Two Fall Favorite Food Items Are Best Friends in Colorful Picture Book

Both pumpkins and squash are fall favorites for making delicious dishes. G.G. McQueen's colorful and fun picture book Squash & Pumpkin #Squash Goals is a fun read for young readers who like to cook. Reading together and preparing a recipe to enhance the reading experience is always an interesting activity for young readers.

Pumpkin and Squash are best friends through the seasons of summer, winter, and spring. Things change when fall arrives. Pumpkin becomes the favorite because the smell of pumpkin is everywhere. People use pumpkins for all kinds of delicious fall foods. Pumpkin spice latte is here for the season. Pumpkin soup is delicious. Pumpkin pie is always a favorite. The acorn squash feels that no one notices her anymore. Squash makes a goal to have everyone notice her to make her a star in the fall season. She sets up a booth at the Harvest Festival for people to experience her. She sets up a pop-up shop with all kinds of food items that people can make from the acorn squash. Her goal is not met and the pumpkin is still the favorite for the autumn season. Pumpkin and Squash decide to combine to create something that everyone will want. Working together as best friends creates a great plan.

Michael Stack contributed his talents as an illustrator with brightly colored and engaging illustrations for the adventure with Squash and Pumpkin.

Squash & Pumpkin #Squash Goals is recommended for ages 3-8. It was published by Doubleday Books for Young Readers. It has an ISBN of 978-0-593-80590-9.

Teachers who teach in early education classrooms will want to add this colorful picture book to their fall collection of books. The book presents the opportunity for teachers to add cooking activities with fall foods to their classroom curriculum. Tasting parties are always a fun way to enhance the reading experience for young children.

*Read Squash & Pumpkin #Squash Goals in a story time session. Bring a pumpkin and an acorn gourd squash for children to experience.

*Call attention to the ways that people use pumpkins to make delicious dishes. Bring a sample of pumpkin spice for children to experience.

*Create a cooking activity for children to make pumpkin soup. An electric skillet or hot plate with a large pot is a classroom-friendly cooking tool to make the soup.

*Call attention to the illustrations of the variety of gourds that arrive in the fall. Bring in these gourds for children to experience.

*Cut a pumpkin open for children to experience the inside of a pumpkin. Cut the gourds open to compare the insides of each.

*Invite families to bring their favorite pumpkin dish for children to experience. Family Night is an involving activity for parents to participate in a reading experience with children that will enhance the experience with Squash & Pumpkin #Squash Goals.

*Create a math activity for children to graph their favorite gourd.

*Engage children in a discussion of the plan for Squash and Pumpkin to work together as a team and best friends to give something for all to enjoy with a food dish. How can classmates work together to create an engaging activity for every friend to enjoy?

G. G. McQueen is a talented author who has been a writer for The Great American Baking Show, the Secret Guide to Fabulous, and MTV's Video Music Awards. Squash & Pumpkin #Squash Goals is her first book for children. Butternut squash is her favorite food.

Michael Slack is a talented artist, illustrator, and author. A few of his books include Dinosaurs on Kittie Island, Sharing Does Not Compute, and the Nugget and Fang series.