Literary pumpkins: Students create pumpkins inspired by favourite books

We all know fairy godmothers can turn a simple pumpkin into a crystal coach but how about transforming a pumpkin into the Wicked Witch of the West, a majestic blue dragon or a shiny, silver robot?

Those are just some of the fun pumpkin creations on display at West Kent Elementary School.

To celebrate School Library Week on P.E.I., West Kent students in grades 3 through 6 were asked to decorate a pumpkin in the likeness of their favourite book character.

The students took up the challenge. They used paint, tin foil, feathers, cardboard, duct tape, googly eyes and lots of imagination.

Teacher-librarian Patti Graham was thrilled with the students' creativity.

Fostering a love of reading

"They took the idea and ran with it. What is amazing is the accessories and different creative ways they put the pumpkins together," she said.

Beyond the fun of the craft, the goal of the activity was to foster a love of reading in the students and to get kids excited about reading new books, said Graham.

"We're always trying to get them interested in books to share ideas. A lot of times kids will pick up a book because their friend said it was a great book," she said.

"Some kids will say 'I don't like to read' but I always say, you just haven't found the right book yet. So the more exposure they have to different characters eventually that will grab their attention."

Don't judge a book by its cover

Grade 6 student Abby Craig created one of the most talked about pumpkins. She was inspired by the book Out of my Mind.

The book's front cover features a goldfish jumping out of a fishbowl.

"It took a long time, and I was just sitting on the computer scrolling through Pintrest, looking for pumpkin ideas and then it came to me the pumpkin looks like a bowl! Oooh, idea!"

Abby painted her pumpkin to look like a fish bowl, sewed a fish out of an old T-shirt and attached it to the pumpkin with a wire coat hanger, turning it into a watery fish bowl complete with a fish jumping out of it.

Abby Craig said Out of my Mind made a big impact on her.

"We read it in class and it was kind of sad, but I just think it has a good message," she said. "It's about a girl who is in a wheelchair and she gets left out of a lot, but in the end they figure out she's the smartest kid in the school and they learn, don't judge a book by its cover."

She said she learned "that nobody's really the way they seem until you really get to know them."

From the Wizard of Oz to Pokemon

Grade 3 student Victoria Paton turned her pumpkin into the wicked witch of the west, from a classic children's book,The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

She got creative and used the stem of the pumpkin as the witch's craggly, ugly nose.

"My dad cut off the stem and then we nailed it on to the pumpkin," she explained.

There were shiny robots, a majestic blue dragon, princesses, and pikachu.

Several students painted pumpkins to look like a book's cover art.

There was even a gourd that looked exactly like character Geronimo Stilton.

'There is comfort in your favourite book'

Graham hopes the students learn something from the project that lasts well beyond Halloween a love of reading.

"They learn how to live good lives, the messages they learn from their favourite books kind of help them with their own life choices we can learn so much from books not just how to read," she said.

"There is comfort in your favourite book. People like to curl up with a book and just get lost in a book."

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