Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat with Activity Guide and Benji & the 24 Pound Banana Squash

Celebrate Halloween and fall with these two books: Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat and Benji & The 24 Pound Banana Squash! Get a FREE parent’s discussion and activity guide that goes right along with Pug & Pig!

Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat

My Review of Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat

Pug & Pig are adorable. I reviewed Pug Meets Pig last year, and I loved it. The author and illustrator mesh very well obviously! The author writes simple text that has a lot of meaning for children. As the last book was about sharing, this book is more about compromise. Kids understand compromise even if they don’t know that big word! Pug and Pig find a way to both be happy about Halloween and trick-or-treat in this book.

This book is recommended for PreK-2, and I definitely recommend downloading the activity guide linked below. If you’re a teacher or a homeschool parent, this little book will give you an entire lesson! If you aren’t, the guide will still help you and your child enjoy this book even more.

Get the Common Core State Standards-Aligned Activity Guide 

Author Sue Lowell Gallion

Sue Lowell Gallion is the author of Pug Meets Pig and Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books). She has two grown-up kids, one grandson, and a black lab mix named Tucker, who all provide writing inspiration. As a printer’s daughter, she has a life-long love of type, paper, and the aroma of ink. She lives in Kansas City, KS. Visit Sue at suegallion.com, follow @SueLGallion on Twitter, and check out her kids’ book recommendations at Goodreads.

Benji & The 24 Pound Banana Squash

With all his might Benji puts some seeds into the earth. Eagerly he follows the progress of growing. He lays in the sun beside his banana squash. He smells it, touches it, and puts sticks in the ground to measure how big it gets. A simple story that opens up children’s eyes to one of nature’s smallest and at the same time biggest wonders.

My Review of Benji & The 24 Pound Banana Squash

Benji has set his mind to grow the biggest banana squash, and he won’t give up until he does! Since he is a little boy, he doesn’t understand right away that it takes time for things to grow. But he waters and waits, and he is rewarded by a sprout. That sprout turns into a vine with a blossom, and eventually, that blossom turns into a tiny squash. Benji waits and measures that squash until it is the size he’s waiting for. When he finally picks it, it weighs 24 pounds!

I love how this book teaches children to not only garden, but also to have patience. In our world of instant everything, encouraging your child to plant a little garden would be a great way to teach them a lesson about waiting and being rewarded for that wait. The illustrations in the book bring the story to life. Your child will love waiting and watching with Benji as his squash grows.

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Author Alan C. Fox

Alan C. Fox is a New York Times bestselling author of three books for adults that provide advice for living a happier, more successful life. He is also the editor of a poetry journal called Rattle. Each year they publish a book of poems written by children. He loves encouraging children to fulfill their dreams, so he founded a charity that works to maximize the potential of youth as well as an organization that encourages young people to become active in helping others. Benji and the 24 Pound Banana Squash is his first book for children.