Cover Page

This Book Belongs to:

Title Page

The Pumpkin Patch
Parable

by

Liz Curtis Higgs

Illustrated by Nancy Munger

Copyright Page

Text © 1995 by Liz Curtis Higgs
Illustrations © 1995 by Nancy Munger

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

Scripture quotations are from the International Children’s Bible®, New Century Version®, © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Tommy Nelson ®, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee 37214.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Higgs, Liz Curtis.
     The pumpkin patch parable / by Liz Curtis : illustrated by Nancy Munger.
       p. cm.
     Summary: Tells a parable in which the farmer turns a simple pumpkin into a glorious sight to illustrate that God wants His children to be full of light.

ISBN 978-1-4003-0846-0 (10th Anniversary Edition)
     ISBN 978-0-7852-7722-4 (hardcover)
     ISBN 978-1-4003-0011-2 (board book)

[1. Salvation—Juvenile literature. 2. Parables. 3. Christian life—Juvenile literature. 4. Halloween— Juvenile literature. [1. Parables. 2. Christian life.] I. Munger, Nancy, ill. II. Title.

BT751.2.H53 1995
242'.62—dc20

95–8000
CIP   
AC

Printed in Mexico

08 09 10 11 12 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

Contents

Contents

A Note to Parents from the Author:

Begin Reading

A Note to Parents from the Author:

A Note to Parents
from the Author:

This book is NOT a celebration of Halloween ... no ghosts, goblins, demons, witches, or monsters here!

As a mother, I wanted to offer an alternative message for our kids each autumn, something wholesome, positive and encouraging. Since the Lord himself created pumpkins, it seemed appropriate to redeem this familiar symbol of the harvest season for his good purpose.

My prayer is that through this simple pumpkin parable your own heart will be filled with the light of God’s love and you, too, will “let yourself glow!”

Dedication

For Matthew and Lillian,
my favorite little pumpkins

Begin Reading

See that big red barn? And those rolling green fields? That’s where the farmer lives, w-a-a-a-y out in the country. It’s so far out the streets don’t even have stop signs.

The farmer grows lots of different things in those fields. He grows tall green corn and big red tomatoes...

... long yellow squash and little green peas. People eat that stuff for dinner.

“I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener.”
John 15:1

The BEST vegetables the farmer grows are PUMPKINS! They start out as flat, oval seeds, almost as big as raisins.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field.” Matthew 13:24

One hot June day, soon after school let out, the farmer planted pumpkin seeds, just like he did every Summer.