Sophie's Squash

Written by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf

Narrated by Elizabeth Morton

On a trip to the farmers' market with her parents, Sophie chooses a squash, but instead of letting her mom cook it, she names it Bernice. From then on, Sophie brings Bernice everywhere, despite her parents' gentle warnings that Bernice will begin to rot. As winter nears, Sophie does start to notice changes.... What's a girl to do when the squash she loves is in trouble? The recipient of four starred reviews, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor, and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, Sophie's Squash will be a fresh addition to any collection of autumn books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490683867

Pat Zietlow Miller

Pat Zietlow Miller is a children's book lover and one of the creative forces behind the blog Picture Book Builders where she reviews books for young readers. Her picture books include Be Kind, When You are Brave, Remarkably You, Wherever You Go, Sophie's Squash and The Quickest Kid in Clarksville. Pat lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, two daughters and two pampered cats.

Reviews for Sophie's Squash

[Matt Reed · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4 year old loved this book and wants it on repeat!

[jennifernapoleon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book has a fun surprise at the end. It is a good book to read to primary children because it shows how a little girl takes care of something and it grows.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Sophie and her parents purchase a butternut squash at the farmer's market, the young girl immediately adopts the piece of produce as her baby and best friend, naming it Bernice. Nothing her parents do can change her mind - she isn't interested in any other kind of companion or plaything. When Bernice begins to rot, Sophie puts her "to bed" in the ground, and the next spring, Bernice has had children...Pairing a sweet story and cute artwork, Sophie's Squash is a picture-book that I should have enjoyed more than I did, especially given my fondness for autumnal scenes. Unfortunately, while there was nothing really wrong here, I just failed to have any particularly strong reaction to the book, whether positive or negative. Perhaps I just have difficulty anthropomorphizing squash, but it was difficult to take Sophie's squash 'friend' seriously, and the jaded part of me kept thinking: do we really need to encourage children to befriend their vegetables, rather than eat them? Tastes vary, of course, and others seem to have really enjoyed this one, so if the picture-book reader is in the market for autumnal/seasonal stories about friendship and the natural world, this might fit the bill.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A silly sweet story of a girl and her squash, for people who are very young and can't do spiders.

[s_trevor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sophie's Squash is about a girl who decides to personify a squash. Sophie loves this squash. This squash is her best friend. This squash goes everywhere with her. I'm at a point now in my education where I had to write the sentence "This squash is her best friend", which is a sobering reality. Eventually this squash begins to rot, so she plants the squash in the garden to heal it. Then it produces new squashes. Now Sophie has two squash friends.Good read if you want to educate students about squash. I think this girl needs some non-vegetable friends.

[childrenslitpdx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sophie's Squash is a fun book about a little girl who befriends and takes care of the squash that came home for supper one evening. The story is super engaging and the illustrations that go along with it really help enhance the close relationship that Sophie has with Bernice, the squash. In this book, Sophie shows unconditional love for Bernice as she totes her everywhere, even somersaulting with her down a hill. In the end, Sophie learns that when you let something go, there might be something just as good waiting to take it's place.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Little girl has a peculiar attachment to a squash.

[k_rodriguez-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sophie's squash is an endearing story about friendship being found in the most unlikely places.I loved this story because it shows the way that children's minds work sometimes. When we are younger we get attached to many things that we might think are so precious, and this book did a great job portraying that idea. When Sophie and her parents go to the supermarket, they buy a squash. Sophie starts growing attached to the squash, and her parents tell her she can't be friends with a squash because squash is something that they will eat. Sophie refuses to do such a horrible thing. After time passes on, her squash, Bernice is beginning to rot and Sophie starts investigating hoe to keep it nice and fresh. Eventually Sophie ends up putting Bernice underground hoping that she will get better, but Bernice has decided to do something bigger. She grows and gives fruit to two more squashes, which Sophie ends up loving just as much as she loved Bernice.

[csteve13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Sophie and her parents go to the farmers market and pick out a squash for dinner. Sophie decides she doesn't want to use the squash to eat but she wants to use as a friend. Sophie names the squash Bernice and they do everything together, including going to the library, playing with other squash, doing somersaults and sleeping. Eventually, Bernice started to get old and had bruises on her. Other children made fun of her so Sophie's parents tried to get her interested in a new toy. Sophie still wasn't interested so she asked the farmer how to keep a squash fresh. He told her Bernice needed dirt so Sophie buried Bernice in the yard. That night, it started snowing. Sophie couldn't get to Bernice so Bernice stayed under the dirt all winter. Sophie's parents got her a pet fish but she still was not interested. Finally, spring came around and Sophie went outside to find Bernice. She discovered that Bernice had turned into a plant and made 2 smaller squashes. Sophie loved the other 2 just as much as she loved Bernice. Argument: I think this book was a really cute story. It shows how finding an object and loving it can be like having a friend. Sophie loved her squash and it felt like a friend to her. I think children could connect to this message because many children use inanimate objects and pretend like they are their friends. This book is another book that has great illustrations that really enhance the words of the story. Another reason I liked this book was because it had lots of information about the seasons changing. The book went from fall with the leaves falling and the squash, to winter with snow falling to spring with plants growing.

[mad.river.librarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Discover what happens when Sophie decides to befriend the squash her mother bought at the farmers' market. I read it aloud with 1st and 2nd graders and they were hooked. Opens them up to talk about friendship and that friends truly do come in all shapes and sizes. What they really enjoyed was making their own squash friends afterward with a simple paper activity. If I had a real live squash for every one of them, that would have been even better.

[andreaf17 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a silly book about a little girl who adopts a squash. Sophie takes her squash everywhere much to the chagrin of her parents only to find that over time her squash is getting quite squishy. She puts the squash in the soil and next year gets a surprise! I would recommend this for young school age children who might find humor in it and learn a little about the life cycle of a plant.