A CAT IN THE DARK...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We've always been pretty old-fashioned about Halloween.   As a child, my dad was the pumpkin carver, working with us out in the backyard on our old picnic table.  We children were the designers.  As a mom, the fun continued, as I'd glimpse those faraway looks in my own children's eyes, and catch snippets of their conversations with each other about what they wanted to dress up as, and what kind of creations they were going to challenge their dad with carving for them.  It was all about fun and imagination, with a lot of anticipation and excitement thrown in.

Something about going out in the dark of night and seeing all the illuminated neighborhood windows and Jack O'lanterns was - though cozy on the one hand - a bit mischievous and unfamiliar, so we didn't encourage goblin, witch, or gruesome costumes -- just walking around our dark neighborhoods was spooky enough!

Which brings to mind a mesmerizing book by a very talented lady:  THE CAT AT NIGHT, by Dahlov Ipcar.  In this story, we get to spend an evening watching a cat stroll around after dark.  Cats can see in the dark and that's when they like to go exploring!  The pages alternate between almost total darkness, with only silhouettes of the things the cat is passing by, followed by the same scenes in full color that show what is visible to the cat.  He meets other cats before the dawn finally comes, when he must finally leave them and go back to the farmhouse.  He's greeted by the farmer's wife and given milk.  Then he curls up to go to sleep...

And the farmer says, "What a lazy cat.  

He sleeps all night and he sleeps all day, too!"  

But the cat doesn't hear him.  He is dreaming 

about all his adventures in the long, wonderful, dark night.

Another beautiful book by Ipcar (also with an autumn theme) is HARDSCRABBLE HARVEST, in which there is a running battle between a farmer and his wife and the mischievous animals who plunder their fields.  The story is told in rollicking verse, with the distinctive illustrations of Dahlov Ipcar bringing the verse to life.

To read more about Dahlov Ipcar and see her other books and artwork, click here .

OCTOBER IS PUMPKIN TIME!

Pumpkin Moonshine, by Tasha Tudor

Fall is probably my favorite time of year.  Even in California, we get chillier nights, crisp days, and hopefully some colored leaves.  When my children were young, we loved making trips to the pumpkin patch with friends or just our family to see all the pumpkins lined up, large and small.

My husband's company used to host a pumpkin carving contest every year and our kids had lots of fun coming up with original ideas for their entries. It was fun to watch as their creations (with dad's help) took shape:  one year we had a Pumpkin Train Conductor, fitted with an engineer's cap and rigged with a train and track running through our smiling jack-o-'lantern; a Cinderella Coach pumpkin, surrounded with netting and tiny, sparkling lights; a Sinking Titanic pumpkin, complete with toilet paper roll smokestacks; a clown jack-o-'lantern, made using a white pumpkin and a colorful wig; and a pumpkin modeled after my husband, with glasses and a necktie!

There are fun ways to create pumpkins that don't involve carving!  Click Here.

We don't do elaborate jack-o-'lanterns anymore, but I still look forward to finding yummy PUMPKIN RECIPES so we can enjoy the smells and tastes of autumn in our kitchen! And my daughter and I search high and low every fall for pumpkin candy corn!



Here are some fun children's book about all things pumpkin:

THE PUMPKIN BOOK by Gail Gibbons (ages 4-8)
Bold and colorful watercolor illustrations and a descriptive text explain the planting, cultivating, and harvesting of pumpkins. Gibbons also includes a description of their traditional use by the Pilgrims and at Halloween. There are also interesting facts about the history of pumpkins, their nutritional value, pollination, and instructions for drying seeds to eat.

FROM SEED TO PUMPKIN by Wendy Pfeffer (ages 4-8)
One of her science series books, this title explains in simple, clear language the stages in the development of a seed into a pumpkin. Some easy recipes and experiments are included at the end. Kids will understand better the passage of time involved with planting and tending gardens through the appealing watercolor-and-pencil illustrations.

PUMPKIN DAY, PUMPKIN NIGHT by Anne Rockwell (ages 4-8)
As the leaves turn color, signaling the approach of "pumpkin time," young Jeffrey draws sample jack-o-'lantern faces on construction paper in anticipation of soon carving a real pumpkin. Finally pumpkin day arrives; Jeffrey and his mother drive to the farmers market and select their perfectly round and orange choice.  At home they finally carve real jack-o-'lanterns.  Megan Halsey's fun 3-dimensional art is the perfect accompaniment to the lively, rhythmic text.

PUMPKIN MOONSHINE by Tasha Tudor (ages 4-8)
Tudor's delicate orange-framed watercolors of a rural autumn and a bonneted little girl speak to a softer side of Halloween--one that is not overtaken by scary themes or images, but is a reminder of the season in all its fresh abundance. Halloween is coming, and Sylvie Ann wants to make a pumpkin moonshine (or jack-o'-lantern), so she sets out across her Grandmummy and Grandpawp's cornfields to find "the very finest and largest pumpkin."  She finds it - and the problem is, how to get it home!