I was digging through some old posts and found this one from last fall. I know I just posted some new fall kid’s books in a recent blog post https://the-thrifty-mom.com/2022/09/13/falling-for-kids-autmn-books/ but I didn’t want anyone to forget about these fun gems from last year. I’ve also added the links on for the free read alouds. Enjoy!
Apple Countdown and Pumpkin Countdown by: Joan Holub are two of my favorite Scholastic fall learning books. The cleverly rhymed verse makes these books fun and easy to read and your kids will be so distracted by the vibrant illustrations they won’t realize that they are learning how to recognize numbers and to count forwards and backwards as they follow a school fieldtrip to an apple orchard and Farmer Mixnmatch’s pumpkin patch.
https://youtu.be/Rq1tHMFSTIk (Apple read aloud)
https://youtu.be/LO8SnCyO7To (Pumpkin read aloud)
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by: Lucille Colandro is yet another zany adventure of the old Gail who can’t stop swallowing crazy things. This time she develops a taste for shirts, pumpkins, and you guessed it- leaves! She rhymes her was to sneezing out a festive fall scarecrow at the end. The illustrations will have you and your kids rolling on the floor!
https://youtu.be/YwzjH_iJrTo (Old Lady Leaves read aloud)
By the Light of the Harvest Moon by: Harriet Ziefert is beautifully illustrated! I honestly only picked it up because the front cover was so amazing. However, the story was equally amazing and takes you out into the woods to see what happens when no one is watching during a harvest moon. Leaf people emerge and have a regular fall party palooza complete with decorations and pie! The story is so fresh, so original, so whimsical, and so well complimented by the illustration it was truly a pleasure to read even when my kids want to hear it five times in a row!
https://youtu.be/PXIFn-pV8hk (Harvest Moon read aloud)
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by: Steve Metzger is an adorable story of a group of kids that sets out to collect leaves in the woods…until they run into a skunk! I highly recommend this book for your kindergarteners and first graders that are just learning to read as it contains decent size font, lots of ‘sight words’, and plenty of repetition.
https://youtu.be/1AQUdXcWIqM (Leaf Hunt read aloud)
How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by: Wendell Minor explores the phenomenon of pumpkins that grow to enormous sizes. At first the size comparisons can seem a bit random until you discover at the end of the book that each page illustrates a different landmark or celebration that is iconic in each of the US states.
https://youtu.be/NmIjKVWpAZM (How Big Pumpkin read aloud)
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by: Julia Rawlinson was an adorable tale that so many of us with young kids can appreciate. We follow little Fletcher the fox as he mistakes the season of fall as some strange illness afflicting his favorite tree. He tries desperately to help the tree keep it’s leaves, but in the end the elements and other animals have their way. He is crushed when his tree is reduced to no more than a barren mass of branches and cries himself to sleep. Overnight it snows and he awakens to find that his tree has been transformed into a beautiful glittering icy palace and is not only gorgeous, but also alive and well.
https://youtu.be/cOiKYRKo_jk (Fletcher read aloud)
Pumpkin Jack by: Will Hubbell was an instant favorite with my son due to the simple, yet vibrant pictures. This story follows the life of a pumpkin from the patch to a spooky Halloween Jack-o-lantern to the inevitable pile of moldy slush that all pumpkins must become when the season is over. Heartbroken, the little boy places his beloved pumpkin in a place of honor in the garden to finish composting. In the spring he is delighted that the cycle has begun anew- a little pumpkin plant has sprouted from Pumpkin Jack’s seeds!
https://youtu.be/O7i3d46_8xM (Pumpkin Jack read aloud)
I probably should have reviewed these earlier in the fall to allow you more time to enjoy them, but hey- better late than never! Don’t forget to find these titles for FREE at your local library!
Cheers!
Love,
Marie
The thrifty-momcom 