{"id":19530,"date":"2016-10-18T06:30:32","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T10:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=19530"},"modified":"2016-10-18T06:30:32","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T10:30:32","slug":"the-lull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=19530","title":{"rendered":"The Autumn Lull"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ibg-common-titledetail\"This time of year, as the leaves are starting to change and we are just past the height of leaf-ogling tourist season, we usually\u00a0find ourselves having\u00a0a sales lull. Part of it is that holiday shopping hasn’t started in earnest, kids are fully into the demands of homework and fall sports, and the weather is gorgeous.\u00a0It’s pretty clear that the corn mazes, hay rides, pumpkin selecting, apple picking, horseback rides, and\u00a0Halloween\u00a0costume prep eclipse book browsing.
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\nThe folks who are\u00a0<\/em>shopping right now are in the mood to share books about fall and the changing seasons with children. In addition to\u00a0longtime favorites such as The Little Island<\/em> by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard, Ox-Cart Man<\/em> by Donald Hall and Barbara Cooney,\u00a0 and\u00a0The\u00a0Year at Maple Hill Farm<\/em> by Alice and Martin Provensen, along with\u00a0newer favorites\u00a0like\u00a0Sophie’s Squash<\/em> by Pat Zeitlow Miller, Pumpkin Jack<\/em> by Will Hubbell, and\u00a0Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin<\/em> by Tad Hills, here are a few titles out this fall to add to the harvest:
\nThe art style, color palette, and energetic, bright, round people in Lynn Plourde and Susan Gal’s September release, Bella’s Fall Coat<\/em>, reminded me SO MUCH of books from my 1970s early childhood that I instantly\u00a0liked it on first sight \u2014 and happily,\u00a0the story\u00a0turned out to live\u00a0up to the art. I am extremely fond of this sweet grandmother-granddaughter story about an exuberant little girl who doesn’t want to give up the favorite patchwork coat, now nearly outgrown, that her grandma made her, but during her exploration in the woods, finds a solution that makes everyone happy. It’s a simple story that will resonate with lots of tots.
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\nNewly out in paperback, Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis<\/em> by Robbin Gourley is a celebration of the amazing bounties gathered on a Virginia farm throughout the year. It’s also the story\u00a0of the girl who grew up on that farm and became a renowned chef in New York City,\u00a0championing\u00a0fresh,\u00a0farm-to-table food\u00a0long before it was fashionable. Edna Lewis wasn’t a chef\u00a0I was familiar with\u00a0before reading this\u00a0pretty\u00a0picture book filled with delicious food (and five of Lewis’s recipes), but it made me wish I’d had a chance to sample her food! And it is a terrific way to connect young readers to a life spent\u00a0caring for the earth and appreciating its gifts.
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\nNot a picture book, but a slim, illustrated novel in verse told in three points of view, this is a gentle story of loss and healing. Every fall, Faith and her brother, Peter, look forward to their fun, storytelling\u00a0Uncle Arthur’s visit for\u00a0the apple harvest \u2014 and his tall tales about how he lost the missing half of his finger. But this year, Arthur’s beloved wife, Lucy, has passed away, and the kids aren’t sure he’ll be up for a visit. When he does arrive, minus some of his spark, the family still shares stories, helping the healing process move forward.\u00a0The short verse and soft\u00a0illustrations contribute to the\u00a0charm and coziness\u00a0of\u00a0this warm family tale.
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\nPenguin’s little brother,\u00a0Pumpkin, is too small to join Penguin and his friends on their adventure to discover\u00a0what fall looks like. While he stays home and imagines what fall would look like in outer space, Penguin and his pals travel far and wide.\u00a0They don’t forget Pumpkin’s\u00a0enthusiasm, and when their journey brings them back home, they carry fun\u00a0autumn surprises with them. Salina Yoon has a highly developed skill for\u00a0sweetness.
\nThis weekend, our lull should be over and sales should\u00a0pick up again as children, teens, and adults come in for spooky stories to freak out themselves and each other. We’ll be ready!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gorgeous autumn weather means readers aren’t spending as much time indoors with books – but they do want stories about the seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}