Apples and Pumpkins are my favorite themes to explore in the fall! Whether you’re brand new to this theme or you’ve been using it for years, I’m sure you’d agree that fantastic picture books are a MUST to support your lessons! Come along and check out my top 10 apples and pumpkins picture books that are perfect for read-aloud time!
Why Teach About Apples and Pumpkins?
As someone who LOVES thematic teaching, I always look for fun topics that help support little learners through cross-curricular lessons. Apples and pumpkins certainly fit the bill! Some of the reasons I love using this theme in the fall include the following:
- Apples and pumpkins make for FUN science lessons focusing on life cycles.
- They’re easy to incorporate with math concepts like measuring, comparing, colors, and counting.
- Since they’re edible, you can plan classroom cooking projects and tastings!
- They’re seasonal symbols that will tie in easily to other things you’re learning about through the fall.
- Children find them highly interesting since they’re easy to bring into the classroom. They can physically hold them in their hands and explore!
The list goes on! But if you’re looking for a fun topic to start your fall season, I can’t recommend apples and pumpkins enough! I love this theme so much that I created a whole unit on it. It’s perfect for September, October, and November when these fruits are ripe and ready for picking! The unit has fun and engaging math and literacy centers, craftivities, science lessons, and more.
There’s also an extensive list of my favorite picture books to support this theme since we all know the BEST way to start a new unit is with books! To help you get started with your planning, here are 10 of my favorite apples and pumpkin picture books.
1. Apples by Gail Gibbons
First up, I had to start with a classic. If you’ve never read any of the picture books from Gail Gibbons, you’re in for a treat! You’d be hard-pressed to find more comprehensive books on any topic!
The author does a great job explaining all about apples in-depth, and the illustrations are beautiful!
In this book, children will learn about the history of the apple tree, the apple life cycle, different varieties of apples, and even how to care for your own apple tree.
There is also a fun recipe for apple pie that would be a great project for homeschoolers or classrooms with access to a kitchen! This book is an absolute MUST-read!
2. The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
This is another one of my favorites and a great choice when first beginning your Apple unit. This book focuses on sisters who have an apple tree in their yard.
The book takes you through the story of the apple tree for an entire year. Because of this, the reader can see the tree’s life cycle and how it changes through the seasons.
As the fall rolls around and the apples are ripe and ready for picking, the children make an apple pie with their family!
I love this book since it shows how the tree changes with the weather and helps children understand the apple tree’s natural progression through the seasons.
3. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Majorie Priceman
This is another fun story that involves everyone’s favorite apple treat- apple pie!
In this captivating tale, readers go on a worldwide adventure to find all of the ingredients needed to make an apple pie. They travel to Italy to get the finest semolina wheat to make flour.
Then they visit England for fresh milk and then travel to Vermont to go apple picking!
This book is such a fun take on a classic way to teach children about what we can use apples for while also tying in a bit of geography and world cultures.
This book also includes a simple recipe for apple pie, so you can make one with your kiddos after reading!
4. Apples, Apples Everywhere! – Learning About Apple Harvests
Have you ever taken a field trip to an apple orchard? It’s one of my absolute favorite activities to do in the fall!
If you’re planning a trip with your children or students, I highly recommend reading this book before you go.
This story invites readers to explore the apple orchard and learn all about harvest time.
This book covers how apples are picked, stored, and used in the fall.
It’s a great story for introducing new vocabulary words before your field trip. I love using this book before we work on some fall writing prompts to encourage students to use some new words we’ve learned!
5. The Biggest Apple Ever by Steven Kroll
This last apple book is perfect for any of your kiddos who love Clayton and Desmond from the Mouseville book series.
This book tells the story of the Mouseville School students preparing to learn about apples in the new school year.
They plan to kick off their lessons with a contest to find the biggest apple ever!
Clayton and Desmond are both hoping to claim the prize.
They struggle to find an apple large enough on their own, so they decide to collaborate and work as a team. This book is a fantastic way to continue to tie in your apple theme while also opening the conversation around friendship and teamwork!
6. From Seed to Pumpkin: A Fall Book for Kids by Wendy Pfeffer
Once you’re ready to move on to learning all about pumpkins, this picture book is a great one to kick things off!
This book provides all of the introductory information you’ll want to focus on when teaching the life cycle of a pumpkin.
Just as the title says, students will learn how they go from seed to pumpkin, step by step.
I love using this book as a way to compare the similarities and differences between apples and pumpkins.
This book also has a fun experiment included to help kiddos understand how roots “drink” water from the ground, which would be great to include in your science lessons!
7. The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
Next up, what kiddo doesn’t like a silly story?
The Runaway Pumpkin is a silly and joyful story that will leave students smiling and excited as you turn each page.
In this book, three siblings accidentally send a huge pumpkin rolling down the hillside and bumping into everything in its path!
This silly story follows the children’s family members as each one has a different idea of what they could use the enormous pumpkin for. This is a fun way to introduce the many delicious treats we can make with pumpkins!
8. The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
Clayton and Desmond are back with another fun fall story that students will love!
In this book, both of the boys have their eyes on the same giant pumpkin.
Desmond wants to carve a giant jack-o-lantern, while Clayton wants to win the Biggest Pumpkin contest.
Kiddos will love hearing what the mice decide to do when they discover their favored pumpkins are actually the same one!
9. How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara
If you plan to open a pumpkin and let your students explore its insides, this book is perfect!
In this book, a teacher asks students to estimate how many seeds are in a few pumpkins.
The children cast their votes, and then they slice each one open.
The children are super surprised by the outcome of their experiment, and I’m betting yours will be too!
Read this book before slicing open pumpkins in your own class for a fun math and science activity that the whole class will love!
10. Pumpkin Town! by Katie McKy
Last, but not least, I have one more silly story that students will LOVE!
In this book, the town gardener plants an abundance of pumpkin seeds. As the vines grow all over the town, they realize they have a problem.
The town is absolutely overflowing with pumpkins!
This book will leave your kiddos chuckling and its a fun story to read and discuss before some creative writing time.
Ask students what they would do if their own town was overflowing with pumpkins and see what they can come up with!
Ideas for Planning Your Own Apples and Pumpkins Unit
So, which of these picture books looked most fun to you? If you’re anything like me, picking a favorite is no easy task… The good thing is, you don’t have to! After all, there can never be enough books, right?!
If you’re looking for even more book inspiration, be sure to check out all of my favorites for apples and pumpkins on Amazon. You’ll find even more fun books that are the perfect companion for your classroom’s apples and pumpkins theme. I love using these books alongside my Apples and Pumpkins Thematic Teaching Unit in the fall.
If you’re curious about how to use these books with lessons, be sure to take a peek at this post for a detailed look at my lesson plan! No matter what skills you’re hoping to target, there’s a little bit of everything for the primary classroom.
Save This Apples and Pumpkins Book List
I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite apples and pumpkins picture books. Remember to pin this post on Pinterest to keep these ideas handy!
