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It’s officially autumn! My absolute favorite time of the year. With the changing of the leaves and the crispness of the air, autumn brings with it a beautifully nostalgic feeling. Our days become simpler; filled with raking leaf piles, visiting apple orchards, and picking out pumpkins. I find it easier to connect with my inner child in the fall as we enjoy all of the delights the season brings. One of my most favorite ways to enjoy this season is by curling up with some warm apple cider and a stack of our favorite pictures books. In this post I’m sharing my favorite books to read with my children during the autumn season.
There are many wonderful picture books that celebrate the autumn season. Books about the changing of the leaves and about animals preparing for winter. There are books that talk about autumn activities like visiting a pumpkin patch, apple orchard, or fair. There are also books about the upcoming holidays. Later in the season, I will share all of our favorite books that talk about Thanksgiving; a topic that needs it own post! The books I’ll share with you today are general books about the season of autumn. These are the ones we own in our home that we pull out each year, but you can bet we take out many others from the library to enjoy as well! You should be able to find most, if not all, of these books at your local library. Without further ado, here are my 15 favorite autumn books to read with my children.
Picture Books
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
This sweet book has images of leaves you might find in your own yard during the fall season. With photographs of trees in autumn, we love to use this non-fiction book to go outside and identify the leaves and trees we see in our backyard.
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
Set in our own home state of New Hampshire, this lovely book paints a beautiful image of 19-century rural New England. A farmer packs his ox-cart in October and travels to a market town with the goods his family has grown or made over the past year. With charming illustrations from Barbara Cooney, we love reading this book at any time of the year.
Bear Has a Story To Tell by Philip C. Stead
As winter approaches, bear sets off to tell a story to his friends. But no one has much time to listen as they prepared for the coming cold! In this delightful story, bear says goodnight to all of his friends as each one prepares to hibernate or migrate for the winter. With themes of support and friendship, this one always leave us feeling content.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
This book has beautiful watercolor illustrations that change from shades of green during the summer to the oranges and browns of the autumn season. Walk along with a little boy as he says goodbye to summer in both city and country settings, and hello to the sights we see in autumn. Pak has made books for the changing of each season that you can enjoy anytime of year.
Autumn Days by Ann Schweninger
Packed with information that is accessible to little ones, this book walks children through why we have the autumn season and what you can expect in each month of autumn. Within it’s pages, you can find definitions of many different plants and animals as well as explanations about autumn holidays and why leaves change colors.
Apples by Gail Gibbons
We love just about any Gail Gibbons book. Her simple illustrations and concise definitions make it easy for children to understand whatever topic she is writing about. This book about apples is a must have to go along with one of our favorite fall activities, apple picking!
Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky
With minimal text, the pictures speak loudly in this book. Painting an image of a formidable bear, this book portrays the king of the forest intimidating the rest of the animals as he searches for a good spot to hibernate for the winter. We are always left wondering just exactly where the bears in our area hunker down for the winter.
The Pumpkin Fair by Eve Bunting
This book is one we read many, many times each year. Told from the perspective of a little girl, our kids immerse themselves in the story as they imagine going to a pumpkin fair. With a cozy, small-town setting, this story is based around the idea of community traditions. This story is delightful for children to read and reread with its rhyming prose.
How To Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Take a magnificent trip around the world as you prepare to make an apple pie! This silly story walks children through where each ingredient comes from when a woman discovers her local market is closed. Where should she go to find each ingredient on her list? Complete with an apple pie recipe to try at the end, this book keeps us giggling and always starts a conversation about global trade and resources.
The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown
Follow along with a hen as she cleverly trades her way up to owning the scarecrow’s hat. What does she want his hat for? We have our own flock of chickens and we enjoy imagining what it would be like to think like the hen in this story.
Brambly Hedge Autumn Story by Jill Barklem
The mice in Brambley Hedge are delightful little creatures who have made a living for themselves along a river bank. With exquisite illustrations that portray exactly what little mice might make their homes look like, the Brambley Hedge stories can be marveled at long after the words have been read. Autumn Story finds the mice searching for dear little Primrose after she goes missing during an outing with her father. We enjoy all of the Brambley Hedge stories and have the treasury (picture above). You can find a link to the treasury we own here.
Board Books for Our Littlest Children
Reading is a huge part of our family culture. My husband and I always bring a book with us everywhere we go and we encourage our children to do the same. We begin cultivating a love of reading in our children when they are babies, by providing many beautiful board books to look at and enjoy together. Here are some of the board books we pull out during the autumn season for our littlest ones (big kids and adults enjoy them too!).
Leaves by David Ezra Stein
Also available in a picture book format, this board book has bright, whimsical illustrations of a bear experiencing his first autumn. It is perfect for little ones who are new to the seasons and are discovering everything for the first time.
Hello World! How Do Apples Grow? by Jill McDonald
Enjoyed by both our little ones and bigger kids, this book walks through how an apple forms and begins to grow. This story is excellent at pointing out how much patience it takes to grow an apple, howing jus thow long you must wait from seed to tree and from apple blossom to fruit.
Farming by Gail Gibbons
Another Gail Gibbons favorite! Although this book is good for any time of the year, we find that we visit farms most frequently in the autumn season. See what chores need to be done during each season at a farm to keep the operation running throughout the year.
The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel
With bright colors and silly surprises, this lift-the-flap book has made all of our children giggle as they search for the squirrels nuts he’s hidden for the wintertime.
There you have it! Fifteen of my favorite books to read with my children during the autumn season. These books bring us so much joy each year. Come September, we are all itching to pull them off of the shelf to enjoy over the next few months. What books do you read during the autumn season? We are always looking to expand our library, share your favorite books with us in the comments!
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out my other homeschool related posts!
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