Tuesday Storytime: Winter is Coming

It's finally starting to get a little chilly, so my coworker has picked out a very good set of "fall turns into winter" books to get us transitioned over, just in time for Christmas!

Every Autumn Comes the Bear

Jim Arnosky

ISBN: 0399225080

Lyrical text with powerful, almost frightening oversized illustrations of a territorial bear arriving before his winter's hibernation. 

Penguin and Pumpkin

Salina Yoon

ISBN: 9780802737335

A nice tone shift back to the light-hearted, Yoon gives us another cute story of Antarctic penguins traveling to see the world of fall colors and plants (we'll skip over the geographic improbability that entails with the whole southern hemisphere being in late spring), and Penguin brings back a crate of pumpkins and fall leaves for his fledgling sibling.

Shelter

Celine Claire, illustrated by Qin Leng

ISBN: 9781771389273

Sweet and (for adults at least) somewhat pointed story about offering shelter to the needy in the cold hard winter, set with forest animals, and not an overt hint of the Christmas story to be found, similarities notwithstanding (and probably intentional). Sweet for the kids, and hopefully hard-hitting for the adults. 

Tuesday Storytime: October Already!

The month of October is a happy time for my storytime selecting; as it becomes essentially a month-long celebration of Halloween and all things spooky. This is my partner's first October, and she's off to a great start:

Me and My Dragon: Afraid of Halloween
David Biedrzycki
ISBN: 9781580896580
The boy and his adorable bright red dragon confront the frights and startlements of Halloween, and decide it's not that bad after all.

Penguin and Pumpkin
Salina Yoon
ISBN: 9780802737335
A little longer than it seems like it should be: Penguin heads out away from the ice with a pack of friends to see what "fall" is like, but baby brother Pumpkin has to stay home, as he's not quite big enough. (Serious questions about given names in this world remain unanswered) When Penguin and crew come back with fall leaves and pumpkins for all, they do what they can to give baby Pumpkin a chance to experience fall himself.

Crankenstein
Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat
ISBN: 9780316126564
Crankenstein is a very scary monster. Have you seen it? Check around when there are annoying or disappointing situations, or when life just doesn't go quite right. Crank will vanish sometimes, but it will always be back. A funny sideways view of childhood fits and grumps works perfectly for this time of year.