Children's Book Review: Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre

First book review on the new Substack!

I hesitated when I pulled this book off the shelf at the library. I love books about fall, but I’m hesitant to read books about the wonder of the seasons that are filled with photographs instead of illustrations. It’s funny because I used to dabble in photography, but I don’t trust picture books with photos because I don’t think they effectively capture the beauty of our world.

Until I came across this book!

My expectations of this book were mixed. I love fall, but don’t love photography in books. But I am so glad I gave it a chance, because I absolutely loved this book. The pictures are extremely effective at immersing the young reader in the seasons, and the imagery the words create breathes life into the pages. I also appreciate that the book, although it actually contains very few words in it, includes some words that might be rarer for the children. For example, one page shows a duck in a pond and it says “Ripples,” next to them, and below the duck it says “Reflections.” I learned the word “midrib” because of this book as well! It’s the main vein that some leaves have (but not all).

So if you’re looking for a lovely picture book for fall to enjoy with your kids, I highly recommend this one.