What's Up with Fall? Fall with Lily and Milo by Pauline Oud

The weather is changing. It's windy and perhaps threatening to rain, but Lily and Milo want to explore the changes in the woods. The first decision is what to take--a woven basket or a little wagon?

That's easy. Lily takes the basket and Milo pulls his cart.

Now what to wear? Raincoat or swimsuit? Rubber boots or flip-flops?

That's easy--it's beginning to rain!

Lily and Milo walk into the woods. Look! No more rain! Lily points out a spider web, and Milo spots the spider. They notice apples have fallen and get busy gathering them up. But Milo finds an odd-shaped fruit. What is THAT? A pear! What is THAT cute little critter? A hedgehog. And here's a snail with eyes on stalks. Lily says the hedgehog lives under a bush and the snail lives in the shell on his back. Milo want to take everything back home with him.

Lily sees red mushrooms with white spots. They are so pretty!

"We can't pick mushrooms," says Lily. "They have to stay in the woods."

Lily puts apples and pears in her basket, but Milo loads his wagon with fallen leaves and acorns. Milo doesn't notice that some of the creatures are sneaking a ride home along with the leaves. It's beginning to look like autumn, and some of it critters have come to Lily and Milo's house, too, in Pauline Oud's early autumn expedition party, Fall with Lily and Milo (Clavis, 2019). Oud's jolly, colorful blackline drawings make for a perfect backdrop for fun in the out-of-doors in early autumn, just right for toddlers and preschoolers who are ready to search for signs of fall! Says Kirkus Reviews, "Thick, durable pages make this perfect for multiple readings and page turnings for the youngest listeners."

Windfall! Pine & Boof: The Lucky Leaf by Ross Buroch

Boof the Bear has a tendency to fixate on found objects.

Sometimes Boof the Bear finds treasures left by campers.

But his favorite find was...

... his lucky red leaf. They did everything together.

But fall is an unsettling time for a bear...

and one windy day. . . .

Well, you know the ways of wind and fallen leaves. But Boof the Bear is devastated by his loss.

Enter Pine the Porcupine.

There are two things you should know about Pine. He is always looking for adventure.

He is not always looking where he is going.

OOF! Pine runs smack into Boof, following his wayward leaf. Pine wants to help Boof with his search, but while his ideas are proactive, they are not always productive. He spots the leaf resting on the snout of a sleeping boar and brags that he's an expert is sneaking up on scary critters. But it turns out... he's not! With the boar right behind them, he advises Boof to speed up the chase by swinging across the river on a vine, not noticing that the vine is no vine. It's a snake!

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Gee! That didn't go so well, either, in Ross Buroch's new tale of a pair of unlikely pals who forge a bond in mutual pursuit of a red leaf, a hopelessly ephemeral talisman at best, in Pine & Boof: The Lucky Leaf (Harper, 2017) Boof is a bit of a goof, and Pine is bit of a provocateur who is only too glad to butt in with an impromptu plan for every occasion, but together they are an unlikely couple of friends who bond in the pursuit, another odd couple of friends like Milne's Pooh and Piglet, Lobel's Frog and Toad or Becker's Bear and Mouse. Buroch's clever illustrations keep the zany pair front and center with just enough slapstick fun to keep kids turning the pages. Says Kirkus Reviews, "A predictable yet humorous origin story for an endearing pair."

In the Thick of It! In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes

WHEN THE LEAVES ARE ALREADY TURNING, AND THE SKY IS MOSTLY GRAY...

The first bright leaves have fallen, and the rest seem to be huddling together against the chill wind, clinging to their twigs and trying not to look down at the garden, already sodden and brown.

What's going on?

It's mid-autumn. The pumpkin patch is ready for picking. The sunflowers are downcast, shedding their seeds. At least the birds are happy!

SOON THE SKY WILL BE WHITE.

There's a time in the turning of the seasons when everyone knows it's time to turn the page on this year.... Except... could that be a snowflake? Or two, or a few....

In a companion book to his When Spring Comes, Kevin Henkes' In the Middle of Fall (Greenwillow Press, 2017) catches the seasons at the cusp, a sort of tenuous moment in the year that all creation recognizes.

In the midst of advancing winter, Henkes' illustrator (and wife), Laura Dronzek takes the best and brightest side of fall--apple and pumpkin picking, squirrels busy stuffing acorns into the hollow of a tree, and the bright carpet of leaves which, to the canny reader, actually forecasts a covering of pretty white snowflakes. There's a sort of nostalgia for summer as nature unleaves itself, but perhaps a promise of something good to watch and wait for, too, in Henkes' and Dronzek's new book. Nature knows what it's doing, as summer's bounty feeds the earth and its creatures to prepare for new life to come. "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" For those preschool and primary studies of the season, this one offers lyrical text and jewel-like illustrations. Says Booklist in its starred review, "Masterfully conceived and executed, this perfectly captures the sights and feelings many children experience during the transition from fall to winter."

