The Jack-o'-lantern

by Florence Lind

Billy brought a pumpkin in
And Mother scraped it out.
Daddy carved a little mouth
With such a funny pout.

Sally cut some crooked eyes
And trimmed the thing with beads,
While everybody laughed at me
Because I saved the seeds.

But I will plant them in the spring
And wait till fall, and then -
I'll have at least a hundred
Jack-o'-lantern men!

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

X. J. Kennedy

To carve a pumpkin, lift its lid -
Inside, it's moist and mucky.
You wonder how will you get rid
Of such a mess of yucky

Stretched strings like slimy rubber bands?
The seeds, they're what you save.
So roll your sleeves up, plunge your hands
Right through its brains. Be brave!

You wash the guck off, line with foil
A big flat baking pan,
Turn oven on, drench seeds in oil,
And toast 'em till they tan.

A shake of salt? That just might help.
Don't burn 'em, don't ignite 'em.
They'll come out blazing hot - don't yelp -
Count ten before you bite 'em.

They'd be a hard thing to improve.
What's more, on Halloween night
By taking all those seeds out, you've
Made room for candlelight!

Jack-o'-lantern Garden

by Gertrude M. Robinson

I wish I had a garden
Where the warm sun brightly shines.
I'd plant each nook and corner
With jack-o'-lantern vines.

Then, from my little garden
I'd pick for Halloween
More golden jack-o'-lanterns
Than you have ever seen.

Of course, I'd choose the biggest,
The one that's brightest gold,
To peep in at your window -
Oh, there, I almost told!

A Halloween Pumpkin

Dorothy Aldis

They chose me from my brother:
"That's the nicest one," they said,
And they carved me out a face
And put a candle in my head;

And they set me on the doorstep.
Oh, the night was dark and wild;
But when they lit the candle,
Then I smiled!

Pumpkin Surprise

by Patricia Hubbell

I was choosing a pumpkin,
A fat orange pumpkin,
When I spotted a hole
In its side -
A hole like a door,
A little round door,
A door that led straight
To a house -
In the space of a minute
I saw what was in it,
It wasn't a thing you'd forget!
Curled in that pumpkin,
That fat orange pumpkin,
Was a fat little, gray little MOUSE.
A mouse in a house in a pumpkin!
On a floor that was covered with seeds,
Curled up and cozy,
Snoozy and dozy,
Asleep on a soft bed of weeds!

Halloween Surprise!

First you take a pumpkin
Big and round and fat.
Then you cut the top off
That will make the hat.
Then you hollow out the
Nose and mouth and eyes.
Show it to the children for
A Halloween surprise!

Pumpkin Time

October is pumpkin time
The nicest time of year
When all the pumpkins light their eyes
And grin from ear to ear.
Because they know at Halloween
They'll have lots of fun
Peeking through the window panes
And watching people run.

I Am a Pumpkin

I am a pumpkin big and round.
Once upon a time I grew on the ground.
But now I have a mouth, two eyes, and a nose
What are they for do you suppose>
When I have a candle inside, shining bright,
I'll be a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night.

There Once Was a Pumpkin

Lynne Speaker

There once was a pumpkin short and fat,
Alone in the garden there he sat.
A little girl picked him from the vine,
Took him home and said, "He's mine!"

She carved a funny face with a great big smile,
Put in a candle and after a while,
He wasn't a pumpkin short and fat,
He was a jack-o-lantern -- just like that!

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