Customer Reviews

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book depicts a class of ten children who are given three pumpkins (big, medium, and small) and asked how many seeds are in a pumpkin? The children estimate, scrape the seeds out themselves, decide what method to use to determine the number of seeds, and then count using that method (skip-counting, with one group counting by 2s, another by 5s, and Charlie the protagonist counting by 10s). They then realize that the small pumpkin has the most seeds, and their teacher explains why. The children are enthusiastic in their mathematical endeavor. The illustrations are charming, and the kids are depicted very expressively throughout.

There was some effort put into making the class diverse, as the children have a range of skin and hair colors, with four boys and six girls in the class of ten. Also the "lesson" to not be deceived by small size is a bit strained considering that the teacher continues to line the children up by height throughout the book. That aside, it is a book that my children enjoyed reading. Over and over again.

Also includes a page of factual information about pumpkins.

This book was a wonderful accompaniment to counting pumpkin seeds in our first grade classroom. It would be appropriate for any of the lower grades. I read the first part before the children dug seeds out of pumpkins and counted them and allowed them to come up with their own estimates and strategies for keeping track of the amounts. Then we returned to the book to see how the class in the book counted theirs. It included some interesting facts about pumpkins and ways to predict which have the most seeds. Along with the good mathematical thinking was a nice metaphor for the small boy in the story about the smallest pumpkin having the most seeds. Nice illustrations.

This book is about a young boy, Charlie who is shorter than all his other classmates. Charlie dislikes having to line up at school because Mr. Tiffin has his class do so by size, and Charlie is always last. Until one day Mr. Tiffin comes up with a class activity where he has the class count pumpkin seeds. There are three pumpkins, one is big, one is medium and the other is small. He has the students get into groups to count the seeds in the pumpkins. Charlie is in a group all alone and ends up with the small pumpkin. Everyone seems to think his will have the least amount of seeds because it is the smallest. Until finally the class counts and reveals how many seeds were in the pumpkins it just so happens Charlie's pumpkin had the most seeds. Charlie then comes to realize small is okay after all. Mr. Tiffin allows the class to line up after they count the seeds by smallest to largest and Charlie finally is the first in line! This is a great book to use with young children who are learning to count in groups and the illustrations also appear to represent a diverse group of students. Each of them are a little different than the other in terms of size, color and the type of clothing they wear.

We found this book in our local library and bought it through Amazon. This is an EXCELLENT book. The other reviews are thorough; however, I think it is interesting to note that the main character's best friend, Alex, is a girl (which was a nice "surprise" for our son). Additionally, there are some great learning opportunities (math - as indicated by a previous reviewer) including some "life lessons" (particularly about being short) and some interesting information about pumpkins (I learned quite a bit myself!). Our kids love this book...and so do we! :)

This is a must-have for teachers! It's appropriate for 1st grade through 3rd. I use it every year the week of Halloween to practice making predictions, graphing, measuring, and skip counting.

I bought this for my kinder class! It was great! It talks about counting seeds and just sizing in a fun way. We read this book before we carved out a pumpkin in groups and counted the seeds in it. It is a great compliment to teaching kids about pumpkins and the seeds inside.

I love this book! It has so much to offer for a curious child. I bought it for my soon-to-be 3 year old son after we checked it out via the library and wanted a copy for our home. It has counting, visual stimulation, size variation, as well as helps little Charlie (the smallest kid in class) find confidence and a quiet pride about being the littlest! (No, my son is actually tall for his age but I like him to know that all sizes are great!) I recommend this for anyone who loves to read to their child and likes to have sneaky little learning moments tucked into each page! Seriously a great book for any child 2-7 years old!

This book is in great condition and arrived quickly. I can't wait to use it in my classroom in October!

As an educator, "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin" was perfect for the science unit that I did with Kindergartners. It could also be used in the higher grades. Very cute book.

My first grade class loved it! I read the book after we estimated how many seeds were in our pumpkin. We estimated how many seed were in our pumpkin. They loved pointing out facts that they learned from the book.