In the Autumn Forest

PreS-Gr 3–Fox, Mouse, and Crow commiserate over the arrival of autumn. Crow croaks, “After autumn comes winter, and winter is unforgiving!” Squirrel enthusiastically embraces autumn, declaring “Look! It’s raining lovely colored leaves.” A sudden rainstorm leaves them all scrambling for cover, and they reassemble afterwards to find the squirrel had a mishap with an apple. This has not dampened the delights of autumn, and what the storm left: “The ground is covered in fruits, nuts, and seeds!” providing a feast for the animals and changing Fox, Mouse, and Crows’ opinion of the season. Vivid illustrations in fall colors show the animal friends expressing their emotions as they meet up; spreads give way to single pages with half-pages and panel drawings as the friends seek shelter from the storm, then returning to full spreads as they come back together. The fall forest appears from both Crow’s view and the animals on the ground. Tucked in the background, a person does activities in the woods. The end pages show colorful leaves being blown across the pages.