Fall Is for Beginnings: A Picture Book

by Rajani LaRocca, Abhi Alwar (Illustrator)

Overview

From Newbery Honor author Rajani LaRocca and critically acclaimed illustrator Abhi Alwar, an authentic celebration of friendship and finding your place in this back-to-school picture book and follow up to Summer Is for Cousins

Ravi can’t wait for the start of the new school year! Fall is for cool weather, new school supplies, and spending time with his best friend, Joe. But when a new girl named Ellie joins their class, Ravi and Joe’s duo suddenly becomes a trio.

Ravi’s not so sure about Ellie—she plays her horn too loud in music lessons and gets them lost on the way to class. Worst of all, she keeps saying she’s Joe and Ravi’s best friend.

All these big changes are challenging for Ravi, but with time (and a little help from his wise older sister) he realizes that fall is the perfect time to begin a new friendship.

From the award-winning team behind Summer Is for Cousins, this heartwarming picture book all about back-to-school fun celebrates the (sometimes complicated) joy of making new friends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419777400
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/05/2025
Series:	Seasons are for Everything
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rajani LaRocca is a physician and an author of books for young readers, such as Midsummer’s Mayhem and Seven Golden Rings. She won a Newbery honor in 2022 for her novel Red, White, and Whole. She was born in Bangalore, India, and immigrated to the United States when she was very young. She now lives in eastern Massachusetts with her family.

Editorial Reviews

***STARRED REVIEW***
"While this follow-up checks all of the boxes for a lively back-to-school book, addressing the fun and fears that children navigate in autumn, it is also a relatable story about navigating friendship that can be useful all year long...Ravi, Ellie and Joe are likable characters that young readers can readily identify with, and Fall Is for Beginnings is chock-full of humor, heart and soul."

BookPage

***STARRED REVIEW***
"LaRocca’s story is well paced and realistic...Alwar’s scribbly illustrations brim with chaotic, humorous details that add a perfectly calibrated lightness to the earnest text...An emotionally honest and lovingly rendered take on the highs and lows of friendship."

Kirkus Reviews

"Exuberant, childlike illustrations in vivid colors—a cheerful, warm yellow is used throughout—are the perfect backdrop for this back-to-school story...A good read for the first week of school."

School Library Journal

★ 2025-05-16
The protagonist ofSummer Is for Cousins! (2023) encounters further ups and downs as school starts.

Ravi loves autumn and the fresh beginning it represents. This year, the students will be making paper trees; every time they do something new, they’ll adorn their tree with a leaf. Ravi’s classroom is in an unfamiliar part of the school, and the young protagonist tries out new instruments in music class—all reasons to add leaves. When new girl Ellie offers Ravi and BFF Joe a bite of her beet salad at lunch, it’s another opportunity for a leaf, but Ravi’s not so sure. The well-meaning but overbearing Ellie comes on strong (“I told you we’d be best friends!”), and Ravi’s resistant. It all comes to a head on costume day. Ellie shows up dressed as sprinkles—to complement Ravi’s and Joe’s ice cream and cone getups—and Ravi explodes in anger. But Ravi’s big sister Anita, who knows what it’s like to deal with an initially unwelcome interloper, offers some wise words, and Ravi eventually mends fences with Ellie. LaRocca’s story is well paced and realistic, eschewing drawn-out conversations for actions that speak far louder; this happy ending is well earned. Alwar’s scribbly illustrations brim with chaotic, humorous details that add a perfectly calibrated lightness to the earnest text. Ravi is of South Asian descent, Joe is pale-skinned, and Ellie is brown-skinned.

An emotionally honest and lovingly rendered take on the highs and lows of friendship.(Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews