Themed Reviews: Autumn

     Did you know there are 7,000 varieties of apples in the world? Or that an apple has five seed pockets? As summer winds down, we start to notice all the signs of fall. The leaves turn colors, days get shorter, the weather cools, and foods like apples, squash, and pumpkin come into season. While people may not prepare for winter in the same manner as animals by stockpiling food, we do have plenty of traditions that symbolize the coming of winter. Holidays such as Halloween, Sukkot, the Moon Festival, and Thanksgiving all take place during the fall season and are associated with celebrating the harvest.

   In fact, before the 16th century harvest was the word used to refer to this season. After that the word fall came to be used, stemming from phrases like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year." The word autumn traces its origins to French, automne, and fall has its origins in Old Germanic languages. In North America the start of fall is marked by the September equinox, this year falling on September 23rd.

   Fall is a busy and exciting time in classrooms and libraries, as students, and adults, get back in the swing of things. This new feature highlights recent books about what goes on during this season, perfect for reading aloud to young listeners or to use in elementary classrooms.

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_autumn.php

For more information, activities, and photos visit:

http://holidays.kaboose.com/fall/
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/autumn-united-states-photos/
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html
http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-seasons

Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Grace Lin

   In this story, we join the child narrator and her family on a picnic to celebrate the Chinese thanksgiving holiday called the Moon Festival (or Mid-Autumn Festival.) Each family member has a role in setting up the food, the "moon-honoring table," paper lanterns, and tea before indulging in round moon cakes, giving thanks, and making secret wishes to the moon. With spare language, Lin conveys a strong sense of community and reverence for the natural world. She uses gouache for the illustrations, which, rich in detail such as a background with muted swirls, evoke the vastness of the moonlit sky on a peaceful night. An extensive author's note explains the origins of the festival and the various round objects used to symbolize good fortune and peace. Useful in the fall, around Thanksgiving, or as part of a multi-cultural studies curriculum, this book will inspire children unfamiliar with this holiday to want to celebrate it too. 2010, Alfred A. Knopf/Random House, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Miriam Chernick (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780375861017

Contributor: Emily Griffin, CLCD