Seasons

All posts in the Seasons category

In November, by Cynthia Rylant

Published October 17, 2014 by Dagmar

In NovemberThis is a very peaceful book about the changing seasons and the coming of winter.  Beautiful illustrations by Jill Kastner are a great accompaniment to Cynthia Rylant’s words.

“In November, the earth is growing quiet.  It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.”  “In November, some birds move away and some birds stay.”  “In November, the smell of food is different.  It is an orange smell.  A squash and a pumpkin smell.”

The story talks about the animals, birds, trees and finally ends with a family joining in a special meal, presumably Thanksgiving.  This is a wonderful book to share with your younger students as Thanksgiving approaches.

Advertisement

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson

Published August 26, 2014 by Dagmar

fletcher and the falling leavesFletcher and the Falling Leaves is one of my favorite fall books.  Fletcher is a little fox who discovers that his favorite tree is changing.  He begins to worry about his tree when the tree’s leaves turn brown and then begin dropping off.  Fletcher tries to fix his tree, trying to tie the leaves back onto the tree.   He is distraught when a squirrel and porcupine make off with the fallen leaves.  When the tree is finally bare, Fletcher takes the last leaf and makes a little bed for it in his room. The next day, winter has arrived, and Fletcher is amazed at the sight of his tree shimmering with icicles.

This story is very sweet, but what really makes it a keeper are the incredible illustrations of Tiphanie Beeke.  Her water colors are beautiful, and my students always love the last “shimmery” page.

I love to read this to my K-1 students and talk to them about the life cycles of trees.