Each fall, North Hornell Librarian Vanessa Splitulnik’s students are introduced to Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller. Sophie is a little girl who gets a squash at a farmer’s market and treats it like her baby, named Bernice. She takes care of her squash baby until she starts to turn bad. After a discussion with the man at the farmers market, Sophie plants Bernice in the garden. The next year Bernice grows into a plant with two baby squash for Sophie to love. The story teaches kids about life cycles and that imaginations can be powerful tools for play.

While students listen to Splitulnik read about Sophie and Bernice, they are able to hold a real baby squash. After they are done reading the story, students pick out a paper baby squash, draw faces on the squash and choose a blanket for their baby. Outside of the library, a farm stand is set up to display the squash babies before they are taken home.

Splitulnik said, “Sharing this story and having the squash babies in the library has become a tradition the students and staff look forward to each year.”