Detective brothers Frank and Joe investigate a crime of smashin’ in the tenth book in the interactive Hardy Boys Clue Book series. Frank, Joe, and their best friend Chet are attending Bayport Zoo’s annual Halloween carnival. Frank and Joe have a routine planned for Scaryoke, and Chet has entered the pumpkin pie-eating contest—he even brought his own whipped cream! After their performance, Frank and Joe go to check out the painted pumpkins on display. But when the brothers enter the tent, they see their Scaryoke song wasn’t the only smash hit at the carnival. The floor is littered with bits of pulverized pumpkins! What’s worse, the organizer says that unless the culprits are caught by the end of the day, this will be the last Boo at the Zoo…forever! Can Frank and Joe find out what happened before it’s too late? Or is this pumpkin crime unpatchable?

When two cats compete in a pumpkin contest, they both win a new friend in this charming story about pumpkins, Halloween, and cats! Mimi and Clara are neighbors. Both cats want to win this fall’s Great Pumpkin Contest. As the competition draws near, Mimi’s pumpkin grows larger...and larger...and LARGER. And soon the pumpkin—and her worries—are bigger than she imagined. Can Clara help Mimi find her way? With adorable artwork from author and illustrator Angie Rozelaar of Planet Cat Studio, The Great Pumpkin Contest is a perfect Halloween story, and a reassuring reminder that even in a competition, friendship always comes first.

Since 1973, Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletins have offered practical, hands-on instructions designed to help readers master dozens of country living skills quickly and easily. There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

Win the blue ribbon every time! Master Gardener Jodi Torpey offers all the information you need to grow champion vegetables — beans, beets, cabbages, cucumbers, eggplants, onions, peppers, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes — covering everything from choosing the right varieties and scheduling planting dates to harvesting, preparing, and transporting your produce. She also walks you through every aspect of competitive showing, with useful tips for thinking like a judge. This book will delight you with lively photos of mammoth pumpkins, truly gigantic onions, perfectly pear-shaped eggplants, and the farmers and gardeners who grow them. Filled with the excitement of a county fair, it’s a fun read as well as a solid guide to growing the biggest, tastiest, best-looking vegetables for miles around.

Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o'-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop. In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of the pumpkin. Beginning with the myth of the first Thanksgiving, she shows how Americans have used the pumpkin to fulfull their desire to maintain connections to nature and to the family farm of lore, and, ironically, how small farms and rural communities have been revitalized in the process. And while the pumpkin has inspired American myths and traditions, the pumpkin itself has changed because of the ways people have perceived, valued, and used it. Pumpkin is a smart and lively study of the deep meanings hidden in common things and their power to make profound changes in the world around us.

As he works to introduce Pumpkin Fest to Woodland Park, Jonas Kirk stirs a nest of hidden enmities and memories of wretched misbehaviors. Four childhood friends, community leaders now, help organize the event . . . and then they begin to die—accidents it would appear. At the same time, Kirk finds himself increasingly lethargic, distracted from his commitments, and singularly focused on growing a pumpkin. “Really, Jonas? Gardening?” Sharon Cunningham asked. For a time, he had no answers for his preoccupation. A new face, Roger Blaisdell, sensed Kirk’s emptiness, bonded and re-energized him. Together, they helped Devlin solve deaths, both old and new, redefining community leadership in Woodland Park for another generation.

That’s NOT All, Folks!Cartoons feature fun characters, catchy music, and hilarious stories¬¬, but if that’s all you think they’re good for––you’re missing out! Behind the wacky dramas and laugh-out-loud gags, cartoons can teach viewers a little something about life, about themselves, even about God.Author Steven Case explores the world of cartoons for subtle spiritual principles. He gives these modern fables the respect they’re due by calling attention to important topics such as:-Friendship-Integrity-Motivation-Prayer Open the door to serious discussion by breaking the ice with laughter. As Paul writes, there is a “basic holiness that permeates all things.” Toons That Teach shows us how to look for the presence of the Holy Spirit in the most unlikely of places. By providing tools and lessons on how to connect the sacred and the animated, students will learn to recognize biblical principles anywhere and everywhere!