Fall Book Favorites

Funny thing about being a blogger is that you constantly have to be looking ahead.

It’s not uncommon for bloggers to be testing and photographing Halloween recipes in August or September, and it’s not strange to be working on Thanksgiving and Christmas when people are thinking about Halloween. (I learned this year that magazines are often waaaaaay further ahead of the curve than I’d thought, working on holiday shoots in June or July!)

I’m definitely not as organized as a magazine, but I’ve been in fall mode since the beginning of August (helped along by Sophie starting school in July). We’ve been reading fall books for many weeks now, and here are a few of our favorites…

Fall:

Sophie’s Squash
This is such a darling book about a little girl who turns a butternut squash into a baby doll. My Sophie was ALL over this. Enter: Bernice. Sophie’s been loving on Bernice for a few week and last weekend, Bernice had a baby she named Flaffy. I’m grateful that squash is so inexpensive this time of year. Because I don’t know if my daughter will ever let me cook out squash.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
I love basically any book about a fox. Fletcher (the fox) is darling. We loved this simple story about a fox who’s concerned for his favorite tree (who keeps losing his leaves).

Apple Farmer Annie
We’ve loved this one for years. Simple, easy, and a great start-to-finish book. Do you have an orchard nearby? This would be a fantastic book to read before apple picking, or before taking on a baking or apple-using project.

Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple-Picking Time
Another book about apple picking, but just different enough. I especially love that they cover different varieties of apples. What a great conversation to have before visiting the grocery store or farmer’s market.

Halloween:

Where’s My Mummy?
This was our favorite last year and both my kids LOVE it again this year. We’ve read it over and over. It’s cute, it’s funny, and the cadence is really nice.

Leo: A Ghost Story
This is the first book we’ve read featuring a ghost. Sophie really enjoyed it. I’m still not quite sure how I feel about one part of it–there is a burglar who enters the house and Leo saves them. I didn’t know if that would spark concern for bad guys sneaking into the house at night. Neither child seemed concerned and really liked Leo. 

The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
This one we’ve read for a few years. It’s just the right amount of spooky (they’re in a tree at night), but it’s very safe for little ones. Neither Milo nor Sophie is afraid.

Go Away, Big Green Monster!
Not a halloween book, per se, but a great (safe) spooky read. We’ve used this book in speech therapy several times. It’s a great conversation starter and there are lots of fun craft ideas to go along with it, like this and this.

Jampires
Could there be a cuter take on vampires than jam-eating jampires? No. There couldn’t. This one is a lot of fun.

Room on the Broom
If you loved The Gruffalo as much as we did, you’ll definitely LOVE Room on the Broom. It’s fantastic, has the same quirky and clever illustration style, and there is even a short movie on Netflix about it.

10 Trick-or-Treaters
This is the most innocent halloween book. Super fun rhyme book and fun busy pictures with things to find on each page.

Thanksgiving

Bear Says Thanks
We love the Bear books. This one is a great one.

The First Thanksgiving
This is a lift-the-flap number my kids like so much we’ve kept it out all year long (by their request). It’s a great walk through the first Thanksgiving without being too detailed. Plus, I really liked the illustrations.

Thanks for Thanksgiving
This is perhaps my favorite Thanksgiving book. It’s kind of like a little blessing and goes through things to be grateful for. If you’re trying to explain gratitude or Thanksgiving to your little ones, I think this is a great one. It also opens up the door for a lot of discussion after.

What are your favorite fall books?