Fall Foolery: Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka

BEARS GATHER NUTS, GEESE HIBERNATE.

SQUIRRELS FLY SOUTH IN BIG FIGURE EIGHTS.

Winter can't come too soon for this crazy crew, as Mother Nature loses her cool and things temporal go off the rails. Colored leaves fall up, apples turn orange, and pumpkins turn red. Kids put gloves on their ears, hats on their hands, and toast their marshmallows until they freeze.

TOUCHDOWNS ARE HIT, AND HOMERUNS ARE KICKED.

KIDS LEAP INTO GREAT PILES OF STICKS.

The time of year goes all topsy-turvy, and by the time readers make it to the chronologically challenged closing of Bob Raczka's latest, Fall Mixed Up(CarolRhoda, 2011), they won't need his concluding instructions:

CAN THIS BE FALL? CLOSE, BUT NOT QUITE!

GO BACK AND FIND ALL THE THINGS THAT AREN'T RIGHT.

Raczka's clever versification and illustrator Chad Camron's comically bemused kids make this one a romp that cheerfully spoofs the traditional "signs of fall" concept book, with more goofy mixups concealed in the melee than most kids can spot in one read-through. Turkey stuffing and drumsticks for trick or treat, and a roast turkey sporting a Jack-o'-Lantern face are just a few of the contretemps that make this autumnal farce pure fall fun.