The Pumpkin Seed

Mom’s new partner is moving into the home Mom and her child share. Will there be enough room for all three of them—and their plants—to thrive?

Perfect for children experiencing family changes, a story of growing together plants a seed of hope.

A child and mother plant a pumpkin seed the same day Sam, Mom’s new partner, moves in. Sam brings a “bin with no bottom” for making compost. The child is enraged by this slimy, stinky bin, and Sam is always in the way, putting her stuff where it doesn’t belong and taking Mom’s attention. Meanwhile the pumpkin seed sprouts and is growing quickly, until one day it’s big enough to plant in the garden. But before the child can put it in the ground disaster strikes and the pot smashes, and all of the child’s animosity toward Sam comes pouring out.

Eventually, just as the compost nourishes the plant and turns it into something amazing, the child’s relationship with Sam blooms and they find their way. And by the same time next year, they have enough pumpkins to make all kinds of treats, and new seeds to plant.