a little off-topic today and sharing one of my favourite autumn recipes.This is something I found on a vegan blog many years ago. If that site still existed, I’d link to it and give credit.

Not only is this cake dairy-free, it can be soy, egg, and nut-free as well as long as you select allergen-safe chocolate chips for it.

This means that it can be shared with many different types of people who are often otherwise left out of the dessert festivities during Thanksgiving, Halloween, and other holidays.

And who doesn’t love inclusive desserts?

 

Ingredients

Cupcakes (double these measurements for a cake)

1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cinnamon Icing (Optional)

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted vegan margarine (or similar oil/fat substitute)
1 Tbsp non dairy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

A pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake on a decorative side plate

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, stir the first 5 ingredients. Then sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a second bowl. Stir with a fork as using a hand mixer will make the batter gummy. Once combined, fold in chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full (if making cupcakes) and bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick pushed into the middle of one of them comes out clean.

If you’re making a cake, lightly grease an 11×7 baking pan, pour it in, and bake it while using the same toothpick trick to see when it’s done. This takes about 30-35 minutes in my oven.

Cool completely before icing them.

To make the icing, stir all of those ingredients together gently. The icing will naturally be a bit runny, so you really don’t want to be using it on a warm cake that will only make it runnier.

Like I said before, double this recipe for a cake.

Yes, you can use any sort of oil you have on hand. I recommend using white flour for it, but do let me know how it is with whole wheat pastry flour if you decide to go that route.

The pumpkin puree makes this cake quite moist and dense. The sugar and chocolate chips create a pretty sweet treat, so I generally skip the icing altogether.

This cake freezes well. Let it thaw gently at room temperature for a few hours or until it’s soft all the way through.

My local grocery store sells chocolate chips that are free of the top eight allergens, including milk, soy, eggs, and nuts. If you can’t find something similar at your local grocery store, check any health food stores that might be nearby. You could also order them online in many areas if you plan ahead a little.

Enjoy!

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