Fall Picture Books

I've added a few picture books to my own personal collection this fall (which is something I'm not advertising to my husband who already thinks I own waaaaaayyy too many books), and have been enjoying reading them to Little Sister at bedtime.  Harper Collins has also generously shared a few fall titles with me, and I have been happily reading these as well.

Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long is a recent book fair purchase for Little Sister.  When she was in kindergarten her teacher introduced her to the Otis books and she loves every one of them.  I was a bit more skeptical, but after seeing her enjoyment, have added them to my library's collection.  

In Otis and the Scarecrow, Otis is introduced to the scarecrow, who always seems to be frowning.  Although Otis tries everything to make friends with it, the frown never leaves the scarecrow's face.  Otis and his friends spend a rainy day together having fun, but Otis notices the scarecrow stuck outside in bad weather all by himself.  So, Otis and friends make their way out in the rainy weather, too, to keep the scarecrow company.  Although it's hard to tell, Otis is sure the scarecrow may have smiled at him.

Aw, Nuts by Rob McClurkan is a nice fall story about a squirrel collecting nuts.  Squirrel loves nuts and spends his days collecting them. It seems there is always a nut that looks the most delicious that squirrel must have.  Collecting nuts isn't an easy job, as Squirrel chases down one elusive nut he loses his shoe, takes a taxi that runs out of gas, pogo sticks for a bit, gets stuck in a manhole, hitches a ride on the back of a delivery van, rides a dog, a boat, a horse, a bike, and finally gets on a big balloon all before he is able to grab this special nut.  The refrain, "aw, nuts," is repeated as the nut's journey continues without Squirrel being able to nab it.  

This is a cute picture book that I'm anxious to share with my lower elementary students.  I can already hear them chanting, "aw, nuts," as Squirrel tries to catch the nut.

I Am a Witch's Cat by Harriet Muncaster is a delightful Halloween book.  The collage illustrations have given my daughter and me something to discuss and look at for a bit longer as we read. The story is just fun, with the girl dressed as a cat, sharing all the reasons she knows her mom is a witch.  From buying jars of eyeballs and green fingers (vegetables) from the grocery store, to growing herbs in her garden, this small girl has found a variety of reasons her mom is a witch.  Little Sister had a good time rolling her eyes at this little girl and giggling at her reasoning.

These would be great additions to any collection, and as I work on lesson plans for the upcoming week these three titles are ones I plan on sharing with many classes.

*Thanks to Harper Collins for copies of both I Am a Witch's Cat and Aw, Nuts.  Although the copies came from them, my opinions are my own.