Awesome Autumn: Wonderfall by Michael Hall

GENTLE
BREEZES.
MY
ACORNS
DROP.
PLINK
PLUNK
PLOP.

The first acorn of autumn falls. The squirrels rejoice and go into their fall feeding and harvest frenzy. Color begin to bloom here and there among the green leaves.

In Dutifall, the big yellow school bus appears at the corner, and the dutiful, but rueful kids clamber on with their new backpacks and new shoes. But then, as if trying to make up for it, it's Beautifall, with the oak tree dressed in its best, its brightest colors. And then...

PLENTIFALL.

APPLES,
APPLES,
READY
TO
MUNCH.
YELLOW,
RED,
GREEN,
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
CRUNCH.

Crates of new-picked apples and late vegetables reveal the plentiful harvest. And then comes Frightfall, with kids disguised as black cats and ghosts and grinning jack-o' lanterns, carrying plastic cauldrons filled with colored candies.

But not all of us are as joyful as the squirrels and sweets-loving kids. The end of summer brings cooling breezes and its own colors, but also a sort of nostalgia for the promise of spring and the fullness of summer we now know is past.

Michael Hall's Wonderfall (Greenwillow Books, 2016) captures the beauty and the familiar rituals of fall, the green of his oak tree giving way to new colors, the school bus reappearing at the corner, the richness of the harvest and the chores of raking and mulching. Then comes Frightfall, with the disguises and giggles of the trick-or-treaters, and then the first strong, harsh winds that strip the last browning leaves from the tree, now bare, "the beauty of the bone," as poet John Updike puts it. Then comes Wistfall, as we say goodbye to the geese and the other retreating creatures. And then comes Watchfall...

WATCHFALL

SEE
THE MIST.
HEAR
THE QUIET.
SMELL
THE COLD.
WILL
THIS NIGHT
BRING
THE FIRST...
SNOWFALL?

With a lyric sense of the longing and beauty that autumn brings, Hall's new book bring simple spare verse, arranged vertically like his iconic tree, that itself becomes the setting for each stage of the passage through the season, from the first acorn's fall to the snowfall that brings out the sleds. Living mostly in the present, children still have a sense of nostalgia about the passage of time, symbolized here by the tree, in which the only constants are its squirrels. But the tree has its own voice, as it goes into its pro tem dormancy: I'm resting now but I'll be back.

The author's wordplay with the sound of the prefix "ful" and "fall" adds whimsical but poignant meaning as it comes down at last to a snowful scene of the first snowfall of winter. Artist Hall digitalizes his acrylic-painted cut paper illustrations, moving in double-page spreads as time makes its linear progress with every page turn through the season. Bold colors and geometric shapes give this book a look that will appeal to the youngest, but older primary readers will feel the undercurrent of emotion that the changing of the seasons, the relentless passage of time, brings. Among the seasonal concept books of the year, Wonderfall is the one book to choose, a must-have purchase for public and school libraries. "A haunting journey through autumn and a lovely triumph," writes Kirkus in their starred review.

Turn, Turn, Turn! : Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland

WHEN SUMMER LEAVES. . .

BIRDS LEAVE

APPLES FALL

And when the sun leaves, we take notice!

As earth rolls on in its annual revolution, the sun smiles on the southern hemisphere. Folks on the northern half notice that things are changing relentlessly in another direction.

Loretta Holland's forthcoming Fall Leaves (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) makes artful use of wordplay and page design to show the inexorable changing of the seasons.

Playing upon the double meanings of the words fall and leaves, the author describes the ways of autumn. Flowers, birds, and, slowly but implacably, the sun, too, leave us behind in a chilling landscape, albeit one made more jolly by the colors of the falling leaves and the richness of the harvest. Daytimes grow short, rain falls on the fallen leaves, and the world seems to be trying to hold on to its last warm breath. And then....

