Monday, October 26, 2020

Book Club: Children's Autumn-Themed Books

Text: Book Club: Children's Autumn-Themed Books; background of leaves; logo of A Mom's Quest to Teach

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A short while ago, I shared some of our favorite Halloween-themed books. What if you don't celebrate Halloween? There are still plenty of great books that you can read during the months of Autumn with your children. I did a quick search of our library's collection and discovered more than we would be able to check out at one time! How exciting to have new books to read in our homeschool. 


What New Autumn-Themed Books Did We Pick Up At the Library? 



Text: Book Club: Children's Autumn-Themed Books; A Mom's Quest to Teach; background of leaves clip art; 5 book cover photos


Counting on Fall by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Ashley Barron 


This is one book in the Math in Nature series (we will need to check out the other three) where children work on their understanding of basic math concepts (like counting) while reading about different things that take place during the Fall. There are twelve different scenes that depict the following: deciduous trees, eastern gray squirrels, milkweed pods, humpback whales, Canada geese, pronghorn antelopes, raccoons, monarch butterflies, little brown bats, pikas, black bears, and grackles. In addition to the text about the images, there are questions that ask your children to interpret the images by counting and doing simple addition and subtraction. At the end of the story, you can read more about the animals and plants shared in the book. 

Personally, I really liked reading this book with our two children. I loved the 'what if' questions (that they both could take turns answering) as well as the beautiful cut-paper collage illustrations provided to accompany the easy-to-read text.  I can easily see this being a wonderful addition to your homeschooling bookshelves.

Canada Geese page in fall counting book


Pick a Circle, Gather Squares: A Fall Harvest of Shapes by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky and illustrated by Susan Swan 

When I picked out this book from the list of autumn-themed books our library had listed, I was not sure what to expect. I thought it might be a little too young for our kindergartner and second-grader to enjoy but I was wrong. Our second-grader and I sat together while I read it aloud and he went through and picked out all the shapes in the illustrations. 

For your preschooler, you can easily incorporate Pick a Circle, Gather Squares into your homeschool day. It would a perfect starting point for a day of searching for shapes either at a pumpkin patch or around the house. If we had a lot of pumpkins to carve, I could see us using the book as inspiration for choosing out different jack-o-lantern shapes

Pick a Circle, Gather Squares book cover


Footballs and Falling Leaves: A Fall Counting Book by Rebecca Fjelland Davis 

Like many counting books, this Autumn-themed one focuses upon the numbers one through ten for your preschooler or kindergartner. The bright colorful pictures open up discussions of bears hibernating for the winter, farming equipment like combines, how corn is used to feed farm animals, and more. At the end of the book, there is reinforcement for your child to practice counting again. There are also two pages of facts about fall, which are a nice addition to help you and your child explore more together. 

6 acorns in fall counting book


Hooray for Fall! by Kazuo Iwamura 

In Hooray for Fall!, we meet Mick, Mack, and Molly as their squirrel parents prepare for the Fall. Mama squirrel knitted her children three matching red sweaters as they explore outside, Mick, Mack, and Molly discover so many things are red like their sweaters. There are red mushrooms, red berries, red leaves, and even a red sky. 

To accompany the reading of Hooray for Fall!, you could spend some time reading about bears and create a bear craft or make a nature-themed work of art (N is for Nature). Or perhaps a walk at sunset would be a nice way to end your homeschool day? 

Fall Seasons children's book


Fall by Moira Butterfield 

Finally, I want to share an Autumn-themed book that will explain the season of Fall to your kindergartner or first-grader. In Fall, you and your children will read about how the sun's journey helps impact the seasons on Earth. There are also great discussions about Fall weather, farm life during Autumn, how animals adapt and migrate during the Fall, and some of the stories associated with Fall. 

And if you are in search of some Autumn-themed learning ideas, this book has some ideas for you! There are painting suggestions, nature-themed puppets, and some simple science experiments. Your child can also find definitions of such important words as chlorophyll, migration, and thermometer in the Words to Remember section. 

Does your family have any favorite Autumn-themed children's books? Perhaps there are a few board books that always seem to find their way into your Fall Morning Basket? 


Looking for more children's books? If you are in search of Halloween-themed children's books, check out my Book Club post. Or perhaps you are studying the early presidents of the United States? Why not learn more about George Washington





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