Count Down to Fall

by Fran Hawk, Sherry Neidigh

Overview

Count backwards from 10 to one during one of the most colorful times of year: fall. Learn about the bright, colorful leaves and the trees from which they fall: aspen, birch, maple, oak, chestnut, linden, pine, beech, dogwood, and sweet gum. Watch the animals frolicking in the crisp, autumn air as they get ready for the approaching cold winter. The “For Creative Minds” educational section includes: Plant parts, Leaves—the shape of it all, What Good are Plants?, and Match the Leaves Activity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607180593
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	07/10/2009
Series:	Count Down to Fall , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD680L (what's this?)
File size:	24 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Fran Hawk's favorite things are children, books, and writing. Writing children's books is her dream come true, because it combines all three. Fran resides in South Carolina, and when the famous Hunley submarine was raised from Charleston harbor, she wrote a children's book about the event. Her next book was called Ten Tips for Raising Readers, in which Fran shares all the best information she had gathered about bringing children and books together. One autumn afternoon, Fran was walking as leaves drifted down all around her. She realized she only knew the names of a few of them, so she got some leaf books from the library and worked on identifying them. Then, she thought it would be interesting to write a children's book that would make it fun to learn the names of leaves.

Sherry Neidigh, a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design, has been freelance illustrating since 1987. Sherry’s love of animals and nature comes through in her bright, colorful art. In addition to illustrating Deep in the Desert, Count Down to Fall, and The Best Nest for Sylvan Dell, Sherry has illustrated several trade and education titles including Who Needs That Nose?, If I Had a Tail, and Black and White. She has been a freelance Sherry lives in upstate South Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Beginning with the number ten, Hawk's verses count down different tree leaves/seeds in all their fall glory. "Nine dogwood leaves / bright shining scarlet, / drifting down, down, down- / like the tail of a comet." While the text is problematic-there are rhyme and scansion issues and one page does not name the tree featured at all-Neidigh's illustrations do not disappoint. Detailed borders include close-up views of the bark of each tree while corners depict the whole tree, the leaves (both summer and fall colors) and the seeds. Woodland animals round out each spread, in which readers can count the leaves. Most are very clear, but extra objects may occasionally confuse readers. Backmatter gives readers a chance to test their knowledge of plant parts, categorize leaves according to their shape, match summer and fall leaves and learn how people and animals use some of the trees featured in the text. The visual details make this a delight to the eye, but unfortunately the verses are not music to the ear. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

"Children will be drawn to examine the expressive images of animals and find additional ones along the detailed border featuring close-ups of the tree’s bark. This attention to detail makes the book more than a simple counting or seasonal book with both the four-line stanzas and art offering simple facts - School Library Journal

From the Publisher