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.

Waiting... Again! When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes

BEFORE SPRING COMES, THE TREES LOOK LIKE BLACK STICKS AGAINST THE SKY.

Tell us about it.

It's that time in late February and early March when even the staunchest mitten fancier is ready for a change.

A proud snowman, snug and smug in his knit cap and buttoned-down jacket, grows disheveled as he shrinks and slumps, until he's just a lumpen figment of his former self. The brown grass underneath and the abandoned garden begin to show ragged tufts of tender green weeds.

Of course, we mere mortals have no choice about the waiting, for as even the youngest among us will learn, spring has a mind of its own.

SPRING CAN COME QUICKLY OR SLOWLY.

BUT WHEN SPRING IS FINALLY HERE TO STAY, YOU WILL KNOW IT. . .

The daffodils always win, and even in the face of sudden freezes and soggy late snows, they survive and show their colors, and then...

Spring has come, with its birds and blossoms and bees and warmth to bask in, to ride bikes and fly kites in, to plant seedlings and chase butterflies in, to glory in, to forget the dull and dismal days of winter in long hours of sunshine. But. . .

NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT... FOR SUMMER--

For, as the poet said, "What is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days."

And it is all worth the wait, as Kevin Henkes makes clear in When Spring Comes (Greenwillow Press, 2016). A Caldecott and Newbery Award winner, Kevin Henkes portrays the bated-breath waiting for the coming of spring in simple but elegant English that makes the heart sing. An award-winning artist himself, Henkes calls on his sometime illustrator, his wife Laura Dronzek, for the lovely, iconic artwork that brings his spare prose come to life. Dronzek's bowed by not broken daffodils, her melted snowman reduced to a splayed-out splotch, and of course her cheeping baby birds and bouncy kittens speak volumes of the welcome rebirth of life that spring brings.

This one recalls the veiled mystery and loveliness of Henkes' other memorable nature-linked books, like Kitten's First Full Moon and his other collaboration with Dronzek, Birds.

This Little Light of Mine....: Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli

THE WIND BLEW, THE LEAVES FELL, AND A TINY SEED HID IN THE GARDEN.

"BOO!" SAID THE SEED TO A LEAF.

The leaf snickers and finds Little Boo not the least bit scary.

Sad, the little seed doesn't give up. He tries out his boos
on a passing grub, with the same results.

Then the snowflakes started to fall. They are not intimidated by Little Boo either.

"THERE'S MORE OF US THAN THERE IS OF YOU!" THEY BRAG.

"IT'S NOT TIME TO BE SCARY," SAYS THE WIND.

"I WANT TO BE SCARY NOW!" LITTLE BOO INSISTS.

But winter will have its way, and the little seed sleeps through the cold months. Then suddenly he wakes as a little green sprout ready to try out his boos on the spring butterflies--who are not flustered either.

As the soil warms and the sun shines down. Little Boo becomes a bright orange blossom, blowing sweetly in the spring breeze. who laughs at his boos, along with the shovel and the watering can. But soon he grows into a green pumpkin. And as summer wanes, the chill wind returns to see that Little Boo is now a big orange pumpkin, ripe for the picking.

And on Halloween Little Boo is big--a big, glowing Jack o' Lantern.

"Y-E-E-O-W!" SHRIEKS THE CAT.

"GOOD SCARING!" WAILS THE WIND.

Stephen Wunderli's new Little Boo (Henry Holt and Company, 2015) is a shining new addition to picture book stories for the scary season. For an autumnal tale, this one has it all--a lesson in the life cycle of a seed and the cycle of the seasons, a poignant when-will-I-be-big premise, and a Halloween hook that will keep children captivated until Little Boo finally gets his own chance to shine! Artist Tim Zeltner's glowing acrylic paintings, done in full-bleed two-page spreads and spot art on wood shine bright as well. It's not easy to imbue a pumpkin seed with as much personality as Zelter does with his emotive little protagonist, but in this story author and illustrator blend their talents into perfect read for a primary grade October unit or story circle.

Pair this one with Margaret McNamara's evergreen How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? (Mr. Tiffin's Classroom Series) (read my review here) for a cross-the-curriculum story and project that almost teach themselves.

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.