Children’s Halloween Pumpkin Story was written for my grandchildren to share with them during a sleepover the week before the excitingly spooky Halloween holiday. It was a Halloween themed sleepover with a special giant Pumpkin cookie, pumpkin carving, Halloween movie, and, of course, the reading of Nana’s original children’s Halloween Pumpkin Story.

Original Halloween Pumpkin Story

The Imperfect Pumpkin

~ by Nana’s Corner ~

On a sunny day in October, one little pumpkin asked another pumpkin sitting next to him in the pumpkin patch, “Where is my mother?”

“On top of the bales of hay, smiling down at the children,” answered the other pumpkin.

“Why is my mother smiling at the children?”

“Because it is soon to be Halloween,” answered the second pumpkin.

The little pumpkin wasn’t sure what his friend meant, but he did know he wanted to smile at the children, too. “How do I get to smile at the children?”

“You need a face. Your mother was chosen to have a face because she was the most perfect pumpkin in the patch. The rest of us have to wait for a family to take us home where they will give us a face.”

“What can I do to be taken home?” asked the little pumpkin.

“Stay clean, stand tall, and try not to fall over if some one knocks into you. You don’t want any bruises. Families like perfect looking pumpkins.”

So the little pumpkin tried his best to look just perfect, but one day some children ran through the pumpkin patch and knocked him over really hard. The pumpkin felt the bruise on his side. “Now no one will take me home,” he cried to himself.

The days came and went. Families looked at him, but never chose him once they saw his bruise. The little pumpkin was very sad. He knew he would make a great Halloween pumpkin if someone would just give him a chance.

Then, just two days before Halloween, a teenager came to the pumpkin patch. The little pumpkin overheard her talking about how she needed a pumpkin to enter into a pumpkin face contest. She sounded upset that she couldn’t find the perfect pumpkin for her entry, so the little pumpkin was convinced he wouldn’t be going home with her.

The little pumpkin heard the girl come closer, then felt himself picked up and when she spoke, he knew she was the one holding him. Her hands felt his bruise, top, bottom, front and back. Then he couldn’t believe what he heard her say…”This is just THE pumpkin I need!”

Her mother asked if she was sure since the pumpkin was bruised and smaller than the others. The teenager replied, “I don’t want a “perfect” pumpkin…they are boring. This one is perfect for me. It will make my contest entry more interesting that the others would.  Besides, nothing is ever perfect…I know that better than anyone!”

The teenager and her mother took the little, imperfect pumpkin home. The girl worked on the pumpkin the rest of the day and the next morning. The contest was being held that evening, on Mischief Night!  What the girl was doing to the little pumpkin, he couldn’t tell but it tickled a lot! Then, all of a sudden, he could see through the openings she had made! He was sooo excited, but he was also nervous because he didn’t know what to expect that night.

The teenager and her family took the little pumpkin to the contest. There were a lot of people looking at all the pumpkins, but they seemed to be spending more time looking at the little pumpkin. He hoped that was a good thing! It was noisy so he wasn’t sure what he heard. A little while later, the teenager came and stood by her little pumpkin. The winners were about to be called. The judge started with the runners up, then he announced the winner. It was his teenager!! He was the pumpkin that won first place!  He couldn’t believe that he, an imperfect pumpkin, won first place!

When the teenager picked him up, she held him in front of her face to give him a kiss…then he knew why she had chosen him.

What do you think the little pumpkin saw?  What do you think the little pumpkin learned from this experience?

© 2010 Barbara R Johnson

Do you or your children have a favorite Halloween pumpkin story to share? I’d love for by readers to write one to be published on NanasCorner.com!

Halloween poems