Inside: Celebrate autumn with the very best fall books for kids! With the leaves changing color and crisp air on the way, there’s nothing better than ringing in the fall season with beautiful books. These are our very favorites. Check them out!
We love reading fall books to celebrate the season
It’s Fall!
I love this time of year. Though, let’s be honest.
In Miami, Autumn is looked upon with a great sense of longing. We see pictures of friends and family in front of gorgeous foliage, only to stare sadly at the palms outside our windows that never change color.
Our friends in northern states go apple picking and we wish we, too, could pull those ruby red fruits off the trees and crunch into their juicy sweetness.
We check the weather every morning, waiting for the temperature outside to come down from a steamy 95 degrees to a more moderate 84. And at 68? Break out the boots!
Oh, but even in the heat of Miami, we still celebrate the season! Leafy garlands wrap around porches, lines are out the door for pumpkin spice lattes, and witches, monsters, and ghosts dot front yards around town as neighbors get ready for Halloween and then Thanksgiving. And who doesn’t love a fall visit to the pumpkin patch?
There’s one other fabulous way we celebrate… with the best fall books for kids, of course!
Fall books for kids give children everywhere a chance to experience the season!
We can’t get enough of the gorgeous fall books for kids in our house! These celebratory stories give my kiddos a chance to experience this magical season. We can’t smell it or feel it or even taste it here in Miami, but we can certainly appreciate its visual beauty.
And you can too.
No matter where you live, fall books for kids celebrate the magic of autumn and teach kids about the cycle of life in the natural world. Fall stories present kids with an opportunity to learn, a spring point for the imagination, and a chance to relish in the beautiful changes that occur all around us.
So what are you waiting for? Whether you have a great big pile of leaves to jump into in your backyard, or you only wish you did, grab some of these fall books for kids, and get reading!
Frequently Asked Questions
Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert, and Leaves, by David Ezra Stein, are two classic fall books that are always big hits! Both of these stories teach children about autumn and the changing landscape, and Leaves also touches upon hibernation!
I absolutely love Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, as a way to wrap up the summer and begin the fall. This entire series by Kenard Pak is the perfect way to introduce kids to the everchanging seasons and everything that comes along with the new one, from that season’s unique weather and characteristics to what kinds of activities you may do in each.
Full of Fall, by April Pulley Sayre, is a fabulous book containing actual pictures of fall! I love reading a book with real photographs as a supplement to our other fall books to give children a real look at what the autumn season brings. This is especially important for children who don’t live in a city that sees seasonal changes!
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Fall Books for Preschoolers and Kids We Absolutely Adore!
When a little girl collects fall leaves, her imagination sets soar! The leaf can become a sail on a breezy boat, a lazy hammock perfect for reading, or even a hot-air balloon to take you on a trip up high above the stunning, multi-colored trees. This stunning story is a perfect book to celebrate fall, but it is also a beauty that will spark your child’s imagination and creative play. What will your little one’s leaves become? This is a must-read for autumn!
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This is one of the most stunning fall books for preschoolers! The main character says hello to the trees, the birds, and the gusty wind, and, upon her return home, she says goodbye to summer. The illustrations in this book are luminous, and we love how each page is soothing and wondrous as one sweet girl says goodbye to one season and hello to another.
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Oh, I am so in love with this story! At once a book showcasing the magic of fall leaves and the power of our big emotions, this fall book for kids deftly weaves these two concepts together. Here, fall leaves present a powerful extended metaphor for Ed’s bad mood. As Ed tries to sweep his bad mood away, it keeps growing until the pile of leaves is totally out of control. But then suddenly, a wind whips up all of the leaves. Will it be enough to sweep away Ed’s bad mood with it? A beauty to ponder, reflect upon, and come back to again and again. For our full review of Sweep, click here!
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When fall arrives, so too does the Leaf Man, going where the wind goes of course! Gorgeous collages with real autumn leaves make this book stand out from the rest, as the vibrant pictures perfectly showcase the different sizes, colors, and textures of the leaves. A perfect fall beauty!
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Henkes can do no wrong in our eyes, and we simply adore the wonders of autumn captured by this beautiful book. Henkes walks readers through the scenes they may see on a fall day, from the brown gardens to the frisky squirrels — and then suddenly, with one gust of wind — the world turns red and orange and yellow, and there is no doubt that fall is truly here. The lyrical text and stunning illustrations here are a perfect pairing for your youngest readers!
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Birch, Maple, and Oak love the pleasant weather. But when the air starts to get a bit crisper, the three leaves have very different reactions to the new fresh feeling outside. How will each leaf react to the fall season? And how will they respond to actually falling? Will they meet an untimely demise, or will hitting the ground be the start of a new, glorious beginning? This is a great new book just destined to become a classic autumn story!
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If you like to give your children books containing real photographs, you will fall in love with Full of Fall, featuring gorgeous snapshots of fall leaves and the changes they go through during autumn. From green to a brilliant red, orange or yellow, to shedding and eventually crumbling, this brilliant, poetic fall book for kids captures a tree’s journey as it prepares for winter.
