16th April Autumn

It is quite some time since I did an Autumn display at school, but I do enjoy sharing Autumn books with my preschool classes. Outside the library there is a row of deciduous trees on the school footpath and we like watching how long before the trees are bare and how the leaves change colour. This fascination started over ten years ago when the then head of the school shared a book that she loved in assembly. It was Alfie's Long Winter. After the reading we collected leaves from the footpath, stuck small google eyes on them and each student had their own Alfie to care for.

This book which was published in 1995 is now old and looking somewhat lacklustre. I looked into buying a secondhand copy, but was shocked when the cheapest one I could find was over $70. What? The story is fun, but the illustrations show a very American looking farm and they are not what today's children are used to colour-wise.

• Alfie's Long Winter by Greg McEvoy

A breeze blew. Alfie closed his eyes, and - held on tight. "AL-FIE, AL-FIE, AL-FIE..." All the leaves on the ground shouted together. But Alfie could not jump. And so, Alfie's long winter began.

Searching for replacement books with a similar theme, I found

• The Little Yellow Leaf  ( 2008) by Carin Berger

It’s autumn. Brightly coloured leaves are falling everywhere. Finally, as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, a little yellow leaf discovers that it is the very last leaf on the tree. The little yellow leaf does not want to let go … not quite yet. Even when the first frost arrives, this little yellow leaf holds on, determined.

• The Leaf that Wouldn't Leave (2009)  by Trish Trinco and Bryan Langdo

Luigi, an autumn leaf reluctant to leave his branch, teaches us to be brave when facing new experiences and shows us that an amazing world waits beyond the backyard!

•  Leif and the Fall (2020) by Allison Sweet Grant, Adam Grant  and Merrilee Liddiard

Leif is a leaf. A worried leaf. It is autumn, and Leif is afraid to fall. “All leaves fall in the fall,” say the other leaves. But Leif is determined to find a different way down, and with his friend Laurel, he uses the resources around him to create a net, a kite, a parachute in hopes of softening his landing. The clock is ticking, the wind is blowing. What will happen when a gust of wind pulls Leif from his branch?

• The Very Last Leaf (2020) by Stef Wade and Jennifer Davison

Lance Cottonwood is the best and brightest of the leaves, but even the top students on the tree have worries. Can Lance conquer his fear of falling and just let go when the time comes for his final exam, or will he let his worries take over?

• A Very Big Fall (2022) by Emmy Kastner

The weather is pleasant, the view is fine, and everything just feels fresh. But when autumn breezes begin to blow, adventurous Birch, nervous Oak, and grumpy Maple each have their own way of facing the new crispness in the air. The squirrels take pleasure in warning the leaves about the transformations to come: new colours! And more ... an actual fall. But will the ground be the end or a new beginning.

• When Leaf Let Go (2024) by Angie Marie Carlson and Csongor Veres

When an unexpected storm rolls in and changes everything, Leaf must make a choice - cling to what she knows or trust the Wind and let go. With gentle encouragement from nature and a whisper of bravery, Leaf learns that letting go can be a beautiful part of life’s natural rhythm.

I have written about Autumn before here and here. These entries have more to say and suggest other book titles.

3rd April Easter Holidays

As we shelved the last of the Easter picture books at school yesterday, I thought about which were my favourites and then I wondered why they were all old. There has been some new Easter books published, but they seem so 'lightweight' and frivolous compared to those I read and reread each year.

For most children, Easter is associated with the Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs and egghunts, but I do think when reading to students that I should be enhancing their intercultural understanding and their child development, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence.

Three of my favourite books to share are inspired by the cultural practice of egg painting. Decorated eggs are found all over the world in many different countries. They are a wonderful celebration of family, culture and tradition.

• Beautiful Eggs  by Alice Lindstrom. This is a large-format board book, but it is not for very young children. It includes a stencil so that you can make your own beautiful eggs.

• Rechenka's Eggs  by Patricia Polacco is about Babushka, an old woman in Russia who is known for her beautifully painted eggs. One day, she rescues an injured goose whom she names Rechenka. After Rechenka accidentally breaks all of Babushka’s eggs, she suddenly starts to lay her own beautiful eggs so Babushka has enough eggs for the festival. She knows she must free her goose and sadly says goodbye. But Rechenka leaves a special gift.

