Review by Booklist Review
This lively picture book celebrates the activities, traditions, and holidays that children enjoy in the fall. The presentation focuses on a small, diverse group of classmates, who appear throughout the illustrations in a semirural setting. The kids return to school, rake fallen leaves, enjoy a class trip to an orchard, go trick-or-treating, and eat Thanksgiving dinner with their families. The rhythm of the rhymed couplets creates a steady pace for the narrative, written from the viewpoint of the children, as they respond to their teacher's question, "What things do you love about fall?" Fittingly, the endpapers feature the kids' pictures of their fall favorites. Primarily drawn in black on creamy white, Kurilla's digital illustrations include shades of orange, brown, gray, and yellow, with touches of red. Throughout the book, the art creates an atmosphere of warmth and fun with its rounded forms and cheerful portrayal of kids reveling in the season. In the end, the classmates ask listeners what they love about fall, a question that children will surely want to answer. An appealing read-aloud choice.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Golden hues lend an idyllic quality to Kurilla's adorable rhyming celebration of autumn. A teacher's prompt provides the narrative frame ("In class, our teacher asks to hear/ what things we love this time of year"), in response to which children of varying abilities and skin tones cite a range of emblematic pleasures. These include "fuzzy socks and/ cozy clothes.// A scarf around/ my chilly nose," a pumpkin patch and a corn maze, candy buckets for trick-or-treating, "honking geese," and watching the Thanksgiving parade on TV. With a limited palette of blacks, oranges, reds, and yellows, delicate digital illustrations capture the crisp warmth of the season as well as an appealing hint of youthful exuberance in cheerful community-oriented scenes. When a final line asks readers to reflect on their own favorite pastimes, it's welcome cause to reexperience the book's endearing tribute. Ages 4--8. (Aug.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
"Scarecrows, mums, / and wagon rides. / A corn maze we get lost inside!" Get into a fall mood with Kurilla's upbeat rhyming text and exuberant digitally rendered illustrations in a rich palette appropriately dominated by warm yellows, oranges, and reds. A diverse group of kids happily revels in the delights of the season, sharing favorite sights, sounds, smells, and activities. Varied compositions (double-page spreads, vignettes, etc.) capture the highlights: school buses, colorful leaves, pumpkin- and apple-picking, baking, trick-or-treating, geese flying south, Thanksgiving, and more. "Rake some crunchy leaves and -- / flop!" Kitty FlynnSeptember/October 2023 p.25 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A group of children celebrate autumn with activities, holidays, and more. "Colors bursting, shadows tall. / There's lots to celebrate--it's fall!" When a teacher asks a class of diverse students what they love about autumn, they outline their favorite things in an easily recited rhyme: cozy clothes, piles of leaves, scarecrows, corn mazes, apple picking, and, of course, Halloween--"Ringing doorbells… / Trick or treat! / Marching down a spooky street." What else do the kids enjoy? The sounds of leaf blowers and lawn mowers and traditional Thanksgiving foods like turkey and mashed potatoes. "Fall has treasures to be found / in colors, textures, smells, and sounds. / It's so much fun--we love it all." Black-outlined drawings in orange, rust, and yellow hues depict a bustling neighborhood with all the aspects described in the cheerful text. Endpapers provide additional fare in a gallery of childlike crayon-style drawings, ostensibly created by the characters in the book. The activities mentioned within will be familiar to most youngsters. The book ends with a question--"What things do you love about fall?"--that will encourage enthusiastic participation from listeners. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Uplifting seasonal verse focusing on well-known customs and conventions. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
