Does it feel like fall where you live? It certainly does around the Great Lakes. In our family, we like celebrating the change of seasons with new books. Out come the seasonal books from the previous years, and if they are not enough, we take a trip to the library. Here is the list of our favorites to read in the fall. Cozy and beautiful like autumn, they tell children about growing pumpkins, falling leaves and celebrating friendship ; in any weather!
1. Autumn by Gerda Muller is a little book that will charm children with the simple pleasures of fall: playing with heaps of crispy leaves and making berry necklaces, flying a kite and playing with boats in puddles. It does not have words, so the lovely illustrations make a new story every time.
2. Autumn is Here by Heidi Gray gives many poetic examples of how people know when autumn has come. When acorns cover the ground and when pumpkins and gourds are in the fields, we know that "autumn is here". "Autumn is here" is a repetition that children will love learning and saying out loud, as they read along with adults.
3. Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert has the most fascinating illustrations I have ever seen: they are collages made with autumn leaves. There is not much of a story, but the idea of using leaves for making pictures will inspire children and tempt them to run outside in search of a leaf man!
4. Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler paints a lyrical and happy picture of autumn through the life of one family. Leaves are falling, and everyone in the family is bustling around: starting school, raking leaves, making apple pies and enjoying other pleasant autumn activities!
5. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson tells a touching story of a little fox who could not bear to see his favorite tree losing all the leaves. As all the other animals are trying to make use of the leaves, Fletcher is fighting to keep them from falling. Will he come to terms with the way nature is?
6. A Leaf Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas lists all the important roles of a leaf in the natural world: it starts with the spring, but soon switches to autumn. A leaf can be a "wind rider" and "lake glider", "pile grower" and "hill glow-er". What else?
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