Nonfiction Monday: Count Down to Fall

Count Down to Fall
Written by Fran Hawk Illustrated by Sherry Neidigh
Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2009 Ages 4-8

Reviewed by Kimberly Hutmacher

If you are planning a leaf unit study with your class, or even if you’re just planning to take your children on a hike through the forest this fall, you’ll want a copy of this book. Count Down to Fall works its way backwards from ten, counting and identifying many different kinds of leaves. It begins:

Ten sweet gum leaves,
orange, purple, red,
look like bright colored stars
as they fall on earth’s bed.

Along the way, we see dogwoods, aspen, birch, maple, oak, chestnut, linen, pine and beech leaves. We also see a variety of wildlife frolicking amongst the leaves. This book offers beautiful rhyme and gorgeous illustrations. It serves up a For Creative Minds Section that includes facts about plant parts, tips on identifying leaves by their various shapes, an explanation about why we most definitely need plants, and a leaf matching activity.

For more teaching activities, click here.

Fran Hawk was on an autumn afternoon walk when she noticed the leaves around her. Realizing she did not know their names, she checked out books from the library and began her leaf research. Count Down to Fall with Sylvan Dell is the result of this fall adventure. Her other books include Ten Tips for Raising Readers and The Story of the H.L. Hunley and Queenie's Coin. She is currently a librarian and writes a children's book column and travel stories in Charleston, South Carolina. She says her favorite things are children, books and writing!

Bio written by Laura Crawford.

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up posted at Moms Inspire Learning.