Autumn

August 18, 1997
ACORN, BARN and CORN begin these 26 alphabetically arranged acrostic verses. Schnur's (The Shadow Children) text is at its best when it is simplest, and each line of the acrostic helps a child understand how the word contributes to the season, as with JAM ("Jars of freshly made/ Applesauce, jelly, and/ Marmalade sit gleaming on the kitchen shelf") or SNOW ("Stillness/ Now/ Over all the cold/ White world"). Other verses are quite abstract for this age group, such as "Up beyond the/ Night sky, an/ Indigo darkness like/ Velvet/ Embraces the farthest/ Reaches of the mind,/ Sun, moon, stars, /Everything," and some are not unique to autumn. It's Evans's (illustrator of Jerry Pallotta's The Flower Alphabet Book) linoleum-block prints that are the real draw here. Her clean black lines and bold, hand-colored washes evoke Ashley Wolff's style and palette. Ranging from the cozy cupboard view of bottled preserves in JAM to the aerial view of the town green in TRAIN, the illustrations integrate the elements of each acrostic. Ages 3-8.

September 1, 1997
K-Gr 3-Seasonal books are always in demand and this alphabet acrostic will be especially welcome. In clever, poetic verse, a fall riddle is presented for each letter of the alphabet. The answer is spelled out in the first letter of each line. The riddles are spare with striking images as seen in "Bats/And owls/Roost among empty/Nests." The 26 poems cover such chilly-day themes as knitting, frost, leaves, and icicles. The only source of confusion comes with the always challenging letter "X." Schnur uses the Roman numeral "XII" for 12 and the answer to the riddle is "Xylem," a term not familiar to most primary-grade students. Evans's stunning hand-colored linoleum block prints are clear, bright, and provide sharp clues for the riddles, which are placed in a white box right on each illustration. This delightful alphabet book with a new twist will provide inspiration and challenges for a wide audience.-Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY

September 1, 1997
Ages 5^-8. For each letter of the alphabet, Schnur chooses a word related (sometimes loosely) to autumn and creates an acrostic poem from the letters of that word. Earth is the word for the letter E: "Every plant, / Animal and / Rock, the air itself, / "Turns slowly under / "Heaven."The season changes throughout the book, beginning with acorns and the frosty nights of early fall and ending with the coming of winter. Concrete, pithy, and precise, the poems would serve as good models for students writing acrostic poems for classroom assignments. Evans' handsome block prints, tinted with colors that look all the more brilliant for their bold, black outlines, add enormously to the book's appeal. Remember this one when primary-grade teachers ask for books on fall. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997)) (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)