The Pumpkin Thief
Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater
Scholastic

Bird has a new favourite activity – growing vegetables. Squirrel though is not convinced: “Nothing is happening! They’re never going to grow!” he insists. However, come the autumn, Bird has five pumpkins to show for his labours. Squirrel’s favourite is an enormous orange one.
Bird hints that Squirrel might consider giving him some help so off goes Squirrel to get his work gloves, only to find there are only four pumpkins remaining. The bushy-tailed creature then decides to do some watering, simultaneously noticing that the number of pumpkins is now three.

On discovering, having filled the watering can, that just two gourds remain, Squirrel is suspicious, eventually concluding that there’s a thief about. Where is Bird now? Surely not taken by that thief. Time to look for clues. Squirrel finds a feather, peck marks, footprints and more, then uses these to construct a sketch of the suspect.

What readers may work out is that each clue points to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. It transpires that Bird was off presenting pumpkins to their other pals and has kept the largest to give to “my very best friend.” You can guess who that is. Why though has Squirrel dragged it right up into the branches of a tree? “So the pumpkin thief can’t find it, of course1” comes the answer.

The final spread comprises pumpkin facts.

Young listeners and readers will delight in the captivating main characters especially Squirrel’s persistence, Bird’s kindness and the crazy antics depicted in Nicola Slater’s vibrant scenes of the autumnal mystery.
Definitely a book to share with KS1 classes in the first part of the autumn term.
So too is:

Squirrel & Duck’s Autumn Adventure
Harriet Stone and Moonlie
Words & Pictures

We join friends, Kit the squirrel and Willow the duck as they explore the joys of autumn, their favourite season. Willow’s remark that it’s difficult to see Kit as his fur blends in with the red and orange of the leaves at this time of year, prompts the squirrel to suggest they play a game of hide-and-seek. Kit hides first but is quickly discovered by his friend and very soon they have run out of new places to hide. Reluctant to stop the game so quickly Kit hides again, but having squeezed into a seemingly ideal hiding spot, he comes upon a mouse. The mouse remains still no matter how much Kit wriggles around and eventually Willow appears on the scene. This alarms the mouse and it explains that being a nocturnal creature, it was fast asleep.

Suddenly as they talk, Kit notices the golden glow of the afternoon sun and this delights the little rodent. Eventually the three of them snuggle up together and fall asleep. What do you think their dreams were about?

After the fun story there’s a ‘Did You Know?’ spread giving information about both squirrels and ducks, make a red squirrel and craft a little duck instructions and a spot the difference game.

With Moonlie’s glowing scenes and Harriet Stone’s engaging text that capture the magic of the season, this is a charming book to curl up and enjoy as the nights begin to draw in. Alternatively it’s a good one to share with Foundation Stage children early in the autumn term.