The Best: Fall Picture Books and Nature Study
Fall is my favorite season. I just love this time of year, fall picture books are so cozy and Nature Study is at its best. I love the colors, the smells, the change in weather. It’s the best time for flannel shirts, jeans and boots, my all time favorite. Fall brings so many changes to our world. Sometimes quickly and sometimes more slowly, but all in all, it’s the best.
Leaves
There are so many things to observe in the fall. Today, as we were walking around the farm, my four year old asked why the leaves were all yellow and if they were going to die. So I walked her through the process of the trees needing some sleep for the winter. We should have read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke and Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Betsy Maestro. But we didn’t have time so we will do that tomorrow.
Here in Colorado the main color we can observe is yellow, once you’re in the city you can see more reds and purples, but they are not native. Aspens and cottonwoods, our dominant deciduous trees, both turn yellow. And it’s like bathing in sunshine to stand in an aspen grove. A wonderful experience!

Fruits and harvest
Then there are the apples! I love anything apple, from pie to cider. And the blackberries! I have so many fond memories of picking blackberries and making jam with my grandma. The best part of her blackberry jam is that she always picked out those pesky seeds. The result was a smooth, delicious jam. So good! The Apple Cake by Nienke Van Hichtum, illustrated by Marhan van Zeyl and How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman are two of our favorites along with Christopher’s Harvest Time, by Elsa Beskow. My 10 year old highly recommends the recipe in the back of The Apple Cake, especially for breakfast, warmed up with salted butter and honey.
County fairs and preserving
These topics are definitely attached to fall and show a different side of nature study. Not so much how a plant or animal grows and behaves but rather what its purpose to humanity is. Sometimes we forget to look at the purpose of the things around us. Yes, we admire them, we learn all about them but we forget to answer “why?” or “to what end?”. My favorite picture books in that category would be County Fair by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Joy Wheeler, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey and The Deer in the Wood by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Renee Graef. All of them clearly show how much we depend on nature for our basic needs and sometimes it’s good to remind our children of that. Lest they believe that chicken comes from the freezer section wrapped in cellophane.

Mushrooms and seeds
Just writing the words I can smell the musty smell of mushrooms and the dry, dusty smell of seeds. We just finished a big fungi unit and we all loved it. We used Harbor and Sprout: Mycology and Herbology, it was wonderful! We used the Patchwork Study with 10yo dd, Secondary Level Unit Study with 12 and 16yo dds and the Morning Basket with the Littlest One.Two favorite books that we read alongside were Fungarium: Welcome to the Museum by Ester Gaya, illustrated by Katie Scott. This whole collection is fantastic! And Tales of the Mushroom Folk by Signe Aspelin, illustrated by Polly Lawson, very sweet and cute, perfect for the Littlest One.
As for seeds we really enjoyed Miss Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler, beautiful illustrations and very sweet story. A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long was also wonderful. We spent quite a bit of time copying the seed pictures and that was lovely. We also enjoyed releasing milkweed seeds from their pods and spreading them in an ideal environment. Overall a wonderful unit study and the best part was when we found some mushrooms in one of our pastures this week and were finally able to do a spore print! So fun! We don’t have a lot of mushrooms in Colorado, it is way too dry for them.
Migration
These are amazing topics to discuss with our children. So many great books discussing migration! Some of our favorites are Going Home by Marianne Berkes, The Butterfly Tree by Joan Lowery Nixon, and A Snowy Owl Story by Melissa Kim. All three really show the ordeal that birds and butterflies as well as land animals undergo following their instincts and migrating. It can also lead to a great geography study following the migratory movement of this or that animal.

Getting ready for winter
Once the sun starts going down early, the mornings are dark longer and there is a chill in the air; I am all set for home making! I want to preserve, and to store as much food as possible. I start going through clothes and bedding, making sure my family is set for the colder days. I am ready to anchor down and be home.
My favorite fall preparation story is by far Woody, Hazel and Little Pip by Elsa Beskow. Squirrels getting ready for winter in new quarters, gathering acorns and nuts, I can totally relate. Brambly Hedge’s Autumn Story by Jill Barklem gives off a similar sentiment, of the urge to get ready to settle at home. Another very sweet one is All Ready for Winter by Leone Adelson, illustrated by Kathleen Algin, such a wonderful way to explain the different ways animals prepare for winter. If you can find it, I highly recommend it.

Fall Nature Study
There are so many potential topics, some depending on your location but in general you just need to step outside your door to enjoy fall.
Here are several ideas of what we have done in the past:
- Leaf color nature hunt
- Nature walk with plenty of stops to admire, paint, draw and take pictures
- Leaf rubbings
- Apple picking at apple orchards
- Berry and pumpkin picking at berry farms
- Decorating our home with natural elements collected during nature walks (think acorns, leaves, flowers, etc…)
- Cozy up next to a fire and read lots of fall picture books
- Collecting acorn cups, milkweed pods and other elements for fairy houses.
- Helping milkweed seeds out of their pods and spreading them in an ideal environment
- Corn husk dolls
- We get a lot of ideas from Nature’s Art Box by Laura C. Martin and Look What I Did With a Leaf! by Morteza E. Soh
- Lots and lots of Nature Journaling
- So many places have wonderful activities such as bird banding, to track migration, exploring different ecosystems during this season, etc… Look around and ask around, the library is usually a great resource for this as well as State and National parks.
I hope this has given you lots of ideas to go outside and enjoy this wonderful season we are in.
Love,
Mattie
PS: If you are interested in Harbor and Sprout: Mycology and Herbology unit, use the coupon code FUNGI on checkout to receive 10% off, from me to you. Enjoy! Or use this link.