Autumn Picture Books: Going Out In a Blaze of Glory

As an adolescent I skipped over the fascination-with-death phase. Horror movies repelled me, gore disgusted me. I forged on well into my twenties, thousands of miles from elderly relations and still in possession of most of my grandparents, in blithe denial of mortality.

It caught up with me, of course, at times slow and furtive and at others with breath-taking abruptness. To say I have come to terms with death would be overstating. But in the course of close encounters spread over several decades, I have laid hold of hope—one that persists in the face of fear, grief, loss, and all the other realities inseparable from death.

Autumn, to me, is emblematic of that hope. Decline and decay appear on every side—flowers and insects die off, leaves shrivel and fall, daylight dims. And yet, as the calendar year bows out, beauty flames up on every side. Gentle mists shroud shorn hills. Trees wax resplendent, then drop their finery to reveal intricate tracery, stark against the sky. It’s as if, in the midst of all that is passing, nature waves the banner of the One who says, “Behold! I am making all things new!”

Many of the books below—several by author-illustrators—attracted me with their artwork; illustrations inspired by the season number among the delights of autumn reading. Some titles are acquaintances of a decade or more. I hope these books will convey into your home the comfort of hope, as well as the blessings of harvest time’s abundance and companionship with friends, new and old, human and literary.

Early 20^th Century to 1980

Flower Fairies of the Autumn, by Cicely Mary Barker (Frederick Warne, 1990 , 1^st ed. 1926, 56pp, ages 3–8)

Any list of seasonal books that overlooked Barker’s collections would be incomplete. Paintings of fairy children attired like the plants they are associated with (i.e. dogwood, sloe, hawthorn) appear alongside short, rhyming poems ideal for bedtime. While not scientific treatises, Barker’s books called my attention to and gave me names (albeit British ones) for plants I had previously overlooked. The author evidently divined no contradiction between literary fairies and her devout Christian faith. She also illustrated Bible stories, short stories, books of prayers, and publications for her church.

Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip, by Elsa Beskow (Floris, 2020, 32pp, 4–8 years, 1^st Swedish ed. 1939)

This Swedish author’s natural settings and anthropomorphized animals call to mind the British Beatrix Potter, just eight years Beskow’s senior. Many of the latter’s books feature tiny people who live among and are friends with the squirrels, birds, trolls, and other forest creatures. Here the various mischiefs and misadventures of Mrs. Acorn’s children make for a rambling autumn tale. Listeners with longer attention spans will be better equipped to appreciate the meandering narrative.

Country Fair, adapted from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, ill. Jody Wheeler (Harpercollins, 1997, 32pp, ages 4–8)

Though published in the 1990s, association with Wilder’s 1930s and ’40s Little House on the Prairie series clearly accounts for this title’s inclusion among the classics. It was Wilder who first introduced me at age six to literature’s capacity to transport a reader to other times and places. I was thus delighted to discover the twenty-one My First Little House Books when my daughter was in preschool. Each title distills an episode from Wilder’s originals. This one focuses on the pumpkin young Almanzo grows for the county fair. Youngsters drawn in by these adaptations can be easily enticed into the full length works.

Mousekin’s Golden House, by Edna Miller (Prentice-Hall, 1964, 30pp, ages 3–8)

If you run across any of Miller’s ’60s- and ’70s-era Mousekin books, snatch them up at any price. (Well, almost any. Several sellers on Amazon were asking $100 and up for this title.) Her true-to-life watercolors of plants and animals reveal the author’s close acquaintance with the natural world. Miller tucked scientific knowledge into engaging storylines, such as this one, in which a mouse prepares to hibernate inside someone’s discarded jack-o-lantern in the woods. Complete with drama, suspense, and humor, this was a perennial favorite when I read to grade school classrooms.

The Year at Maple Hill Farm, by Alice and Martin Provensen (Atheneum, 1978, 32pp, ages 2–6)

The Provensens were slow to come to my attention, though we did read The Voyage of the Ludgate Hill and A Visit to William Blake’s Inn when my daughter was little. In addition to these titles inspired by nineteenth-century authors, this celebrated husband-wife duo illustrated more than forty books and wrote many more. As the title suggests, this one, not exclusive to fall, follows the year through life cycles on their New York farm. The Provensens’ style is iconically mid-century yet distinctive.

Autumn Story, by Jill Barklem (Philomel, 1980, 32pp, ages 3–8)

Though the most recent of these classics, Barklem’s Brambly Hedge books are rife with rustic romance. Her intricate illustrations of cozy mouse homes hollowed out of trees offer the viewer nearly inexhaustible details. The inhabitants of Brambly Hedge lead a simple country life that changes with the seasons, exuding harmony and contentment. The idyllic community is as fanciful as the anthropomorphized mice, but to steal away into the world of Barklem’s creating is to escape for a time the harsher realities of this one.

