Leaves by David Ezra Stein.

There are so many lovely fall books, but this one should be added to your collection.  A bear is enjoying his first year.  He is loving everything until the leaves begin to fall.  He tries to put them back, but it isn’t the same.  So he sits and watches the leaves fall until he grows sleepy and goes to hibernate in a hole filled with dry leaves.  When he comes back out in spring, he sees the buds of leaves on the trees and once again is filled with joy at the world.

The language here is so very simple but powerful.  Words are used in ways that allow you to feel their resonance, yet stay welcoming for children.  In fact, the language is so simple and brief that toddlers will enjoy the book, but I would also share it with four and five year olds.  The illustrations add to the power of the book with some illustrations left without words so that they stand on their own, underlining the silence of winter as well as the glory of the falling leaves.  I especially appreciate the use of color as the seasons change so that the oranges and yellows of autumn become the whiteness of winter and then the green of spring.  The illustrations echo the words because they too are simple but powerful.

If you are looking for a great fall book, try this one.  Perfect for days in October when the leaves are blowing around, children are treasuring the ones with bright colors, and the touch of winter is felt.

Avatars: So This Is How It Ends by Tui Sutherland.

School Library Journal sent me the second in this series to review this month, so of course I had to track down a copy of the first one.  I found it at only one of the smaller libraries in our public library system, leading me to wonder how good it could be.  Well, it is quite wonderful!

This science fiction/fantasy novel is the story of five teenagers who have always had strange powers, but suddenly awake to find themselves alone in the world.  The earth is now home to strange large birds, crystal monsters, pterodolphins, and many other frightening creatures.   A voice in each of their heads tells them to move closer together, and many of them journey across continents and oceans to converge.  It is not until then that they all hear why they are the final five humans alive and what they are expected to do.  The first novel leaves readers hanging, so be ready to find the second novel when you finish.

This book offers a rapid pace, the perspective of different unique teens, and a world turned upside down.  It will appeal to lovers of science fiction and fantasy.  The characters are all unique and complex, often struggling with their own powers and weaknesses.  The writing is taut and the pace is often thrilling with monsters attacking, the world collapsing, and the question of time hanging over the characters.  It is a unique science fiction take on the future that is a lot of fun to explore.

I only wish that the cover of the first novel reflected the darkness of the title rather than being pale blue with a large bird.  The cover will not appeal to the readers who will enjoy the book.  Don’t you hate it when that happens?! 

Recommend this to readers of Scott Westerfeld who enjoy a dystopian look at the future.

Gator by Randy Cecil.

Gator loved being a carousel animal.  He loved the lights, the music and the wind, but most of all he liked the laughter.  But then times changed and children weren’t as interested in riding the carousel.  Without the music, lights and laughter, Gator fell deeply asleep.  When he couldn’t sleep any longer, he climbed off the carousel and went out into the world.  He ventures through a dark forest and across a bridge when he hears laughter coming from a zoo.  But he doesn’t find anything there to make him feel welcome.  Just when he is about to despair, a man with a small boy recognizes him from the carousel.  As he leads the man and boy back to the forgotten amusement park, a crowd starts following them.  The laughter, light and music are back!

This is a lovely picture book that speaks to the fact that children still enjoy the old-fashioned pleasures of life.  Gator is a charming, whimsical figure with his wide eyes and hole in his heart.  This is especially true when he is contrasted with the real alligators at the zoo.  I also enjoy the rather strange looking humans in the story with their gangly arms and flattened heads.  The story itself shines here.  There is a sweet rhythm to the sentences where the wording reflects the mood of the storyline.  And the little button on the end of the book is simply lovely. 

Recommended as a lap book for children ages 4-7.  It will not project well to a group, but would work with a small class.  It is quietly amusing rather than rambunctious, so it would also make a perfect bedtime read.

Little Apple Goat by Carolyn Jayne Church.

Little Apple Goat is an ordinary goat except she likes eating apples and other fruit in the orchard much more than she likes nibbling on laundry or grass.  When a large storm blew in and ruined the orchard, Little Apple Goat was very sad.  She watched the logs from the trees being hauled away but then cheered up as she thought of the wood heating the farmer’s house.  When spring came, Little Apple Goat notices some flowers over the hedge but doesn’t pay much attention until the blossoms are replaced in the fall by fruit!  Her spitting of seeds over the hedge as she munched has grown the farm a new orchard.

OK, so I do have some issues with the speed of the growth of the orchard and the fact that the flowers on the other side of the hedge bear no resemblance to apple trees or trees at all.  But with those quibbles aside, the book is completely charming.  The text is simple and flows nicely.  It is the illustrations which really make this book worth reading.  They are big, colorful and will project well to a large group of children.  Little Apple Goat and her friends are placed on bright colored pages and when the storm blows in the wind and speed of it are captured perfectly. 

