Keep students happily focused on learning during two of the most exciting holidays of the year for the elementary classroom-Halloween and Valentine's Day. Poems and excerpts are used as launching points for such projects as writing spooky tongue twisters or designing animal valentine cartoons. Reproducible language arts strategies teach word play, interviewing, letter writing, research skills, problem solving, and metaphorical language while encouraging divergent thinking. Grades 1-5.

A sister and brother plant and tend their own pumpkin patch so they will have jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.

When Winnie decides to grow vegetables in her garden, she gets more than she bargained for - giant beanstalks, colossal cabbages, and an enormous pumpkin perched on her roof! But what can Winnie do with her huge pumpkin when only the shell is left? Prepare to be amazed!

Spin the wheel. Date the guy. Write the story. Fall in love? Six years ago, Kitty Valentine took the book world by storm when her sweet debut romance hit number one on the Best Sellers List, which was followed by a string of successful releases. Her latest novel, however, totally bombs, causing her editor to suggest she write much sexier books. To Kitty, writing smut is the literary equivalent of stripping. But with no advance coming in and her royalties dipping to an all-time low, Kitty has no choice. Armed with a hot-guy spinning prize wheel, made by her best friend, listing all the different types of men she will date and then write about, Kitty will be spinning—not stripping—her way back onto the best-sellers list. And in the process, she just might write her own happily ever after.

Spin the wheel. Date the guy. Write the story. Fall in love? Six years ago, Kitty Valentine took the book world by storm when her sweet debut romance hit number one on the Best Sellers List, which was followed by a string of successful releases. Her latest novel, however, totally bombs, causing her editor to suggest she write much sexier books. To Kitty, writing smut is the literary equivalent of stripping. But with no advance coming in and her royalties dipping to an all-time low, Kitty has no choice. Armed with a hot-guy spinning prize wheel, made by her best friend, listing all the different types of men she will date and then write about, Kitty will be spinning—not stripping—her way back onto the best-sellers list. And in the process, she just might write her own happily ever after.

Award-winning artist Wendell Minor celebrates America's love for giant pumpkins alongside famous American landmarks and landscapes Every year, giant pumpkin contests take place at fairs across the country—the 2012 record-holder weighed over a ton! The latest craze is to carve the most enormous pumpkins into racing boats. But what’s next? Why not think really big? Award-winning artist Wendell Minor does just that as he imagines larger-than-life pumpkins decorating some of America’s favorite places—as immense as the Capitol dome, Mount Rushmore, the Brooklyn Bridge, even the Grand Canyon! This celebration of famous landmarks and landscapes plays with concepts of size and scale and is full of fun facts. "Minor illustrates this simple text with lush, rich paintings that portray resplendent autumn scenes...This visually stunning book is sure to be a favorite autumn read-aloud."—School Library Journal "A marvelous example of the way seasonal books can enhance the excitement surrounding a holiday."—Booklist