TEMPERATURE FALLS

SNOW FALLS

As things move inexorably toward winter, the movement of Elly McKay's lustrous illustrations is from left to right, as, with each page turn, her palette darkens from bright yellows, oranges, and greens to ambers, ochers and browns, until at last, as fall itself leaves the scene, the colors are the grays and blues, lavenders and whites of winter. Her young autumnal time travelers, a boy and girl, also constantly in motion, run, bike, boat, jump, dash, and lastly sled in the snow, also moving left to right through the pages, emphasizing the measured march of earth-time from season to season.

Author Holland's narrative pages offer two forms of text: her evocative words feature the dual meanings of fall and leaves, in large capital letters, whereas in a smaller font she offers the scientific rationale behind what is going on in the cycling of the seasons. Since she offers none of the usual visual diagrams of sun and earth, the book is best read by children who already understand how earth's revolution on its tilted axis causes seasonal changes, while the vivid child-pleasing illustrations connect planetary motion to the palpable experiences of calendar cycles with considerable visual and emotion impact; as the pages turn, so does the world.

Numbering the Days: Counting on Fall by Lizann Flatt

WHAT IF NATURE KNEW NUMBERS LIKE YOU?

LET'S LOOK AT THE FALL.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT COUNTING COULD DO?

Who'd count the leaves
falling from trees,
stirred and disturbed,
by the passing breeze?

The turning of the season tells us it's time to turn to those autumn concept books that teach temperate-zone kids what the turning of time means in nature. They can count on change in the air and in the earth around them, in Lizann Flatt's forthcoming Counting on Fall (Math in Nature) (Owlkids Books, 2012).

If honk-honking geese
kept to groups of ten apiece,
what a sight that would make
At the lake!

[Can you see several ways to make up ten?
Can you think of other ways to make ten?]

Flatt's loose, easy-rhyming text encourages kids to count, not just from one to ten, but by sets of twos or fives or tens, both ways, up and down.

With toes like those
do you suppose
raccoons can count on trouble?

[Can you count the toes by fives?]

Ashley Barron's stylized torn-paper collages in subtle autumnal shades work well, for the most part, imparting a comfortable mellow mood to the scenes of fall plants and animals as black bears gobble up berries and squirrels tote up their acorns by fives, although a few darkish illustrations require some close-up scrutiny. A two-page spread of ready-for-hibernation brown bats features both hanging bats wide awake and some soundly asleep to tote up. Other double spreads offer glowingly charming composition, such as appealing pikas gathering flowers for their burrow storehouses, or a stand-out spread of Canada geese which deftly makes use of perspective to teach the tens concept.

Flatt's text offers math concepts that span the primary grades, from simple preschool counting to estimation and multiple sets of twos and fives and tens, making this book a worthy addition to the number of counting and seasonal books among the primary bookshelves. Text boxes within each double-page spread extend the activity with higher level and open-ended questions. and an appended "Nature Notes" provides more detailed data on plants and animals in the order shown in the book for the detail-minded student or science teacher.

"Barron’s cut-paper collages have the crispness of an autumn afternoon, and Flatt smoothly touches on estimation, counting by fives and tens, counting backwards, and other mathematical concepts while maintaining a gentle, whimsical tone," observes Publishers Weekly in timely fashion.

At Winter's Gate: In November by Cynthia Rylant

In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.

The majestic turning of the seasons, especially the joyous resurrection of spring, has always inspired poets and philosophers. But in the northern latitudes, as the year grows old, there is a quiet beauty in earth's paring-down preparations for its second solstice, the fullness of its fallow season. This crux of the cycle, the pause before deep winter, is the subject of Cynthia Rylant's emerging classic In November (Voyager, 2008).

In November the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.

The staying birds are serious, too, for cold times lie ahead. Hard times. All berries will be treasures.

Animals sleep together, conserving their precious warmth, and humans, too, find comfort in hearth and home.

In November, people are good to each other. They carry pies to each other's homes....and give thanks for their many blessings--for the food on their tables and the babies in their arms.

Rylant's poetic prose and Jill Kastner's soft and sweet oil paintings flow together into a moving paean to that month in which all nature seems to slow down, take a deep breath and turn inward for a bit, a laid-back time to enjoy what we have with each other. Although illustrations show a family sharing the feast, the text never mentions the actual celebration of Thanksgiving, but this brief book draws upon the wellspring of that emotion--a great book to read, aloud or silently, during that mellow time.

