Books for Kids about Fall--my list of favorites.

I've been reading a lot of BEST OF book lists for the fall season, so I decided to create my own list of fall favorites:


Apple
Nikki McClure
Abrams Appleseed (2012)

Nikki McClure is a local favorite as she lives in Olympia, Washington (a hop, skip and a jump away), writes about simple things like rain and the farmers market and has a very distinctive style.  In Apple, the pictures are black and white, except for the red apple.  Each alternate page has a single word such as fall, share, plant.   It's a very special ode to the apple and we love it!

http://www.nikkimcclure.com/


Little Green
Keith Baker
Harcourt Books (2001)

You may not think this one belongs in the fall list, but our family has spent many wondrous moment watching the hummingbird hang around our fuchsia tree this season.   The colors in this book are amazing and happy.  
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8749317886050281919#editor/target=post;postID=5570299668348101063


South
Patrick McDonnell
Little, Brown and Company (2008)

Told in comic strip style, this is a sweet book about fall, compassion, and friendship.  The best thing, no words--so your little one can read this on his/her own.

Lots of good looking books here:  http://muttscomics.com/default.aspx


Apples A to Z
Author:  Margaret McNamara
Illustrator:   Jake Parker
Scholastic Press (2012)

The title says it all!  A fox teaches us about apples.    In case you are wondering about the more unusual letters, x is the mark made in pies, y stands for yield (the amount of apples from a tree) and v is for varieties.   Gorgeous and interesting!

Margaret McNamara doesn't have a website yet, but she does have some great books on fairies coming out soon.  

Jake Parker is another well known cartoonist:  http://mrjakeparker.com/


Ghosts in the House!
Kazuno Kohara
Roaring Book Press (2008)

I love this book.  There is a sassy girl/witch who catches ghosts and put them in the washing machine.  The illustrations are black on red, with the ghosts looking like tissue paper.    It's super adorable.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/kazunokohara




Fall Mixed Up
Author:  Bob Raczka
Illustrator:  Chad Cameron
Carolrhoda Books (2011)

This is a funny one!  Get ready for laughter and lots of word play--"Hats cover hand.  Glove cover ears.  Bonfires cool off our fronts and our rears."  

http://www.bobraczka.com/about-me/index.html

http://www.chadcameron.com/ (noisy but cool!)

Book of the Day: Six Crows

Six Crows
Leo Lionni
Alfred A. Knopf  (1988)


We love Leo Lionni's interesting fables and collages.  Mirette loves Swimmy, Alexander and the Wind Up Mouse, and A Fish is a Fish, but Six Crows is a new one for us.   We love the fall theme, the picture of crows with ripped paper, and of course anything with a scarecrow wins Mirette's seal of approval.   I, of course, like the books that have morals because they usually remind me  of life's simple truths.   In this case, it's never too late to talk things over.


Here's a few interesting things about Leo Lionni (1910-1999):

  As many illustrators of his generation, he got started with a career in advertising.

He didn't start writing until he was around 60.  He was on a train without any art supplies and started tearing images out of magazines to tell a story to his grandchildren, thus inspiring him to use his collage method.  

He is the first children's author/illustrator to use collage as a medium.

He uses realistic color on a white background.

He is Dutch,  but lived in the United States and Italy.

He wrote 40 books.

He was an only child.

His mom was an opera singer.

As a kid, he collected all kinds of natural objects and many of his images stem from this time.

Being Jewish, his family got out of Italy and moved to the states right before the war.

He loved music.

He died of Parkinson's disease.

This website is full of information, profiles all of his books, a few videos and a touching piece written by his granddaughter:   http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/lionni/aboutlionni.php

Another site with some great information/lesson plans:  http://www.mermaidtheatre.ns.ca/onTour/leoLionni/Leo_Lionni_SG/index.htm


His obituary:  http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/17/nyregion/leo-lionni-89-dies-versatile-creator-of-children-s-books.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm