Fall Book List for Kids!

Fall Book List 

for kids

The first day of Autumn, already? It's hit right on time here in Ohio! 92F yesterday, and 70F today. Sounds about right. Honestly, I'm always one that desperately clings to every last scorching heat wave, and holding out for a big crazy storm. We got a fairly good downpour for about 10 minutes yesterday. And...then, nothing.

I really do enjoy Fall, I just never seem to look forward to Summer ending. All three of my daughters, on the other hand, are pulling out hoodies, decorations, and pumpkin spice latte recipes before Labor Day. It does give me a chuckle and help my mood. I crochet little pumpkins with cinnamon sticks down in them, and they are rapidly taking over our decor!

I also homeschool my youngest, so constantly having a reading list is always on the forefront.

This seems to be the time that we stockpile our books and prepare for long days of binge reading.

(No complaints from me!)

We seem to acquire books from a little bit of everywhere. We have them gifted or given, we do a ton of library trips, thrift stores, and Thriftbooks which is actually having a great sale on children and YA books. Buy any 3, and get 1 free. Plus free shipping! I've also recently found BookOutlet, and they have pretty awesome prices. 

No matter how you get your books, Autumn has such a diversity of book choices. It's a great time to incorporate learning and lessons throughout the season. There is gardening/harvesting, nature changing, animal habits and environments, books about giving, celebrating, tons full of Fall recipes to learn and share.

I feel it is a great opportunity to get children interested in reading. There are so many choices to find their interests.

We like to have a little of everything. Here is a list I've put together. Some we have read, others are going on our list.

Fall Book List

for kids

The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger

Look! It's the Candycorn by Danielle McLean

The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sonali Fry

Run, Turkey, Run by Diane Mayr

Friendsgiving by Nancy Siscoe

The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing

We're Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex

How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor

Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy by Lisa Wheeler

Turkey Bowl by Phil Bildner

The Great Pumpkin Contest by Angie Rozelaar

Over the River and through the Wood by Emma Randall

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo

Gobble Up, Snoopy! by Charles M. Schulz

Thanksgiving at Our house by P.K. Hallinan

Little Blue Truck's Halloween by Alice Schertle

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Where Do Diggers Trick-or Treat? by Brianna Caplan Sayres

The Berenstain Bears Big Halloween Party by Mike Berenstain

Little Monster(Ten Minutes to bed) by Rhiannon Fielding

There's a Witch in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

Frankenstein Doesn't Wear Earmuffs by John Loren

Sparkleton The Haunted Woods by Calliope Glass

Popcorn by Frank Asch

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills

Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley

Treemendous: Diary of a Not Yet Mighty Oak by Bridget Heos

The Pug Who wanted to be a Pumpkin by Bella Swift

On Our way Home by Sebastian Braun

Happy Halloween, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell

Wow! We've listed over 30 Titles! This is a great list for Fall, Autumn, and Halloween books!

Have you read any of these? Which is your favorite? Are there any I missed? I'd love you to add them in the comments!

Happy Reading! and Happy Fall!

Book Review: Octavia Can Do It! by Liliana Tommasini

 

Octavia Can Do It!

by
Liliana Tommesini

Children's book

Kindle edition/ 36 pages

I received a free copy of this book from the author, Liliana Tommasini in exchange for an honest review.

You can purchase your copy here:Octavia Can Do It!

From the cover:

When Mama steps out of the kitchen, Octavia takes over with an" I can do it" attitude. But as flour and cocoa cover the walls, cabinets, and countertop, she starts to question herself. 

Will her cookies turn out as good as Mama's cookies?

Octavia Can Do It! is the hilarious story of a young girl who discovers that even the most independent people need a little help sometimes. 

My Review:

Have you ever been scrolling through Pinterest and see a picture of a recipe that looks soo good? You take a quick screenshot, or save the pin, and think "Oh, I can make that!"  No need to actually read the recipe or cooking instructions, right? Right!

I do this. A LOT!

How does it usually end up? Pretty much just how Octavia's cookies turn out.

That is exactly how I felt after reading this book. It's really a great lesson for us all.

