My Autumn Book

August 3, 2015
In Yee’s fourth seasonal tale (following Tracks in the Snow, Who Likes Rain?, and Summer Days and Nights), the inquisitive girl from his previous books discovers clues that autumn is on its way. Sweatshirt-clad, she ventures outside to observe nature’s changes: “Dogwood shows off/ A new crimson gown./ Oak changes into/ A suit of rust brown..” An array of animals, from cicadas to geese “fly south in formation,” also sound reminders that summer is ending. Back in her bedroom, the girl fills a jar with acorns she has collected and creates an autumn scrapbook filled with leaves, drawings, and photographs, so that she can remember autumn “When crickets no longer sing late at night/ And the world outside/ Has turned cold, black and white.” Yee’s soft, grainy pencil drawings and contemplative rhymes celebrate quiet moments of exploration and discovery. Ages 2–6.

June 15, 2015
In the fourth installment of Yee's seasonal picture-book quartet (Who Likes Rain?, 2007, etc.), a girl celebrates the coming of autumn and finds a special way to remember it when it's over. Yee's rhyming text conveys the first-person narrator's excitement as summer turns to fall. She delights in exploring the natural world and uses a camera, pencil, and sketchbook to record observations. A trusty backpack carries these supplies and holds colorful, fallen leaves and acorns, too. The story ultimately suggests that the most precious things she collects are memories of time spent in autumnal beauty, and she uses scissors, glue, crayons, and the photos and items she's gathered to create the eponymous "autumn book." Closing spreads show her cozied up inside her house and looking at her scrapbook on wintry days. Throughout, Yee's Prismacolor illustrations consistently reflect the girl's experiences while also employing design choices to bring readers close to her activities-some pictures are made to look like photos the girl took with her camera, for example. On the other hand, while readers might believe the girl took the depicted photos, the rhyming style of the text (while consistent with the other books in the series) can make the narration feel a bit forced alongside the more successful artistic rendering of the child's point of view. Quibble aside, a sound conclusion to the series. (Picture book. 3-6)

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June 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-A little girl senses the coming of autumn from changes in the air and sky, and proceeds to investigate, collect, and record details about the new season. She uses a camera and notebook to capture an array of natural images, including a spider spinning a web, a caterpillar in a cocoon, and geese flying south. She also celebrates many different trees that are transforming, identifying a dogwood, oak, ash, maple, and aspen as they "whisper and sway in the breeze/shaking loose acorns and batches of leaves." The girl ultimately creates an Autumn Book, with photographs and decorated pages, so she can remember these details when winter comes. The gentle, rhyming text is paired with soft yet rich, textured illustrations in this final installment of Yee's seasonal series. The abundance of white space helps the brown, yellow, and red hues of the season stand out, and evocative figurative language is used effectively throughout. Especially beautiful are the descriptions of the trees, said to be wearing various garments of unique color, leaves "swirling and twirling" and "spinning round." VERDICT Recommended for elementary collections as a solid addition to the seasonal offerings or a helpful tool in exploring figurative language.-Whitney LeBlanc, Staten Island Academy, NY

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