Autumnblings

From the Preschool Book Autmnblings

Autumn comes to life for preschoolers through the poetry and paintings of Douglas Florian in Autumnblings. This collection includes 29 short poems about various autumn topics such as geese flying south, apple picking, and the birds of autumn. With so many choices, there is a poem for everyone in Autumnblings. With autumn at our doorstep, this is the perfect time to cuddle up with some hot apple cider and introduce your preschooler to the world of poetry!

Autumn announces its arrival each year with familiar signs – a crisp bite to the morning air, trees set ablaze with brilliant colors, pumpkins adorning doorsteps throughout the neighborhood. Autumnblings brings to life all of the annual autumn happenings with clever lyrics, fanciful paintings, and solid rhythm. Preschoolers will love the silly nature of many of the poems and will delight in the hand painted illustrations. While preschoolers will be able to enjoy these poems, Autumnblings is one book that will grow with your child beyond the preschool years. Year after year, Autumnblings will be a fun way to welcome autumn.

Douglas Florian turns mundane aspects of nature into exciting stories in his poetry by presenting them in a refreshing light. Instead of mundane descriptions of the wind blowing in autumn, Florian personifies the wind, calling it a “Blow-drier. Kite-flier. Leaf-dancer. Seed-prancer. Hat-tosser. Earth-crosser.” Imagery abounds in Autumnblings thanks to Florian’s playful choice of words.

Beyond his word choice, the placement of the words on the page adds to the creativity of this preschool book. The words “fall” and “tumble” actually appear to do so as each letter falls down the page. The words of a poem about geese flying south are presented in a V formation. In the poem “Pumpkins Grin”, the font starts out very small and gradually gets larger until the end of the poem. While preschoolers may not understand every play on words, they will appreciate the overall creativity in Autumnblings.

Many preschool books rhyme and could be considered poetry. Autumnblings is unique in that it is a collection of several short poems about autumn rather than one long story that happens to rhyme. This preschool book is the perfect way to introduce preschoolers to the creative world of poetry.

The poems that comprise this preschool book are short enough to maintain the attention of the busiest of preschoolers. These poems are written at a level allowing preschoolers to comprehend and enjoy the message. Autumnblings is packed with paintings which are a great way to incorporate art. Autumnblings offers opportunities for learning that other preschool books lack.

One look at the cover artwork indicates this book is full of imagination and creativity. The author of Autumnblings painted the illustrations for his poetry, allowing him to express his intent in a medium other than just his words. The paintings are better able to tell the story of the poetry because of this.

Preschoolers will be drawn to the fanciful illustrations. Giant leaves, larger than the children in the picture, will have preschoolers imagining themselves tumbling amongst them. Other illustrations include acorns raining down from the sky, a child painting leaves with a giant watercolor paint set, and children tumbling through the seasons. Keep your painting supplies handy because Autumnblings brings out the creativity in adults and preschoolers alike!