Patience and asking for help are two things we really struggle with. I bounce between

I'm going to do it all myself, right now, and, 

who cares, let it wait until later. Someone else can figure it out.

It's probably not the best way to roll through life, but we have our days.

Octavia definitely wants to be independent and doesn't have time to wait for Mama to finish her phone call. All the ingredients, bowls, and measuring cups, are already there waiting to be made into delicious cookies! What could go wrong?

As Octavia and her brother Ludovic start adding and mixing things together, they may have a few messes and mix-ups, but they do get their cookie dough ready for Mama to help do the baking. How will they turn out?

This book also includes a cookie recipe at the end! I can't wait to see how ours turn out!

Ele:

She really enjoyed the pictures and characters. The names were a little hard for her to pronounce, but she thought they were neat! 

She loves to help bake, so she really got into the story, but she knew the cookies weren't going to be great when Octavia started messing up the recipe. Now, she wants to try the recipe herself to see how they turn out!(I'll be helping!) She also thinks the mom should've checked on the kids in the kitchen. LOL

Great little story.

We give it 4 stars!

Be sure to check out the author's website here:

Liliana Tommasini

Book Review: Feeling All My Feelings/Feeling All My Anger by Kim T.S.

 Feeling All My Feelings
and 
Feeling All My Anger

by

Kim T.S.

I was honored to receive free pdf copies of both of these books from the author, 

Kim T.S.

You can also follow her on Goodreads, Click Here!

In these two books, Kim opens up a way to help everyone learn about different feelings. We all have feelings, and they are all valid. How we share them with others, and how we react, can make a huge difference.

Children need to see a healthy way to deal with all their feelings. Together we can set an example, learn, and teach each other.

Author's note from book:

We are firm believers that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting. Learn about different methods, but trust your own instincts. Always be kind to your children, to others, and to yourself. Remember, that we are all just trying our best!

(both books were read aloud with my daughter. All opinions are our own)

Feeling ALL My Feelings

18 pages

Kyle is a little kid with a lot of BIG feelings- just like many kids! It's ok to feel all our feelings, because those feelings are normal and real. 

At the same time, there are things we can do to help us calm down when our feelings get TOO big!

Join Kyle and his friend, Tiny the Mouse, as they find ways to accept and overcome the littlest and biggest emotions.

Review:

This is definitely a little book that makes a big impact!

From the very beginning, Kyle comes to life with amazing illustrations by Chel Labayo

His character takes us through a variety of emotions and some of the ways he reacts to them.

Like when something is funny,... he laughs until his knees buckle.

Kyle learns that his brain is a superpower. He has the power to control his emotions and learns ways of coping when he is scared, sad, or angry.

It seems like such a simple message, yet I think each of us forget that we hold this power at times.

This is a story that can be read and definitely re-read over. A lesson we all need a reminder of.

Hooray! to Kyle!

My daughter absolutely loved the animation in his character. We found ourselves saying, "Hey, you make that face." several times throughout the book.

Feeling All My Anger

18 pages

It's important for everyone to remember that ALL feelings are okay. There's a reason for every feeling, including anger. Instead of hiding it, we should try to understand WHY we feel that way and find healthy ways to release it. Otherwise, our anger might explode!

Join Max the Lion as he tries to find ways to understand, accept, and overcome his anger.

Review:

Have you ever taken away your child's ipad or tablet? How did they react? If your kid is anything like Max the Lion, or my daughter, I bet there was some strong anger shown!

When Max doesn't get his way, he finds himself roaring with anger.

He wants to scream and shout. He wants to kick and run; and make his feelings heard.

Luckily, he has a mommy that sticks it out and is there for him when he's ready to be calm. He also has Tiny the Mouse to help him along the way. To understand his feelings and how they can hurt others if they aren't gotten under control.

Again, this book also helps us understand our emotions, and how we can help others express them in a healthy way.

Tiny the Mouse is a hoot! Make sure to catch all her little text. 

Maybe, she'll get a book about how she's feeling...

I adored both of these books, and so did my daughter. She'll be 9 this week, and these were easy enough for her to read alone if she chooses. We've already discussed them twice. Once, after reading, and again before I started writing this review. We both found we could relate to the characters, and remember a time when we've shown our emotions. We discussed how we dealt with them and if we used our super brain power to control them. If not, what could we have done different. 

