Last fall, students at Ivy Hill Elementary in Arlington Heights, Ill., read Pat Zietlow Miller’s picture book Sophie’s Squash (Random House/Schwartz & Wade), illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf, during library time. The story is about a girl who loves her squash named Bernice. The students had their own library squash, also named Bernice, on hand to listen to the story with them. On the last day of school, the primary students planted Bernice – who had gotten a wee bit mushy – in their school garden. This August, when the kids returned to school, they were in for a surprise.
Bernice had grown into a giant squash plant, which had produced two twin squash.
Not so coincidentally – and thanks to some savvy advance planning by Ellen Polito, the library media specialist and building technology advocate for Ivy Hill Elementary School – the birth of the squash babies coincided with the release of a second Sophie book, Sophie’s Squash Go to School, also starring two squash, which the students listened to during library hour. They named their two squash after the squash in the story – Bonnie and Baxter.
On September 23, which was declared Harvest Day at Ivy Hill, the students got to taste some of the produce from the garden. They also welcomed a guest for Harvest Day: author Pat Zietlow, who chatted with the students via Skype.
Pat Zietlow read Sophie’s Squash Go to School to the students, while they looked at the pages on the giant screen. After reading, the kids were invited to ask the author questions.
And of course, Bonnie and Baxter were there too.