For a perfect autumn pairing, share this one with Michael Hall's wonderful Wonderfall (see review here).

Finding Fall! Autumn--A Pop-Up Book by David A. Carter

FALL BRINGS A CHILL IN THE AIR.

COLORFUL LEAVES FLOAT GENTLY FROM TREES.

Autumn is a lively time. The trees are bright and animals are everywhere, stocking up food for wintertime. Birds flock to fly away to their winter habitats, and some can be seen in formation high in the autumn sky.

David A. Carter makes the most of this lively and colorful scene in his newest creation, Autumn: A Pop-Up Book (Seasons Pop-up) (Abrams Appleseed Books, 2017). There are pop-up books and there are pop-up books, and Carter's creations are quality art, done without spurious cuteness, and with design and construction that is a wonder to the eye and mind. The author-illustrator works in the many plants and creatures to be seen in the fall by the watchful eye--from blue jays to bald eagles, quail to porcupines, kestrels to meadowlarks; from corn stalks to shocks of wheat, pomegranates to persimmons, all the lovely things that ease the transition to winter and more are to be found in Carter's fine art illustrations. A

This latest one is a highly recommended purchase for preschoolers just learning about the cycle of the seasons, joining Carter's earlier salute to the season pop-up board books, Winter: A Pop-up Book (Seasons Pop-up), Spring: A Pop-up Book (Seasons Pop-up), and Summer: A Pop-Up Book (Seasons Pop-up).

Goldengrove's Unleaving: Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson

Each morning when Fletcher bounded out of the den, everything seemed just a little bit different. The rich green of summer was turning to dusty gold.

And Fletcher the little fox becomes disturbed about what is happening to his favorite tree.

"I think my tree is sick," said Fletcher. "What is wrong?"

"Don't worry. It's just autumn," said his mother.

The tree's leaves are turning russet and brown, and when the first one falls, Fletcher runs to catch the leaf and poke it back into the tree trunk. But the cold wind soon sends many more of the leaves whirling down and away.

"Don't worry, tree. I'll catch them for you!" Fletcher promises.

But Fletcher can't keep up with the swirling, falling leaves that spin out of sight. He sees that he cannot keep his promise to the tree. At last only one leaf clings to a twig. When it falls, he sadly takes it home and makes it a cozy little place to sleep.

But just before dawn Fletcher wakes and tiptoes outside where the tree stands cold and alone.

But it's not bare; in the moonshine, Fletcher sees that his tree is hung with shimmering icicles that twinkle like the starlight.

In Julia Rawlingson's Fletcher and the Falling Leaves (Greenwillow Books, 2016, rev. ed.), the author wisely lets little Fletcher experience fully both the grief of the changes time inevitably brings and yet the hope for what is to come. In this revised paperback edition, the artist Tiphanie Beeke aptly offers lovely new impressionistic illustrations, done in softly pointillist watercolor style, with an emotional depth that heightens the punch of Rawlinson's premise and with her final page filled with a glowing illustration of the bare but beautiful, shimmering tree, perhaps a promise of the yet unspoken spring to come. Says School Library Journal, "Picture books about nature sometimes suffer from cloying, excessively pastoral language or imagery; this rare example succumbs to neither." And Kirkus Reviews adds, "A poetic tribute to winter and fall.... sure to resonate with young readers."

Rawlinson's other sensitive stories of the seasons are Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms, and Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas.

Changes, Changes! Goodbye, Summer, Hello, Autumn by Kenard Pak

Hello, chipmunks. Hello, beavers!

Hello! We have no time to play.

We are making cozy dens and nests.

It will be cold soon.

A girl in a bright scarf sets out from her doorstep. She walks through the woods, along a creek. The breeze is light and warm, but everything she sees--the trees, butterflies and foxes, blue jays--seem to be getting ready for something to happen. Even the few bright flowers know something is changing.

We are leaning into the sun, enjoying the last summer rays.

Some of us are late bloomers. We make the end of the summer more colorful.

As the girl moves out of the woods and into the town, she sees the storekeepers rolling up awnings, and passersby hurrying along as she hears a distant rumble of thunder. She greets the sudden whipping of the wind, and the wind answers, too.

Hello! I love to whoosh drizzle and leaves through the misty streets.

Back toward home the girl goes, noticing that the trees are indeed changing colors, the air is growing chill, and the persimmon-colored sun is setting earlier than before.

The season is changing before her eyes as she heads back homeward for a sweater, and it is truly time to say hello to autumn, in Kenard Pak's Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn (Henry Holt and Company, 2016). With his keen observations of the changing seasons and beautifully executed expressionistic watercolor illustrations, Pak uses the theme of the nature walk, seeking signs of fall, from insects to mammals, sunshine to chilly rain, and golden afternoon to early nightfall. This is a fine book for early childhood classes studying the cycle of the seasons, especially those planning to head out soon for their own "signs of fall" walk. Says School Library Journal, "A gentle, gorgeous welcome to summer's end and fall's beginning, perfect for storytime or one-on-one reading."