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We just love the way this fun fall book for kids explores the magic of autumn and the changing colors that surround us. Squirrel loves counting all of his leaves, but what happens when one of them goes missing? Is there a leaf thief in the forest? Squirrel and Bird journey together to find out just who may be stealing the leaves, and we love the way this book touches upon change – and the anxiety change often causes, too.
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I love the way this book so beautifully illustrates the circle of life! Because of an acorn, a tree will grow, a bird will make a nest, and a seed will become a flower. This book is a wonderful tool to highlight how the ecosystem is symbiotic, with all parts connected and working together. The die-cut pages and very simple text make this a fabulous book for your youngest readers!
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This is such a beautiful and clever book that plays on the word fall as it follows one tree throughout the season. People, animals, and cars pass by the tree regularly as they celebrate the holidays and play in its beautiful, bright leaves. Each page features a combined word (wonderful + fall = wonderfall; thankful + fall = thankfall!), all of which highlight the lovely characteristics of this special season. This one is such a beauty and offers a great springboard for various discussions.
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This ode to fall could not be more beautiful, combining stunning illustrations and lovely wordplay. We love how this book can be read to children young and old, as your littlest readers can simply focus on the larger text and pictures and your older kids can read all of the text to learn valuable information about nature, the seasons, and the earth. The illustrations are brilliant, perfectly capturing the golden aura of the season and the dappled sunlight shining through the leaves before they shed. Gorgeous!
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Poor Fletcher the Fox thinks something is awfully wrong as the leaves begin to fall from his favorite tree outside his den. He tries to keep the leaves from falling, but they just won’t stop! Is his tree sick? Can he save it? Unfortunately, he can’t even save the very last leaf, so Fletcher makes a cozy bed for it and tucks it in – but he can’t help but fret about his lonely tree! The next day, the air is cold… and as Fletcher approaches his favorite tree, he finds it transformed, covered in magical, glimmering, icicles. Maybe losing its leaves wasn’t quite as bad as he thought!
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It’s fall, and since the leaves are now red and green, one young girl is going on an adventure. Join the child and her family for a day at the farm as they spend the day picking apples — and searching for a perfect pumpkin! This is such a lovely fall book for preschoolers!
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Poor Bear, no matter how hard he tries, he simply cannot reattach the leaves that have fallen from their trees. It’s Bear’s first autumn, and he is both mesmerized and bewildered by the changing season. Naturally, the bear begins to grow sleepy, and after readying himself for hibernation, he sleeps away the winter and wakes to discover new baby buds on the trees. Simple and delightful, children will love the awestruck, innocent bear and his efforts to save the leaves!
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This joyful book celebrates that glorious yellow time, when leaves can no longer cling to their branches and instead fill the sky with their golden hues. Lyrical and beautiful, Stringer captures the sights, sounds, and smells of the season, from the wet mud to the calling crows, as everyone gets ready to bid yellow time farewell before white time enters on its heels. Absolutely exquisite, from prose to illustrations to the wonder conveyed on every page.
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This is a forever favorite – a story that, in my opinion, is destined to become a classic. Little Tree focuses on a young tree who clings tightly to his leaves, too scared to shed them and transition into the new season. It doesn’t matter that all the trees around him are happy to change with each passing season. Little Tree thinks life is perfect and sees no reason to change his ways. But one fateful day, Little Tree realizes he has been left behind by all the trees who have grown up around him, and he knows a critical decision is on the horizon. How will he respond? This is a masterpiece – a perfect tale to help children recognize that fear of change is natural and daunting, but the reward is ultimately in the journey that helps us find our way.
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This beautiful pop-up book will mesmerize kids with its intricate details and gorgeous spreads. Weaving in factual information through interactive details, this book will have kids learning about the fall season and oohing and ahhing at the same time!
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For kids who are scared of facing a great change, we love the way this book gently highlights one little yellow leaf’s fear of falling, and the scarlet leaf who helps him face a new challenge. This story conveys the changes that come as fall arrives and then fades into winter. The beautiful, collaged illustrations highlight the leaf’s loneliness and the transition to the barren, cold days that arrive with the first snow. Sometimes, change is easiest when faced with a friend, and this book helps kids see that having someone at their side may make jumping into the unknown a bit easier to bear.
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Uh oh. Fall got all mixed up! In this charming and fun interactive read, kids are tasked with reading through the book and perusing the illustrations to determine where the story went wrong. From wordplay that takes us from “Septober” to “Octember,” to pictures that depict gloves and hats in all the wrong places, children delight in carefully observing this story, which reveals fun jokes and playful perspectives. Such fun for a classroom or one-on-one read-aloud!
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Hi there! I am a huge fan of your lists and have recommended you to so many parents, teachers, and librarians over the years!
Now that my kid is older and starting to age out of some titles, I was wondering if you had considered including an age range for each of the books in your list e.g. 3 to 7, 4 to 8, 5 to 9.
Since all the books in the list sound amazing this would help me to narrow down my selection to the ones that best fit my kid’s stage.
Thanks for all you do!