Describes the autumn activities and traditions that November's cooling temperatures bring. - (Baker & Taylor)
A Newbery Medalist celebrates the diverse beauty of autumn as animals prepare for winter and the wind blows colder, through gentle illustration and simple text. - (Baker & Taylor)
In November, the air grows cold and the earth and all of its creatures prepare for winter. Animals seek food and shelter. And people gather together to celebrate their blessings with family and friends.<br> Cynthia Rylant's lyrical language and Jill Kastner's rich, cozy paintings capture the cherished moments of this autumn month--the moments we spend together and the ones we witness in the world around us.<br> - (HARPERCOLL)
In November, the air grows cold and the earth and all of its creatures prepare for winter. Animals seek food and shelter. And people gather together to celebrate their blessings with family and friends.
Cynthia Rylant's lyrical language and Jill Kastner's rich, cozy paintings capture the cherished moments of this autumn month--the moments we spend together and the ones we witness in the world around us.
- (
Houghton)
Cynthia Rylant is the acclaimed author of more than eighty books for young people, including the novel Missing May, which received the John Newbery Medal. She lives on an island in Puget Sound, Washington.
Jill Kastner is the illustrator of many books for children, including The Waterfall and her own Barnyard Big Top and Snake Hunt. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, she lives in Weehawken, New Jersey.
- (
Houghton)
Booklist Reviews
Ages 4-7. "In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets." Poetic language and lovely oil paintings evoke the traditional and seasonal activities that occur in November. Families gather around the table for a Thanksgiving feast, cats snuggle together in the corner of the barn, "staying birds" bid farewell to "leaving birds" beginning their long journeys. Rylant's words are simple but evocative and filled with wonderful sensory images, similes, and metaphors: the bare November trees are "all sticks and bones . . . spreading their arms like dancers." The smell of November food "is an orange smell. A squash and a pumpkin smell." The verbal images are splendidly captured in Kastner's soft-edged, double-spread paintings, which are rendered in a palette of warm autumn colors and sepia tones. The rich illustrations, done in a painterly style with obvious brushstrokes and texture built up from thick layers of oil paint, are a perfect match for the text. This handsome book is sure to become a new fall favorite. --Lauren Peterson Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Beginning with changes in the earth and with animals preparing for winter, this paean to the cozy, tucked-in feeling at the end of the year builds up to ""a special November day,"" Thanksgiving. Although the story, complete with horses out by the barn and Labrador retrievers lying by the fireplace, suggests an idealized rural portrait, the mood blends well with the full-page, rough-textured oil illustrations. Copyright 2001 Horn Book Guide Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
A gentle hymn to an autumn month. Starting with the landscape and moving on to animals, then people, Rylant's voice describes the scene in immediate terms: leafless trees "lovely . . . spreading their arms like dancers"; birds that fly away and those that stay know "all berries will be treasures." Cats sleep in barn corners and dogs before the fire. In November, an "orange smell" of squash and pumpkin and cinnamon fills the house: people come to share and to give thanks "at winter's gate." The brief, evocative text sits on full-page, oil-on-paper paintings. Broad, thick brushstrokes capture the sturdy horses, the little mice, and the country landscape from gray to brown to snowy white. The multigenerational family is clearly delighted to be together. A quiet, pre-holiday gift. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright 2000 Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal Reviews
PreS-Gr 2-A poetic text reflects on the month when "the earth is growing quiet." A friendly mouse draws readers into the book by peeking from under a leaf on the cover and title page, scurrying across the dedication page and onto the first spread, and then disappearing. Birds and animals experience the cold, which causes the cows to sleep and the horses to shiver; bees hibernate in "deep, earthy holes-And dogs lie before the fire." A large extended family visits and shares a meal to give thanks, then travels home at night. The well-paced, skillfully painted oil-on-paper paintings are mostly full spreads. Dramatic angles, strong composition, and interesting perspectives enhance the descriptive text. Although not as colorful and appealing as Lois Ehlert's Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (Harcourt, 1991) or as funny and entertaining as Dav Pilkey's `Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving (Orchard, 1990), this book establishes the mood and feel of November. It is an agreeable storytime companion to the above titles, helpful for classrooms wishing to explore the month using their senses, and satisfying for one-on-one sharing.-Debbie Stewart, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
