One of the illustrations shows the animals making their soup, as seen through the window. Can you draw a picture with a view through a window (looking into or out of a building)? Make a list of the different words that are used instead of ‘said’ in the story, e.g. murmured, snapped, squeaked, wailed.

A bestselling story about friendship by Oxford author Helen Cooper, with appealing characters and beautiful autumnal illustrations. Retell the story to a friend. Can you use different voices and expressions? Listen to the audiobook version of the story.Some of the illustrations were just precious (in a good way) and some I wanted to appreciate more than I did. They are unusual and wonderfully large. I think part of my issue was with the three animal characters. The soup, house, outdoor scenes were all lovely and/or spectacular. Look at the facial expressions of the characters in each illustration. How are they feeling? What might they be thinking? Cooper’s other books include The Bear Under the Stairs (1993) and Tatty Ratty (2001). She has also written novels aimed at older children, including The Hippo at the End of the Hall (2018).

added later] We made the pumpkin soup, and while our girls were pretty excited that we were making the recipe from the book (and they even got to add their own "pipkins" of salt), they weren't as enthusiastic about the taste. I thought it was lovely. Oh well... Helen Cooper creates a warm, inviting world in her “Pumpkin Soup.” It tells the story of three friends working through the challenges of friendship all while enjoying pumpkin soup. Everyone is happy when they have their own job to do. What jobs and routines do people do to keep everything organised? Do you have any classroom jobs?The story got a bit scary at one point, even though the fear was limited to the imaginations of two of the friends. Cat plays a bagpipe and Squirrel plays the banjo. How do these instruments sound? How are they played?