Our Montessori Bookshelf: Fall into the Season

Montessori School of Louisville • September 9, 2024
Our Montessori Bookshelf: Fall into the Season

Each month we like to provide you with a timely booklist to inspire daily reading at home. This month we focus on fun fall books. Between falling leaves and ripening pumpkins, what’s not to love about autumn? Visit your local library or click the links below to find these titles that your children are sure to love. We also have several of these at our own MSL Library!


Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, by Lois Ehlert


This book by Ehlert is simple but provides gorgeous illustrations and informational text for our youngest children. Perfect for toddlers and primary students, Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf details the life of a tree.



The Pumpkin Book, by Gail Gibbons


Gibbons is known for creating books that draw children in with beautiful illustrations and clear, factual information. The pumpkin book does not disappoint! It covers such information as types of pumpkins, the process of planting, growing, and harvesting pumpkins, the parts of a pumpkins seed, history of this amazing squash, and so much more.


The Reasons for Seasons, by Gail Gibbons


Once again Gibbons delivers a perfect book for Montessori (and all) children. She uses clear, bright diagrams and short but accurate paragraphs to explain why certain regions of the earth experience four seasons. 


Yellow Time, by Lauren Stringer


“Yellow time comes before white time. Every time.” Stringer uses words and images alike to paint a picture of the final days of fall. The variety of color among the leaves has gone, along with many of the animals. The ones that are left are so busy preparing for winter that they don’t notice the beautiful yellow that remains. That is, except for the crows.


Apple Cider Making Days, by Ann Purmell, illustrated by Joanne Friar 


This wholesome tale follows two children as they pick apples to be made into cider on the family farm. Readers learn about the process via this charming realistic fiction, and several pages of interesting cider facts follow the story.


Autumn is Here!, by Heidi Pross Gray


Young children will enjoy chiming in with the alternate pages of predictable text. Between exclamations of “Autumn is here!” Gray inserts classic hallmarks of the season, such as the potential futures of acorns and the busy work of squirrels. Her whimsical watercolor paintings that illustrate the pages are a perfect fit.


Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, by Kenard Pak


In this charming book a young girls is taking a walk through her town and nearby woods on a crisp fall day. She greets the plants and creatures she passes; they, in return, return her greeting and explain the changes they are undergoing during autumn. 


Autumnblings, by Douglas Florian


Florian writes poetry that is silly, surprising, and teaches us new things. While he has books (with really cool collage and paint illustrations) on a variety of subjects, Autumnblings is all about fall. This book would be best enjoyed by children in kindergarten and lower elementary, and covers a wide range of topics from apple picking to trick-or-treating to baseball.


Fall Walk, by Virginia Brimhall Snow


This book is a unique two-in-one. The story takes readers on a walk through the woods with a grandmother and her grandchildren. On each page a different tree is introduced, along with a detailed picture displaying the shape of the tree’s leafs. This compliments the Montessori botany work beautifully.


Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep, by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins


Few things delight children in quite the same way as squirrels. They always seem to be having fun scampering around or furiously preparing for winter. This book lets children in on all the action as it describes the many tasks of this familiar neighborhood mammal.


We hope you enjoy our fall book suggestions. Let us know if you have any favorites that were not included on this list, and happy reading!

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