Recommended as a read aloud for toddlers and preschoolers, this book will work well in story times about autumn or apples.  A perfect fit for this time of year. 

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh

I have always enjoyed Walsh’s mouse series, especially the illustrations.  Her mice and cats are so simple but accurate at the same time. 

In this book, the mice are running from the cat and find themselves near a pile of colored shapes.  They discover they can create things from the shapes: houses, trees, a sun.  And then more and more intricate designs.  When the cat pounces at them, the mice come up with a cunning plan to use the shapes to scare him away.

As always, the story is simple, the words are easy, and the illustrations are welcoming and bright.  Walsh has once again captured with her paper designs a world of clever mice and menacing cats.  I loved the juxtaposition of this wonderful paper artist having her mice characters create things out of colored paper shapes.  To me it was the perfect cherry on this wonderful book.

Recommended to add to your mouse story times, but also to discuss shapes, colors and to promote creating things from shapes.  I can see this leading to a table filled with paper shapes and a long time of gluing, ripping and creating.  This book will work well with toddlers and younger preschoolers.

Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio and Barbara McClintock.

What an absolutely wonderful book!  It combines a classic feel with a marvelous story.  Mary hadn’t even realized that there was a mouse family living in her walls until she drops her fork at the same exact time the little mouse drops her spoon.  They spot one another through the mouse hole and grow up side by side, living parallel lives.  They miss one another in college and are reunited as they end up in the same house once again, both with daughters of their own.  But the daughters prove to both be much more forward than their mothers!

For me it was the illustrations that drew me in and held me fast, but for my sons the words and pace of the book caught them by the second page.  So we have a perfect pairing here.  McClintock’s illustrations remind one of books from the 50s and 60s.  They have a vintage feel that adds a real charm and cozy quality to the book.  Donofrio’s text is filled with lovely patterns and rhythms echoed in the illustrations.  The pacing is dynamic and enticing while the illustrations are cozy and sweet.  I love the way they work together in the book.

Highly recommended as a bedtime read.  Not as good for groups of children, because everyone will want to gaze at and discuss the mouse homes.  I would also recommend this as a perfect holiday present to any young girl in your family, ages 4-7.  It’s guaranteed to please the parents too.

Five Nice Mice by Chisato Tashiro.

Translated from the Japanese, this is a story of five urban mice who hear music in the distance and follow it to a park where they find a chorus of frogs singing.  But the concert is for frogs only, so they are forced to leave and can’t listen any longer.  The mice are all inspired by the music, and build their own instruments.  They practice and practice until they are ready to perform their songs on stage.  During their performance, they glimpse some frogs in the audience and the book culminates with them all up on stage together.

Right from the beginning, readers know that this is not an American book.  There is something a little different about the pacing, illustrations and the story itself.  I love publishers who bring such varied books to the American market, allowing us a glimpse into other societies and their values.  Penguin has done well.

The illustrations are charming and filled with small details and lovely perspectives that are unusual to see in children’s books.  Additionally, the prose is clear and bright, almost allowing the readers to hear the music in the air. 

A lovely translation, this book is recommended for story times on music or mice or frogs. 

Don’t Say That Word! by Alan Katz, illustrated by David Catrow.

Open this book to the title page with the wild-haired child picking his nose, and you have gotten the tone of the entire book in a single image.  A boy has come home from school and is telling his mother about his day.  He does it in rhyme with the last word of the line being a word that his mother does NOT want him to say aloud.  So the word is left unsaid, but implied by the rhyme itself.  The words are only slightly naughty at most, like booger, butt, and poop.  Just the right amount of vulgarity for the lower elementary level. 

While I don’t consider this great literature, it does have a wonderful way of making books inviting, silly and fun for children, especially boys.  The illustrations are also equally funny and accessible.  They have that same naughty quality as the rhymes do. 

I wouldn’t recommend this for reading to a group, unless you want these words talked about over and over again for days.  But if you have a young imp you read to at home, they just might find this as side-splittingly funny as my children did.

Fish, Swish!  Splash, Dash!:  Counting Round and Round by Suse MacDonald.

I am a real fan of paper art in children’s books, but I especially enjoy books with holes to peek through.  So this is a book I highly recommend!

The book counts fish on each page, moving from one to ten.  Then the book doesn’t end, but you flip it over and count back from ten to one.  I know, it doesn’t sound thrilling.  But what makes it marvelous is the paper art.  The fish start large and move smaller, each hole in the paper allowing you to see the different colors of the layers below.  And even nicer, the fish are different on your way back to one. 

This is one of those simple but lovely books.  Not really a read aloud, it is best done with a very small group or one-on-one so that everyone can enjoy the fish up close.  The pages are extra sturdy and will stand up well to even small toddlers.  This is a winner of a picture book for the smallest of children.