Autumn Feast
Sean Taylor & Alex Morss, illustrated by Cinyee Chiu
Happy Yak

This autumnal offering completes the seasonal series by the same team that created Winter Sleep, Busy Spring and Wild Summer. Both Sean and Alex are great communicators when it comes to writing for children and again this one is perfectly pitched for its intended audience.

The narrative is set on a bright, chilly autumn morning and Mama suggests the children accompany her on a walk in the nearby park. Somewhat reluctantly in the first instance they wrap up and off they go into the windy street where leaves are blowing every which way. Cheered by the opportunity to romp in the fallen ones Holly and her narrator sibling are ready to embrace the wealth of sights and sounds that surround them. All the while Mama – a nature brainbox – as the young narrator calls her, gently gives the youngsters information about the various plants and animals they come upon: it was a wood mouse that had nibbled at the hazelnuts and has left tooth marks she’s able to identify and some unusual devil’s fingers fungi they see beside a fallen tree.

Having observed minibeasts down low and birds high above, they stop for a while to collect fallen apples before returning home. There excitedly they show Mum the apples

and the four of them chat, bake and consume delicious apple flapjacks together.

All this and more is shown in Cinyee Chiu’s vibrantly coloured detailed scenes.

Following the narrative, the text changes to a more conventional non-fiction style, posing and answering ‘What is Autumn?’ on one spread, after which are a spread on plants, another on animals, one entitled ‘Rotters’ and there’s a final page giving some ways children can help wildlife during the autumn months.