The illustrations in this book are beautiful! It shows the importance of patience and the power of gardening. Would be a great book to read in the fall!

This book is so cool, the story, the ilustration. Great job! I hope can read more book like this. Thank you!

3.5 stars - A very interesting book! Can't say I've read one quite like it. I wasn't overly familiar with the world of pumpkin contests or that they are used as boats. I was reading it thinking it was a little wacky, so kids would enjoy it. The illustrations are really lovely.

Let It Grow! by Mary Ann Fraser starts like many other growing a pumpkin books, with a seed, then a sprout, a flower, and a fruit. The format shows a child responding to the questions about when and how he will pick the pumpkin and what he will do with the fruit, such as eat it or create a Jack-o-Lantern. By the end, the pumpkin has taken a trip to the fair, but it's journey doesn't end there. A little-known contest of sailing in a pumpkin shell is featured both in the artist's rendering and in photos with the factual back matter. Overall it is a unique spin on a familiar topic, especially good for classroom use to show the students they might now know all the answers from the beginning to the end, and some surprises remain!

Let It Grow by Mary Ann Fraser offers a great lesson in patience. Most people these days are so eager for results, they aren't willing to wait for things to reach their full potential. But this story is different. It tells the story of a boy who is willing to wait and wait and wait to let his pumpkin grow to turn into something even more amazing: a boat! I loved the twist ending here and was fascinated by the idea of people actually sailing in pumpkins. A great fall buy!

Quick Synopsis
A boy has a pumpkin seed and decides to let it grow, grow, grow! At each stage he has the opportunity to stop the seed’s development and do something special with what it has become, but each time he is asked he exhibits patience for the end result he is seeking.

Multiple Possibilities
There is so much you can do with this book! Autumn, Life Cycle, Gardening, History, Patience, Determination, Relationships. This is great for a pre-K to 2nd grade read aloud book. It’s awesome because intertwined with the life cycle are ideas on how you can sustainably use the plant at each stage. This is a great read to add to your Fall book collection. I also love that the book features a little black boy and his grandfather as the characters.

There are plenty of opportunities for little ones to engage and interact with the text during a read aloud, for example “Oh no! I’ll let it grow!” At certain points children can begin guessing what the little boy plans to do with the pumpkin after all of his patience. I think most of them will be surprised. I know I was! What is also cool is that at the end of the story it explains the origins behind the decision of the boy on how he ultimately uses his pumpkin.There is also a page of pumpkin facts that supports further exploration about the topic.

Would I Read it Again: Yes! I garden with my children and this is a great opportunity to discuss life cycles and food. It also is wonderful that my children will see themselves represented in this book.

Educator Recommendations: Definitely a great addition to the elementary classroom and the read aloud rotation. Science, history and SEL wrapped into one book! Parents and Home school parents this is a great opportunity to discuss patience and independence as well.

I am super excited about bringing this story to my preschool class in this upcoming year! The story has so many elements that make a strong book for preschool -- including repeated lines for participation and beautiful illustrations. It also walks preschoolers through the process of growing a pumpkin, which is a common theme for preschools in climates with pumpkins. I think they will love looking at pictures and video of the pumpkin regatta that inspired the book. I know that I did! Highly, highly recommend for any early childhood classroom.

Let It Grow is full of beautiful illustrations, repetitive text perfect for new readers, and a charming story.

Let It Grow is a story with an underlying theme of patience and the act of nurturing a pumpkin through its full growth. In today’s world, when we are often focused on instant gratification, this story reminds us that good things take time. The end result of the pumpkin’s growth is a fun activity that I hadn’t ever heard about and I think the kids will really enjoy learning more about as well! I can see introducing this book in the fall during a unit study or even when covering our unit on botany and plants. It’s illustrations are fun and whimsical and will keep the kids engaged as well!

Books that deal with fall or pumpkins are huge in my library. This one had great illustrations and talking through the process of growing a pumpkin while keeping it short enough for young children to understand. I didn't know pumpkin racing was a thing so it was interesting to read about that as well.

I thought this was going to be the typical let it grow type of book about various things growing and thriving. But it was just about pumpkins and what you could do with them through various stages of growth. But the story is to let these pumpkins grow and grow and grow. Grow so big that they can be hollowed out and used as boats. I didn’t know this was a thing until this book, and I am so enthused that googling will be done next. The other thing that makes this book stand out is the inclusion of a Black farming family. It’s nice to see diversity in farming books. It has been sorely lacking.

When we first began reading Mary Ann Fraser’s newest book, it had a familiar feeling to other books. Of course you are going to let the seed grow. The book is titled Let It Grow!, after all. I could feel my kids disengage a bit. How many times do books have the same theme. But Fraser didn’t stop there, and my children were gasping in surprise. We enjoyed learning about the history of giant pumpkins and pumpkin regattas.

Riley Simmon’s illustrations enhance the simple story while bringing much needed representation to the story. Available August 2021

Such an informative and wonderful book!
I loved all the metalanguage that was used and the illustrations were beyond stunning.
Would definitely read this story time and time again.

An adorable book about growth and patience. Paired with nicely textured illustrations. It was a nice surprise seeing that it is based on an actual event. Who knew pumpkins can act as canoes?! Not groundbreaking or moving, but would definitely work as a bedtime story or an intro to gardening story for kids.

This book talks about pumpkins, a child explains to you that you should let the pumpkin grow until it becomes giant.

This book has a bit of information about pumpkins and contests.

I don't know if this qualifies as a spoiler, but I didn't know that pumpkins floated and could be turned into canoes.

The book starts out as a lovely, educational children's introduction to the process of growing vegetables. From there, the huge pumpkin is taken to the fair and later turned into a boat. The end seems terribly outlandish until you see the photo at the back of the book showing an actual "pumpkin regatta!" I don't love the writing style, but the illustrations are beautiful and the book IS informative. I'll definitely share this book with my girls

This book was so cute! I love that it showed patience which I a great lesson to learn. This book also taught me that pumpkins can grow large enough to make a boat out of a very fun fact! I’ll definitely buy this book for my students once I start teaching again!

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

This book taught me something! I didn't know pumpkins could grow large enough to actually be turned into a little boat to race on, and I wouldn't have believed it if it weren't for the pictures in the back. I enjoyed this immensely and I'm sure kids will get a kick out of it. It was educational in a very surprising way

My granddaughter was on a Halloween kick, so chose this book because it had a pumpkin on the cover. Although Jack-o-Lanterns are mentioned, this is so much more. This picture book is all about growing a giant pumpkin from a seed. It shows what it entails and discusses each step in the process such as sprouts, flowers, small fruit to make a pie, larger fruit for a jack-o-lantern and finally a giant, record-winning pumpkin that is then cleaned out and used for a pumpkin race. Then the process starts over with the seeds harvested from the pumpkin. The text was done in a question and answer format with the main character which was fun for my granddaughter. Of course her answer was usually yes. The illustrations are colourful and add interest to the story. At the end of the book, the author includes fun facts about pumpkins in general and also giant pumpkins. There are some pictures of giant pumpkins and people racing them in Oregon, although the sport began in Windsor, Nova Scotia. I recommend this book to teach about the process of growing things, learning patience and as an interesting book about pumpkins.

Adorably illustrated sweet story about a boy who plants a pumpkin seed and lets it grow...and grow...and grow... Cute and surprising ending.

#LetItGrow #NetGalley