Lovely Libros: Autumn

Photo by Micha L. Rieser via commons.wikimedia.org. 

Like my native California, autumn seems to arrive slowly in Catalunya. Mornings are chilly; afternoons warm with sunny blue skies. Trees still have green leaves, at least where we live. Perhaps a few road trips in different parts of Catalunya will provide some fall colors? 

At home, we are reading books to welcome autumn and talk about the seasonal changes. Of course, my children having grown up in Florida, California and Catalunya have not experienced many of these traditional changes. Yet they still enjoy learning about leaves changing color and other autumnal rites of passage. 

 

Rotraut Susanne Berner's, Autumn installment of her four part season's series is the most read fall book in our house. Well, "most looked at fall book" would be more accurate as this is a wordless large format book. Although there are no words, several story lines transpire throughout the pages if you pay close attention. Each scene is so detailed you can spend hours creating the stories behind the pictures. Children will enjoy quiet time examining each scene and finding the magic of fall. 

  

I adore this book because of the quaint European perspective of the town and villagers. I especially love the stalls and small shops selling nuts, pumpkins, fish and other fall delights and of course, the babywearing mama and families carrying beautiful paper lanterns. 

Autumn by Gerda Muller is a board book that beautifully describes autumn without using a single word. Muller's sweet drawings are sure to inspire the telling of your own autumn stories. 

 

What kind of seasonal book list would this be without a Tasha Tudor book? A lovely, gentle story of Sylvie Ann's journey to make a jack-o-lantern, or as the book's namesake, Pumpkin Moonshine. 

 

Part of a seasonal series by Steven Schnur, Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic presents a fall-related riddle or poem for each letter of the alphabet. The answer to the riddle appears in the form of an acrostic puzzle. Leslie Evans' linoleum block prints and vibrant are absolutely stunning. 

Part of the Let's Read and Find Out Science series by HaperCollins, Why Do Leaves Change Color? will teach your children about photosynthesis and the changes of fall in a child-appropriate manner. And at least it will help us parents answer a few of the never-ending "why" questions preschoolers are so good at asking! You will even find some project ideas to keep the little ones busy (another tactic to avoid the "whys"). 
 

¡Tiempo de calabazas! is also available in English as It's Time for Pumpkins!. Your children will follow along as children start preparing for Halloween in Spring. Why so early? Well, of course that is when you need to plant the pumpkin seed. Teach your children about gardening and the journey a seed makes from sprout to jack-o-lantern.