In November, at winter's gate... the sun is a sometimes friend. And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, till spring.

Fall Fantasy: Little Red's Autumn Adventure by Sarah Ferguson

Coming off of her best-selling Tea for Ruby (Paula Wiseman Books) (see review post here), Duchess Sarah Ferguson returns to her Little Red series in a brand-new seasonal adventure.

Little Red and her friend Little Blue, her dog Gino, and pony Roany set off from Buttercup Cottage on a bright fall day for the local harvest festival, Little Red as always packing along her magical Sack of Smiles. Cheerily leaf-boarding down the hillsides along the way, the group stops abruptly when Little Red discovers a couple of little lost mice, separated from Mrs. Mouse and their seven other siblings on the way to the celebration and terrified by the appearance of a large red-haired human peering down at them.

"Don't worry," said Little Red in her sweetest kind of voice. "I'll help you."

"But you're so BIG," peeped one tiny mouse. "And SCARY!" whispered the other.

So Little Red reached into her Sack of Smiles, grabbed a handful of magic dust, sprinkled it over her head, and ... ZIPPITY DOO DAH!... she shrunk right down to the size of the tiny mice. "That's better!" she said. "Now tell me what's the matter."

But then Red realizes that she's made the same mistake as Alice (in Wonderland); she's left her magic sack behind, hanging from a tree limb, and now she's too tiny to reach it to turn herself back to her own size so that she can carry the lost mice to meet their mother. "Oh, snagaroo!" she grumbles.

But, of course, size screw-ups are no problem for the resourceful Little Red, and with the help of her friends and a bit of quick thinking, the group is soon on its way to the harvest festival and a mouse family reunion in jig time. Ferguson's jolly new tale, Little Red's Autumn Adventure, (Simon & Schuster, 2009) told with her usual English flavor, is a light and bouncy bit of fall fantasy. Sam Williams' charming endpapers and illustrations, done up with an autumn palette and set off against bright white backgrounds, carry the load in giving this little story its seasonal appeal.

Near Cat-astrophe: Boo to You! by Lois Ehlert

That scary cat's back.
Boy, what a bummer!
See, that puss could spoil our summer!
A raccoon or a squirrel might bite a veggie.
But a cat loves meat,
And that makes us edgy!

We're having a harvest party tonight.
Guess who's the creep we didn't invite?

It's a vegetation celebration for the mice. The crops are coming in--Indian corn is ripe, there are sunflower and pumpkin seeds aplenty, nuts and wheat berries abound, and the mice would like to celebrate their bounty. But there's one carnivore that they abhor--the black cat whose skulking presence overhangs their festivities.

Just as we're about to dine,
That cat peeks out from behind a vine.

But we know exactly what to do.
We'll scare that scary cat...

BOO TO YOU!

And from their produce plenitude, the clever mice construct a monster terrifying enough to rout the cat, and the mice proceed with their celebration, safe to eat and not be eaten.

Lois Ehlert's amazing collage illustrations have delighted youngsters for years, and her just published Boo to You! (Beech Lane Books 2009) certainly keeps up the tradition. Her playful mice are constructed from rough-edged torn artisan paper, with twine limbs, tiny tomatoes for eyes, and seed pods for tails, and they frolic amid a whirlwind end-of-summer scene abounding with seeds, nuts, horse chestnuts, seed pods, berries, and pine cones, all held together by a swirling ribbon of brown craft paper uniting the scene. Minor characters such as birds are formed from colorful ornamental gourds and turban squash, and the cat himself is a bushy-tailed beast with preposterous pumpkin seed teeth. It's a festival for the eyes with a three-dimensional look that begs to be touched.

Backmatter includes Pumpkin Talk, with photos of children costumed as pumpkins and cats and many varied Jack-o'-lanterns, and Harvest Colors, a double-page spread which features all the autumnal bounty used in the collages which kids will love to seek out in the illustrations.

Boo to You! joins Ehlert's wonderful Leaf Man (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards)) and Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (reviewed here), all three playful yet reverent salutes to the turning of the seasons.