Celebrate the Season with These Children’s Books About Fall
Fall is finally here!
Fall is my favorite season. I love watching the leaves change color, and the cooling temperatures after a sweltering summer are such a relief. Today, I’m reviewing four children’s books about fall, plus two great new releases.
New Releases
On a Wing and a Tear by Cynthia Leitich Smith
This middle grade novel is a super fun mix of Indigenous American folklore in a contemporary setting. Ray Halfmoon, a member of the Cherokee Nation, lives with his grandpa Charlie in Chicago after his parents’ death when he was a child. For the last year, Mel Roberts and her mother, who are Muscogee, have lived with them, and Mel and Ray have quickly become the best of friends. Great Grandfather Bat is recovering from a wing injury in their yard and asks for Ray’s help in traveling to the Great Ball Game outside Macon, GA, an animal vs. bird baseball game. Gray Squirrel also wants to come along. It’s easy enough to convince Grandpa Charlie, whose old flame lives nearby. But the road trip isn’t without its problems.
Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Tiny Forest Adventure by Emma Steinkellner
The first Nell of Gumbling book, My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life, was one of my favorite books of last year. Now Nell and her friends are back in a new adventure. These middle grade fantasies are written in diary format, with a mix of graphic novel panels and prose. It’s time for the Multi-Disciplinary Wilderness Engagement Adventure, when all the seventh graders spend a week camping in gumbling forest, where wishes might be granted and encounters with magical creatures are guaranteed. But then a wish goes wrong and Nell and her friends are all shrunk to Thumbkin sizes. On top of that, repressed crushes are causing a lot of excess drama. This series is super adorable and charming.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Jump in the Leaf Pile by Kelly Green, illustrated by Kasia Nowowiejska
This interactive board book with sliding leaf panels invites toddler and preschool readers to learn about their colors amid playful fall scenes. Readers find purple eggplants in the garden as children rake leaves, orange pumpkins as they dance in leaf piles, and more. The illustrations are warm and energetic.
Have You Seen My Acorn? by DK Ryland
Grumpy Squirrel has lost an acorn he remembers burying nearby, and is accusing animal friends of stealing it. Each animal tries to tell Squirrel that the acorn has sprouted into a tree sapling, but Squirrel rudely interrupts them and refuses to listen. Can Owl clear things up? This is a very silly fall picture book that will have kids laughing.
Mooncakes Mean Family by Benson Shum
This adorable reader is about the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also known as the Moon Festival. Sister rabbits Jade and Crystal are so excited about the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially to make and eat mooncakes. They help cook the mooncakes with their mother, then they gift some to their grandparents. That night, after a family dinner, they visit the gardens filled with lantern light and eat mooncakes while watching the moon. Back matter includes a story about Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess.
Math Mysteries: The Fall Festival Fiasco by Aaron Starmer, illustrated by Marta Kissi
This is a really clever middle grade series where a trio of 4th-grade detectives use their math skills to solve mysteries. The first book in the series is Math Mysteries: The Triplet Threat, though each book can be read as a stand-alone. In this one, everything seems to be going wrong at a fall festival when tickets disappear and someone sabotages the pie-eating contest. Can Cam, Abby, and Gabe figure it out, literally? Readers who don’t enjoy math might be turned off by this interactive series, but readers who do love math will have a blast.
Bookish Good
Fall Reading Nook Print by BrooklynSwenson
This is exactly what I want to be doing this fall, though I would totally knock over that teapot onto the floor. $28+
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It’s beginning to look like fall!
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, X @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