1990s–2000s

Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic, by Steven Schnur, ill. Leslie Evans (Clarion, 1997, 32pp, ages 6–9)

Selecting a seasonal word for each letter of the alphabet (i.e. “barn,” “corn,” “dark”), Schnur has constructed twenty-six acrostic poems, where each line starts with a letter in the designated word. When I read this book to grade school classrooms, students repeatedly surprised me with their enthusiasm for writing their own acrostics, inspired by this book. Evans’s woodcut illustrations capture all the coziness and artistry of this transitional season.

Pumpkin Cat, by Ann Turner, ill. Amy June Bates (Hyperion, 2004, 32pp, ages 3–8)

Another crowd-pleaser; who can resist an orphaned kitten? Not the two young librarians who feature here, nor stray cat number one who turns up on the library steps. A simple story but one that resonates with the joys of home, family, friendship—and fall, naturally.

For the Love of Autumn, by Patricia Polacco (Philomel, 2008, 40pp, ages 7–11)

Many titles in Polacco’s impressive body of work number among my (countless) favorites. Romantic love is an uncommon theme for a children’s book, but Polacco pulls it off in this story about a cat who brings people together. Like Pumpkin Cat, this title entices readers with a sweet stray and maintains interest through sympathetic adult characters with a problem to solve and a cohort of lively children. An added delight for me was the familiar setting in Port Townsend, WA, a charming seaside town brimming with local (and personal) history.

2010s–2023

Fall Leaves, by Loretta Holland, ill. Elly MacKay (Clarion, 2014, 32pp, ages 4–8)

I found MacKay’s autumn scenes breathtaking from the beginning; I loved them even more upon discovering that, in an age of digital and AI art, MacKay’s process is exceedingly manual. She draws and paints the elements piece by piece then stages them in a mini theater, where they are photographed for publication. Holland’s simple text plays with the notion of things that “leave” and “fall” in the autumn. The final page explains how to make leaf prints; I’m eager to try it myself.

Shanghai Sukkah, by Heidi Smith Hyde, ill. Jing Jing Tsong (Kar-Ben, 2015, 32pp, ages 5–10)

This heartwarming story of cross-cultural friendship introduced me to a fragment of history that had eluded me. According to the back matter, thousands of Jews fled Europe for Shanghai from 1938 to 1941. The narrative combines elements of the Jewish harvest festival, Sukkot, and the Chinese autumn Moon Festival.

Sweater Weather, by Matt Phelan (Greenwillow, 2021, 40pp, ages 2–8)

This playful title brings to mind Sandra Boynton’s Pajama Time. With sparse text and chuckle-worthy illustrations, Phelan elicits sympathy for a papa bear who just wants his seven active cubs to get out and enjoy an autumn afternoon. Alas, by the time everyone is suitably attired, the light is gone. But other joys await and all ends well—especially for Papa, who now has seven sleepy offspring.

If You Find a Leaf, by Aimée Sicuro (Random House, 2022, 40pp, ages 3–8)

Like so many of the illustrators on this list, nature is intrinsic to Sicuro’s art. The end papers feature twenty-nine leaf species in brilliant autumn hues. Alongside the text they become hot air balloons, sails, go-carts, hammocks, bicycles—“anything you wish to make.” As with Fall Leaves, Sicuro includes craft instructions, this time for preserving leaves in glycerin, another experiment I intend to undertake.

God, Right Here: Meeting God in the Changing Seasons, by Kara Lawler, ill. Jennie Poh (Intervarsity, 2023, 32pp, ages 3–8)

Poh’s multi-textured illustrations—soft washes, sharp lines, impressionistic scenes offset with carefully selected detail—are the perfect complement to this journey through the seasons. Beginning and ending with fall, Lawler reminds us that God is ever-present, always loving, regardless of whatever else may change in our lives. Author and illustrator’s love for nature infuse this title with the truth of the closing lines: “The earth is so full of God’s glory.”

When Fall Comes, by Aimée M. Bissonette, ill. Erin Hourigan (Little Bigfoot, 2023, 32pp, ages 4–8)

Like For the Love of Autumn, this title doubly endeared me by its Pacific Northwest connection, alluded to in the illustrations, no doubt on account of Hourigan’s residence in Portland, Oregon. Bissonette connects the autumnal activities of humans with those of animals—storing food for the winter, preparing warm habitations, bundling up against the cold. Straightforward text and realistic depictions of plants, animals, and fungi focus attention on the natural world.