Fletcher and the Falling Leaves

Of all the four seasons, autumn is my absolute favorite. The air whispers through the trees with a bit more crispness and the vurduous leaves transform into brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow and brown. The season invokes feelings of change as the harvest is gathered after the blazing summer and the fields are prepared for the chilling winter.

In Indian mythology the chosen season for the goddess of learning, Saraswati, is said to be autumn. In fact, autumn presents many opportunities for learning, including historical and geographical. So what did I do when autumn was upon us? I stocked up on autumn books to read to my children to inspire their curiosity about this much-loved season.

The first book I read with my children was Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson. I absolutely love this book. The art is magnificent and the prose is beautifully written. When the leaves on Fletcher’s favorite tree begin to turn brown and fall from their boughs the little fox begins to worry that something must be wrong, and he makes a promise to the leaves and his tree that is as sweet as any promise an innocent child can make. While reading the book my son would question the changing of the tree just as little Fletcher did, and it was a delightful introduction to autumn and the transformations that it brings.

Stayed tuned for more autumnal literature that my children and I have enjoyed. ツ