Autumn Books for Kids

The weather here in Kentucky has finally changed!  We have the cool crisp mornings. The sunny afternoons! It is perfect!

To celebrate,here is a list of my favorite Autumn themed children's books!

 There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves

By Lucille Colandro 

Great for 3 to 7 years old

This book is irresistible to Preschoolers. It has repetitive text that is easy to sing along with. This book tickles the funnybone! 

One of the repetitive phrases is " I don't know why she swallowed the leaves, perhaps she'll sneeze." The children loved to pretend sneeze every time I read that line!

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

by Linda Williams

Great for 4 to 7 years Old

This is an excellent read aloud book! It offers plenty of opportunity for the students to participate along with the story. A series of items such as a pair of shoes and a pair of gloves follow the little old lady home. When I read this book to the children, I suggested movements for each item that followed the old lady. 

A great book with a bit of suspense and spookiness, but without being really scary!

 Apples and Pumpkins

by Anne Rockwell

Great for 2 to 5 year olds

A great choice for the younger ones! This one will  get your child talking about their trip to the pumpkin patch!

Leaf Trouble

by Jonathan Emmett

Great for Older 3s through Kindergarten

The illustrations in this book are beautiful! Very playful and colorful! The main character is adorable and you can't help but like him. His little misunderstanding about leaves is just adorable!

 The Bumpy Little Pumpkin

by Margery Cuyler

Great for 3 to 7 year olds

This is one of my favorite Halloween books of all time. The book offers a great message of friendship and acceptance! 

Five Little Pumpkins

Dan Yaccarino

1.5 to 5 year olds

A book rendition of the classic fingerplay "Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on the Fence." The little ones enjoy pointing out the pumpkins, the ghost, and the cat. Older children enjoyed this book because many of them are already familiar with the fingerplay. 

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Alison Jackson

Great for 3 years to 7 years

Another wonderful book with repetitive text! The children love to giggle at the absurdity that someone could eat so much for dinner! The ending is hilarious! A Thanksgiving classic!

Be sure to check out my Amazon Listmania of my favorite Storytime books

Emily's Favorite Read-Aloud Books

Band-aid concern.

One Friday morning I was in a rush to get to work. I was planning to wear shorts that day, so I needed to shave my legs.A dreaded task. I was going quite fast I nicked myself on the leg. Ouch!

The only band-aids that I had available are the large flexible ones made out of some kind of fabric. So, I put one on my little cut not really giving much thought to it. It was just the closest band-aid that I had. 

Later that day, I was in the 3.5 year old class. It was a BIG deal that I had this huge band-aid on my leg. Just the size of it must have made them think I had suffered some kind of terrible accident. They are three remember!

During the whole storytime, there was this one little girl down in the front who kept looking at my leg.She kept staring at the band-aid. Then she would elbow the children sitting next to her.  She kept pointing at it with an expression of such concern.

I stopped in the middle of one of the books to explain that I had just a little cut on my leg, but had put a really big band-aid on it. The children wanted to know how I had received the cut. Had someone kissed it? Did I need to go to the hospital? How long would I have to keep the band-aid on?

What really struck me was the concern that children at such a young age can exhibit. As adults we can sometimes overlook those small occurrences. At three years old getting a cut is a huge event. I love their sweet spirits. Children see the small things. They see the details.

What can I learn from this?

Slow down!

Enjoy the little things!

I believe...that the children and teenagers that I have worked with over the last twelve years have taught me so much more than I have taught them.

Packing my box for Operation Christmas Child: The Sign

This time every year since 2003, I have put together a gift box for Operation Christmas Child. I always have such a good time picking out little toys, candy, and other gifts for a child somewhere else on the earth. My boxes have gone to Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe.

This morning in church they announced that we will be collecting boxes again this year! The bulletin directed us to the children's ministry entrance to pick up a brochure. After church I made a beeline to the children's minstry area. The brochures were MIA. Nobody seemed to know where they were.I was a bit disappointed.


When I got home I went to the the Operation Christmas Child website! They have such an amazing website! Very informative and just plain cool! I love the videos! This one especially inspired me!



 I printed out the How to Pack a Shoe Box Gift page and took it to the store with me. The plan was to buy a couple things each week to add to the box. Ha! Was I in for a surprise gift!!

At the grocery store my grocery bill was surprisingly $20 less than normal, even after purchasing some candy and a stuffed animal for the Box Gift. Swiped the debit card and "accidentally" hit the $20 cash back button. It wasn't part of MY plan, but saw it as a sign. 

Headed across the street to the discount store. Had tons of fun picking out things just right for a little girl.I don't know her personally. I hope she likes the pink jump rope and the adorable socks with the hearts on them, picked out especially for her. I hope she knows that she is special! I hope she knows that God loves her and that somebody across the world is thinking and praying for her!

At the check out counter I was surprised with how much I had actually purchased. Would everything fit in the box? Would $20 cover it? The answer to both questions is "yes!" Oh and I got some change too! Guess how much? My change was $7.00, the exact amount they ask you to donate to cover shipping costs. 


After all those accidents and coincidences it is hard to believe that it is anything else but the hand of God. Thank you God for giving me this gift of putting together this box of goodies for that special little girl. 

Life Lessons

A lesson that I needed to hear today!

80 degrees in October?

 Growing up in Vermont I never really appreciated the wonderful autumn weather. The cool crisp mornings. The comfy sweaters! Here in Cincinnati the weather does not seem to understand the concept of cool and crisp! In fact, I am wearing shorts and flip flops today. It's getting a little bit ridiculous!  

Anyway, I decided to enjoy a little autumn fun, even if the weather isn't cooperating!

 A family in our neighborhood set this up on their lawn! I couldn't fit the giant spider in the picture! So fun!

 The apples waiting for the caramel! Finding the caramel candies was practically impossible. When I did find them I let out a triumphant " Ah ha!" right in the middle of the grocery store!

 This treat is brought to you by the letters C and A ( Candy Corn, Caramel and Apples)

 A few pumpkins for my trifle bowl!

Thanks to my ultra tall husband for tacking this up above the kitchen cabinets!

Leaf Banner

 Last week in Storytime, I had the children decorate construction paper leaves with pieces of scrapbooking paper! I was was really inspired to create my own project using the same template that I used for the children's project.

 

Yup, those are cereal boxes! I traced my leaf template onto cereal boxes. I used generic cereal boxes.  They are slightly thinner than name brand cereal boxes, thus being easier to cut more intricate details out of. 

 I cut up about five pieces of scrapbooking paper into squares, triangles, and rectangles. 

 Covered the leaves with the paper. No real rhyme or reason to it.

The squares and letters were cut out on my Cricut!

To bind it all together I started out by punching holes and attaching eyelets . I strung brown ribbon through the holes and tied it all together.

Hopefully Michael will hang it up above the kitchen cabinets tomorrow!

Sneak Peek

 Just a little Sneak Peek into something I have been working on!

  These will be made into something adorable really soon!

Saturday!

Here are a few shots of our Saturday morning!

 This is a mural we passed on our way to Findlay Market. Findlay Market is a great place to visit in Cincinnati! Great food! Great handmade stuff! A people watchers paradise!

 The view above the ATM machine!

 Lovely Lemons!

 In the window of a delightful little bakery!

 A street performer!

 Grapes we bought at Findlay Market and enjoyed at our little picnic at Spring Grove!

 Two ladies painting the foliage at Spring Grove

 Love the reflection on the water!

Have a super Wednesday!