Very clear and understandable message.

I think Kim T. S. has a wonderful series started here! I cannot wait for the next book!

5 stars all around!

Book Review: What Good Is A Dragon by Patrick Carlson

 What Good Is A Dragon?

by 

Patrick Carlson

Children's

Kindle edition/ 32 pages

I received a copy of this book from the author to read and give an honest review.

Thank you, Patrick Carlson(Goodreads author link)

From the cover:

It's the queen's birthday and Alexander must deliver a dragon before the party starts. What does the queen need with a baby dragon? Come with Alexander while he travels across the kingdom to deliver this special gift...and discover what good a dragon is!

My Review:

When receiving this book, my first impression was, Wow! The illustrations are wonderful!

I'm definitely a visual person, as well as a mom. I believe a great children's book must have eye-catching pictures to pull kids into the story. This book definitely hit the mark. Throughout the book, the pictures are vibrant, and seem to pop right off the pages!

The story tells of Alexander's travels through the kingdom and all the creatures he meets along the way. Each of them believe they have an even better gift for the queen than the baby dragon he is sent to deliver. Alexander never questions taking along each gift to be delivered. But, when he arrives to give them all to the queen, which gift will she be most excited about?

I love the message this story gives that even with the best of intentions, others may not know exactly what we need or want at that moment, and not everyone seeks beauty and power. I feel it also shows that just because something isn't important or special to one, doesn't mean that for everyone.

I actually read this book twice. Once alone and then again aloud to my 8-year-old daughter.

Ele:

She agreed the pictures were her favorite, and the story was well liked. Her takeaway from this was, a bit different from mine, but I love that she formed her own opinion and found something that I missed.

*spoiler*

She thought when the queen received all the gifts, and seemed to only notice the baby dragon, that she should have been happy with all her gifts.

Sometimes we focus so much on that one thing we need or want, we forget about all the other gifts we've received.

Is my 8-year-old wiser than me???

We decided to give this book 4 stars. I do wish the ending had maybe been a little clearer for younger readers. It does give you the reason, in pictures, but then just kind of trails off. 

Ele wanted to see pictures of the queen's birthday party.

Again, thank you, Patrick Carlson for this wonderful opportunity to read and review this book.

 If anyone would like to get a copy of this book, here is the Amazon link(no affiliate):

What Good Is A Dragon?

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Best Mistake Ever!(And Other Stories) by Richard Scarry

 The Best Mistake Ever!

And other stories

by

Richard Scarry

Step 2 book (grades 1-3)

48 pages

The Best Mistake Ever!

A Visit to Mr. Fixit

Best Friends

From the cover

In these three stories about Lowly and Huckle, there are all kinds of silly mistakes-mistakes about food, mistakes about friendship, and even a mistake about a cuckoo clock!

This is my first review on a children's book!

My daughter will be 9 in September, and she is homeschooled. Which means we do A LOT of reading, and we have the freedom to choose which books we read. I want to continue sharing our reviews with you, and have a great way of teaching and understanding from start to finish.

1. choosing a book

2. reading it

3. going over what we've read/possible further research on either topic, or author

4. giving a review and report of book

I think this will be a great way for us to keep Ele accountable with her reading and also share our books with everyone. 

Here's to our first review!

Review

My POV:

This book was easily split into three stories, all with the same lesson. Mistakes can be silly. We don't need to assume every mistake means something horrible.

Labeled grades 1-3, I found it a great fit for Ele. She is going into "3rd" grade, but does struggle with reading. This book was easy enough for her to have confidence in her reading, yet include challenging words for her to work on.  The illustrations were spaced well to break up the reading parts into "chunks" that were manageable, and easy to stop, when placing a bookmark. These cute little characters definitely gave me a laugh. Lowly was my favorite.

Ele:

A Visit to Mr. Fixit was my favorite. I loved when the bicycle bell went cuckoo! Mother Cat was my favorite, and I liked her "angry eyes". It was easy for me to read and tell my dad about it. I would give it 5 stars for the whole book.

You can get your copy here:

The Best Mistake Ever!(And Other Stories)