A is for Autumn

Welcome autumn with Robert Maass' A is for Autumn (c.2011), a photographic alphabet salute to one of the year's most delightful seasons.  This title is great for preschoolers and great for early readers.  And the photographs make it an overall "feel good" kind of book, perfect for the change of season.

a Pumpkin Moonshine update:

Even though Halloween has passed.  I just have to share this sweet little book by Tasha Tudor with you once again.  You know, we all need our memories refreshed from time to time.  And this little book remains an old friend.  Just as good friends don't neglect each other, the dust jacket of Pumpkin Moonshine (c. 1938, renewed 1966) evidences love worn as its story becomes a familiar one.  I don't think of it so much as a Halloween story as a late fall, November story. AND it's still in print!

So begins Tudor's charm: 

Sylvie Ann was visiting her Grandmummy in Connecticut.  It was Hallowe'en and Sylvie wanted to make a Pumpkin Moonshine, so she put on her bonnet and started out for the cornfield to find the very finest and largest pumpkin.

When they reached the field, Sylvie looked among the shocks of corn for the very fattest pumpkin.  Way across the field she found such a fine one!

Be sure to check out this delightful tale to discover what happens between the previous illustration and the following illustration.  Of course, you'll want to read the ending too!

But worst of all it bumped right into Mr. Hemmelskamp who was carrying a pail full of whitewash!

Apples and Pumpkins

Wow!  Lizzy and Anne Rockwell's Apples and Pumpkins, one of our favorite fall books, received an update.  Take a look at the 1989  cover:

And compare it to the new 2011 cover:

Here's the publishers description:
In Apples and Pumpkins, a little girl spends a glorious fall day picking apples and searching for the perfect pumpkin. This classic story and perennial backlist favorite has delighted audiences for more than twenty-five years, and now it’s been revitalized to reach a new generation of readers. Featuring a new cover and an updated interior with rescanned artwork and reset text, this edition is both familiar and fresh—just like a fall day.

Yep, I knew we had good taste around here.  :)

Pumpkin Pumpkin

My mom introduced me to this beautifully illustrated book by Jeanne Titherington called Pumpkin Pumpkin.  Titherington does the full-color art on each page strictly with colored pencils.  The detail in each illustration almost looks like it could be a photograph with the exception of the softness color pencils lend to each illustration.  Titherington's simplicity in chronicling the life cycle of a pumpkin introduces us to a little boy named Jamie who plants pumpkin seeds and watches a pumpkin grow until it's ready for carving.  The children especially enjoy looking for the insect, amphibian, or mammal in each illustration.

Pumpkins!

How many books have you read that have instantly drawn you in by the dedication?  Personally, I can think of only one.  Pumpkin Moonshine's charm begins with Tasha Tudor's dedication: A Wee Story for A Very Sweet Wee Person.  Tudor writes and illustrates this winsome and subtly humorous story about Sylvie Ann's visit to her grandparents' farm, complete with pumpkin hunt, runaway pumpkin, and jack-o-lantern carving.  This is one of my all time favorite stories because it begs to be read aloud, attributable to its alliterative and onomatopoeic words.  The kids listen to it mesmerized by the quaint and lively narrative.  Make sure to look for Wiggy the dog throughout the illustrations!

Here are a few more pumpkin books to check out:

• It's Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall ~ explains the growth cycle of a "jack-o-lantern patch" in story format from two siblings' point of view.  You'll remember this author also penning The Apple Pie Tree.   Note: also available in Spanish.

• From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer ~ excellently explains the life cycle of a pumpkin in easily understood language.

• The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth Kind ~ a photographic narrative a farmer's year in the pumpkin patch.

• A Day at the Pumpkin Patch by Megan Faulkner & Adam Krawesky ~ photographically chronicles a day at the pumpkin patch and the life cycle of pumpkins.  Note: a Scholastic book.