When I was six years old I won a prize at a birthday party for playing skittles. The prize, a book called The King of the Robins, has always been a treasured possession. One of the stories in it is The Three Pumpkins and it is a perfect story for Halloween. That festival was never celebrated in Australia until recent times but whether you celebrate it or not, children will enjoy this tale.

My telling of the story uses three pumpkin shapes cut from cardboard and painted green with the biggest pumpkin having a Halloween Jack-o’lantern on the reverse side. I have prepared a jack-o’lantern too from quite a large pumpkin, cutting out the face details and when I turn off lights in the room and light a small candle under it, it glows beautifully. How delighted the children were today when they saw it. There is learning in the story too – counting seeds, leaves, pumpkins, comparing the weight of the pumpkin with several bagged potatoes, learning the words of a simple song, talking about the vegetables they like and eat at home, talking about safety with candles and matches.

Storytelling is so much fun and so rewarding when the children show their enjoyment.

My jack o'lantern looks grey, as it was a grey/green pumpkin.