Leaves, Pumpkins, & Fall

The Fall Festival

Written by Mercer Mayer

Published by Scholastic Inc.

Copyright 2009

32 Pages

Fiction

 

I love the Mercer Mayer books. This one was particularly interesting since the Fall season is coming up. This book wasn’t one of my favorites. There was no real storyline to follow or character to identify with. The main character in the story is a young child that has a passion for all that the Fall season has to offer. He loves apples, hayrides, and pumpkins. His family goes to several different places where they do all kinds of Fall activities. They even go to this festival where they have a pumpkin launching contest. Their dad even wins them a prize before they leave. The story ends on a sad and weird note by the little ones eating too many apples.

Mercer Mayer uses similar illustration in all of his books. The colors are not too bright but not too dull. Every single facial expression in the book can tell you exactly how the characters are feeling. If the words were taken away from the book, there is great possibility it would be equally as good. The pictures are great enough to tell the story by their selves.

This book reminds of one that may be used in a classroom during Response to Instruction. This would be a great book for students to use for partner reading. The best time to use this book would be around the Fall. Students could form groups to make a list of their favorite things about the specific season, and then share and compare with the other groups. Students could also write about what they want to do during this upcoming Fall. The teacher could then teach a lesson on different seasons and their characteristics. This book is not a winner of any medals.