The narrative is very text heavy. Cooper relies more on words than illustrations. This could make it less appealing to younger readers with shorter attention spans. However, she does use different fonts and formats to help make the text more interesting. Retell the story to a friend. Can you use different voices and expressions? Listen to the audiobook version of the story. The tale itself was a pretty good one, with everyone wanting to try each other's jobs and taking each other's skills for granted. On the whole, it's a fun story to read aloud and would be a good precursor to a discussion about fighting among friends, different skillsets and wanting to try different things. It has an easy recipe for pumpkin soup at the end of the story and our girls are excited to try it. It is a very nice tale about accepting our own limitations, pushing them, helping each others, and friendship. And pumpkin soup, of course!!

Make a list of the different words that are used instead of ‘said’ in the story, e.g. murmured, snapped, squeaked, wailed. Helen Cooper (1963 - ) is an Oxford-based children’s author and illustrator. Before she could read words, Cooper ‘read’ books by making up her own stories to go with the pictures. Drawings alongside The Little Red Hen inspired a story about three argumentative animals cooking together in a house in the woods. Cooper’s pumpkin theme was influenced by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).In the illustrations, there is steam rising from the Pumpkin soup. What is this? How does evaporation work? One of the illustrations shows the animals making their soup, as seen through the window. Can you draw a picture with a view through a window (looking into or out of a building)?

Pumpkin soup sounds so good, but Ill admit the only times I’ve eaten it are in restaurants, even though I have no doubt I have access to many recipes for it. The story got a bit scary at one point, even though the fear was limited to the imaginations of two of the friends. Look at the illustrations of Cat and Squirrel waiting on the steps. Could you draw a series of pictures like this to show some events that have taken place in a morning / afternoon? added later] We made the pumpkin soup, and while our girls were pretty excited that we were making the recipe from the book (and they even got to add their own "pipkins" of salt), they weren't as enthusiastic about the taste. I thought it was lovely. Oh well... Some of the illustrations were just precious (in a good way) and some I wanted to appreciate more than I did. They are unusual and wonderfully large. I think part of my issue was with the three animal characters. The soup, house, outdoor scenes were all lovely and/or spectacular.

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Write a set of instructions to teach people how to make pumpkin soup (see Resources below). You could also use this video to help you: A bestselling story about friendship by Oxford author Helen Cooper, with appealing characters and beautiful autumnal illustrations. Helen Cooper creates a warm, inviting world in her “Pumpkin Soup.” It tells the story of three friends working through the challenges of friendship all while enjoying pumpkin soup.

Everyone is happy when they have their own job to do. What jobs and routines do people do to keep everything organised? Do you have any classroom jobs? Look at the facial expressions of the characters in each illustration. How are they feeling? What might they be thinking? A collection of outstanding illustrations accompany a great story, that can immerse it's audience with it's charm. Cat plays a bagpipe and Squirrel plays the banjo. How do these instruments sound? How are they played?

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Cooper’s other books include The Bear Under the Stairs (1993) and Tatty Ratty (2001). She has also written novels aimed at older children, including The Hippo at the End of the Hall (2018).