As two young children help plant and tend vegetables over the spring and into summer, they are puzzled by the mystery vine creeping across the garden. What could it be? “Carrot tops were good for tickles; cucumbers for making pickles. We looked and looked for clue or sign to help us guess the Mystery Vine.” It isn’t until fall that they finally get an answer: pumpkins—lots of pumpkins! To bake into pies, to carve into jack-o-lanterns, and with seeds to roast and seeds to save and plant again. Cathryn Falwell’s pleasing story is illustrated with inviting collage art that punctuates the brown earth and green leaves of the garden with the children’s brightly hued clothing and colors of the harvest. The enthusiastic siblings have light brown skin and very green thumbs indeed. (Ages 3–6)

As the seasons go by, the mystery vine grows and grows and grows. Now, finally, it is autumn, and the mystery vine is no longer a mystery.

Hello, pumpkins!

This is the season for jack-o'-lanterns, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin seeds—ready for toasting and munching, and for saving and planting come spring.