Gourd-geous creations celebrating Book Fair Week

JACKSON, Tenn. — It’s book fair week at South Elementary.
Last week, the students showed off their creativity by turning pumpkins into their favorite book characters.
Monday was crazy mustache day to show they’re crazy about reading.

“It’s Pinocchio and he’s just one of my favorite book characters,” Tinley Rose, a student at South Elementary, said about her pumpkin. “Whenever he lies, it’s just so funny when his nose just pops out.”

Ronda Cooper is the librarian at South Elementary and says this is a contest they do every year, “Students get super excited, and I think Pinterest upped the game this year for the level of pumpkins we have because they have been amazing.”

You can fall down a rabbit hole and join Alice, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, or go to a land far, far away, and, of course, visit Charlie Brown and his friends in the pumpkin patch.
This year they had 162 pumpkins decorated by students and their families, a record for the school.

Madison Alsup turned her pumpkins into Mr. Wiggles.

“The big one is real and the little ones are fake, so we spray painted it and all sorts of stuff to get it together,” she said.

Cooper says she hopes this project reminds the students of just two things.

“Family time together, and a reminder that books can be fun,” Cooper said.

If you’d like to see some of these creations yourself, come out to the South Elementary book fair Thursday night for family night. You’ll see everyone from Elsa, Scooby Doo and even Captain Underpants, real underwear and all.