Book Review: Autumnblings by Douglas Florian

Bibliographic Citation:

Florian, Douglas. 2003. Autumnblings. New York; NY: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0060092793

Review:

I was initially drawn to this book because Fall is my favorite season. With football season starting, trees changing colors and the beautiful weather. Why wouldn't you want to get in the spirit of reading about this amazing season? Florian does a great job describing all the events and doings of the season of Fall. After reading this collection of Fall poems, the reader will be counting down the days! 

The poems all relate to Fall and the titles range from poems titled, Apple Picking to Hi-Bear-Nation (get it, hibernation?) Florian's playful poems are all free verse and do not follow specific rhymes. These poems are naturally playful and are sure to be poems that children will "fall" in love with. Unlike most of Florian's poems, not all of the poems are silly. A lot of these poems would be great to use when talking about seasons, weather and animals. For example; "apple picking", "geese piece", "the owls" and "weathering" are several that could be used as a Science lesson poetry breaks. There are a great many talking points that teachers and parents can model to their students to further explain the true meaning of Fall. 

The illustrations by Florian tie in nicely and his paintings accurately display the meaning behind his poems. The colors are bright and are sure to catch kids attention. The poem, Geese Piece, is my favorite because of the creative layout Florian uses. The poem is written in the shape of a V and the illustration takes up the whole page. The symbolism of the shape and layout of the words is a lot of fun and really brings the attention to the written word. 

If you enjoyed this book be sure to check out Florian's other seasonal books; Winter Eyes and Summersaults. 

Spotlight Poem:

What I Love About Autumn

Apple Picking

Frisbee flicking

Falling leaves

Bracing breeze

Flying kites

Cool crisp nights

Trick or treat

(Sweets to eat)

Pumpkin pies

Clear blue skies

Fireplaces

Relay races

Football games-

I love that autumn has two names.

Activity:

The perfect time to introduce this to students would be on the first day of Fall. This is a short poem that could be used a quick poetry break between subjects or during transitions. A great follow up activity for this poem would be to have students brainstorm their favorite season. After they have chosen a season, the students can write down words that describe that season or activities that go on during that particular season. They can then use their words to create a poem about that season. Once they have finished their poem, each student can share their poem and have other students guess which season they are talking about.