Sophie's Squash  By:  Pat Sietlow Miller Illustrated by: Anne Wilsdorf

One day Sophie finds a squash at the farmer’s market.  She decides that the squash is her pet and names her Bernice. She takes the squash everywhere she goes and does everything with it.  Her parents try to get her to replace her squash with dolls and trucks, but Sophie cannot let go.  One day Sophie’s squash has blotchy spots, and Sophie doesn’t know what to do. So she asks the farmer at the farmers market how to keep Bernice healthy. Sophie finds out that Bernice needs fresh clean dirt, so she places Bernice in the ground.  But it starts to snow that night and Sophie is sad in the morning when she cannot get to Bernice, every day Sophie watches for the snow to clear to find Bernice, and one day she is surprised to find something special where she has placed her.  This is a wonderfully creative story. The illustrations were delightful and full of life. Great for a classroom read aloud or for any elementary reader.