Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy (Cloverleaf Books: Fall's Here!)

"Seasons and related nature changes are interesting subjects for students to explore. This series is appealing with Amanda Enright's colorful, vivid illustrations. Beginning and struggling readers will like the short sentences and simple text by Martha Rustad. The information enhances student understanding of science concepts and the seasons, and listed recipes and activities will enable readers to actively learn about these topics. Teachers looking for science or season materials will find this series very useful for their classrooms." --Library Media Connection

"I am one of those people who love the changing of the seasons. Since I was born in October, fall is my favorite time of year. The heat of the summer gives way to cooler air, less humidity, and the promise of spectacular foliage as the green leaves turn. In Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy, a young girl spies leaves changing color in the fall. She explores how different weather and amounts of sunlight allow the leaves to grow, get food and water, change color, and then fall as the seasons change. The book begins with a leaf hunt. The young girl observes the leaves and then an explanation follows of how the leaves are fed from the sun. Next, the book explores what happens to leaves in winter and how some trees have no leaves and other, like evergreens, keep their green, needle-shaped leaves all year long. In spring, you see tiny buds on the trees. When it rains, the trees take in water through their roots to help it grow. In the summer, the bright sunlight helps the leaves to grow. In the fall, when days are shorter and cooler, the leaves stop making food. Slowly, their green color fades and is replaced by reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. Leaves then fall from the trees, often piling up on the ground where they dry up and break apart. In the back of the book, instructions are given for making a leaf print. There is also a glossary that contains definitions of words used in the book. A list of books and websites to find more information about leaves is also included. This book is appropriate for grades K-3. Preschool aged children will enjoy the colorful, expressive illustrations by Amanda Enright." --Science Books & Films

"In a series of books that describe all things about fall, Rustad provides a lively vehicle for extending readers' vocabulary. All of the books have a concluding activity to make or do. Animals presents an interesting experiment to explain the word 'blubber, ' the fatty layer that ocean animals have, while Pumpkins delivers an easy-to-mix recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds. Leaves is outstanding for explaining the process of photosynthesis and chlorophyll in simple terms; Weather, for its clear description of seasons and the word 'equinox.' Apples is not so successful in elucidating how an apple seed grows into a tree, creating more questions than are answered. Harvest offers little new information about planting or reaping, and the directions for making a corn-husk doll are sketchy. Colorful illustrations fill the spreads with active, cartoonlike boys and girls surrounded by the green, brown, and orange hues of autumn. Select among the titles for topics of interest." --School Library Journal

Martha E. H. Rustad is the author of more than two hundred nonfiction children's books, on topics ranging from snowflakes to termites to the Statue of Liberty. She lives with her family in Brainerd, Minnesota.

Amanda Enright is an illustrator from West Sussex in the United Kingdom.