POETRY - Autumnblings - Douglas Florian

Illustrated by the author
2003, Greenwillow Books (Harper Collins)
HC $15.99
TPPL 811.54
48 pgs.
Goodreads rating: 3.95
my rating: These are really super poems, I like them hugely! (4.5)

Endpapers:  Bright orange
Title page:  2 x 3 tangerine-colored rectangle of a boy somersaulting
in the leaves.

29 poems about Autumn and the time leading up to winter and colder weather.  This includes lots of poems that can be used as examples of poems that kids can write:

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN

Apple picking
Frisbee flicking
Falling leaves
Bracing Breeze
Flying kites
Cool crisp nights
Trick or treat
(Sweets to eat)
Pumpkin pies
Clear blue skies
Fireplaces
Relay races
Football games ---
I love that autumn has two names.

WHAT I HATE ABOUT AUTUMN

Summer's done
Not much sun
Back to school
Air's too cool
Winds that gust
Rains that rust
Chilly nose
Woolen clothes
Birds don't sing --
I hate that autumn's far from spring.

AWE-TUMN

When summer's seams
Have come undone,
Then greens to reds
And purples run.
A palette falls
To forest floor,
And autumn leaves
Leave me in awe.

BIRDS OF AUTUMN

Woodpecker,
Chickadee,
Crow,
And Owl.
Screech owls screech
Horned owls scowl.
Starling,
Sparrow,
Cardinal,
Jay.
Guess the others
Flew away.

WHAT TO DO WITH AUTUMN LEAVES

Kick them.
Catch them.
Pick them.
Snatch them.
Romp them.
Stomp them.
Hurl them.
Heave them.
If you want to,
Even leave them.

POETRY - A Chill in the Air - John Frank

Nature Poems for Fall and Winter
illustrated by Mike Reed
2003, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
32 pgs.
Endpapers:  Mustardy-gold

Simple late-fall and winter poems for kids, some with rhyme, many with humor, and all describing a coldness or northern falls and winters.

Words

In the dawn
that chills my bones
and numbs my face
from ear to ear,
I see each word I speak
take flight,
a whiff of fog,
then disappear.

A Cold October Night

If any witches plan to ride
their broomsticks through this cold night air,
they'd best make sure beneath their gowns
they're wearing thermal underwear.

A Sprinkling of Snow

It hardly snowed at all last night
although I hoped it would.
I wished for lots and lots of snow,
but wishing did no good.
With so much snow my snowman
would have grown and grown and grown.
But now he's scarcely bigger than
a three-scoop ice-cream cone.

Footprints

As I am walking
in the snow
my footprints follow
where I go,
and make a long
and winding track
that leads me home
when I turn back.

Flora's Very Windy Day - Jeanne Birdsall

Illustrated by Matt Phelan
Clarion Books, 2010
$16.00
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: a great lavender/lilac

These are great illustrations. Outlined minimally in ink, then watercolored and pasteled, Matt Phelan puts such movement into his pictures. I love Crispin's hat, its long tassel flying out behind him. It amazes me how an artist can flick a line of black onto paper and create expression on a face, a movement of the wind...

Flora's little brother Crispin is driving her crazy. It's a windy autumn day, and their mother shoos them outside for some fresh air. Although Crispin's driving her crazy she doesn't complain , but she is glad her mother puts on his regular boots while she has her "super-special heavy-duty red boots" which will keep her safely anchored to the ground. But when a great gust of wind scoops us Crispin, Flora kicks off her boots to go after him - to save him.

This is a cute story about young siblings and the idea that no matter how crazy they might drive one another, they're still brother and sister. A I read, I thought about sharing the story with Ella who now has a baby brother. I wonder if the idea of the wind picking her up and flying her into the sky - through the clouds and all the way to the moon - might scare her just a bit. I've looked for a mention of this possibility in other reviews, and found some really interesting ones. (Boy, there are some great blogs and bloggers out there.)

Here are a few of those reviews: Kids Lit, The Washington Post, Katie's Literature Lounge (includes an activity), Brimful Curiosities (includes a spinning flyer and other books about the wind!), and Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, which includes an interview with Jeanne Birdsall.

Matt Phelan's Website
Jeanne Birdsall's Website
(I copied this idea from a blog I read today. It's a good one. I'm bad.)