• P. Zonka Lays an Egg  by Julie Paschkis is inspired by Ukrainian artwork. P. Zonka is a hen who appreciates nature more than laying eggs. When she does lay an egg, its designs reflect the patterns and colors of the natural world. All the other hens agree that P. Zonka’s egg is marvellous and beautiful.

Australian picture books that enable good Easter discussions are

• The Smallest Bilby and the Easter Games

• TheSmallest Bilby and the Easter Tale

• The Smallest Bilby and the Midnight Star

There are three books about Billy, the Easter bilby by Nette Hilton and Bruce Whatley and I particularly like the first two because they give teachers an opportunity to explain why an Easter Bilby would be better than an Easter Bunny in Australia, given the damage rabbits do. They also are stories where there is a problem to solve and the possibilities allow for lots of predicting and discussion.

•  Muddy Footprints  by Mary Small and Pat Reynolds is old, published first in 1987, but is still available to buy and it depicts a very Australian experience of Easter in Autumn, not Spring. I have never read it to a Kindergarten class where the students haven't been thoroughly engaged in what will happen.

And some others. I am not a huge Jan Brett fan, but I do love the sentiment of The Easter Egg.

• The Easter Egg  by Jan Brett. While I am not a huge Jan Brett fan, I do love the sentiment of The Easter Egg. Hoppi is excited to decorate his first-ever Easter egg. He searches for an amazing idea but isn’t sure what to do. Unexpectedly, a blue robin’s egg falls out of its nest. Hoppi takes care of it until the bird hatches. The Easter Bunny loves Hoppi’s kindness and decides the empty blue shell to be the best Easter egg of the year.

• The Easter Bunny's Assistant  by Jan Thomas is a book I like to read to my preschool classes with the help of their teacher. One of us is the Easter Bunny, the other the assistant who happens to be a skunk and we read the corresponding dialogue while the students do the actions eg holding their nose!

• Max's Chocolate Chicken  by Rosemary Wells is also a favourite preschool read, probably because it was my own children's favourite Easter book. My children were so like Max and Ruby!

See, all old! But very good. If you need newer, or you want a laugh try these:

• Bun  by Hana Kinoshita Thomson is not specifically an Easter book, but  it is fun and very young children will enjoy the hunt.

• I Am Not the Easter Bunny by T.L.McBeth Everyone, look! It's the Easter Bunny! He says he’s just a regular old fluffy white bunny, but he’s got a vest and a bow tie, and a big basket full of painted eggs. He MUST be the Easter Bunny! Right?

• The Easter Bunny Hunt  by Stacy Gregg and Sarah Jennings. Easter is here! But where are the eggs? Join Cat and Dog as they search for a much-awaited Easter visitor!  When Dog’s descriptions of the Easter Bunny leave a few imaginative gaps for Cat to fill in, they soon find their home full of many other long-eared, fluffy-tailed creatures who are more than ready to enjoy the celebrations…

5th April Autumn

Autumn is my favourite time of the year! I love the temperature and the colour. I grew up in  town in the Southern Highlands in a house with a very big back yard. The land was part of an orchard in a former life. It was across the road from a huge oval which was surrounded by oak trees, so Autumn was spent collecting acorns, coloured leaves and raking. As soon as there was a large pile of leaves then we became leaf jumpers. The crunch was one of my favourite childhood sounds. I am about to leave for a few days away in this environment, going for my annual 'autumn leaf fix'!

Before I finished at school last Thursday I got all the Autumn picture books off the shelves ready for a display in the first week back in Second Term. There's so many good ones , but here's my not-to-be -missed list.

Start with 

• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak        
  

Then 

• Yellow Time  by Lauren Stringer            

• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf and Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

• Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber and Leslie Evans

• Full of Fall  by April Pulley Sayre

• Leaf Trouble by Johnathan Emmet and Caroline Jayne Church

• Now  by Antoinette Portis

There are so many stories where leaves do not want to fall when they're supposed to

• The Little Yellow Leaf  by Carin Berger               

• The Leaf Who Wouldn't Leave  by Trish Trinco and Bryan Langdo

• Little Tree by Loren Long

And the classic all children love 

• Alfie's Long Winter by Greg McEvoy where leaf Alfie has to live through a very icy winter because he wouldn't jump when the other leaves did.

Finish with the best illustrations and a story that will really make you smile

• Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser

and                                        

• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter  by Kenard Pak

If you haven't these books, you may have some that are listed here. Enjoy Autumn.