Fall Harvest

In keeping with the season our theme for the next two week is going to be Fall Harvest.

I am going to start the week reading Red are the Apples by Marc Harshman and Cheryl Ryan, Illustrated by Wade Zahares.

"What can you find in an autumn garden?

A harvest of bright colors,

and lots to explore!

Come share a day of big orange

pumpkins, shiny purple eggplants,

juicy red apples, and bright blue skies-

a day of fall fun and abundance."

I picked this because of the focus on colors throughout the text.  The harvest is explored through the colors of the bounty.  The colors help tie together all parts of the harvest, looking at pieces that we might miss otherwise.  In Reading Workshop we are going to look at how the pictures can help us understand what the author is telling us, we will also chart the colors and brainstorm other fall things that are the same colors.  In Writing Workshop we are going to look at how the authors use their words to help us paint a picture in our minds and match their words to their pictures.

Next we will look at How Groundhog's Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry, published by Scholastic.

"How does a garden really grow?

In a simple story with pictures

as bright as sunshine,

readers young and old will cheer as

Squirrel teaches Little Groundhog

the rich rewards of gardening-

all year long."

Lynne Cherry brings the process of a garden to life for her readers, incorporating everything from hibernation to composting.  The pictures are full of beautiful details and draw the reader in with their vibrant colors.  Cherry illustrates the colorful journey of a garden from the desire to harvest.  It also explores other captivating aspects of gardening; composting, pollination, insects, and the importance of the changing of seasons.   I am looking forward to exploring the life cycle of plants with my students in conjunction with the text.  This is one that I will probably revisit in the Spring - since I would like to work on planting a small garden with my students. 

To continue the theme of gardening and harvest we will look at Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona's Harvest.  I love the vibrancy of color in Tomie dePaola's work and Strega Nona is one of my favorite characters!  This will be a great text for comparing and contrasting, using Strega Nona and Big Anthony's gardens as a guide.  All the adventures lead to a Harvest Feast for all of their friends to share the bounty of the season.

Next it is on to soups!  I love the variety in the Stone Soup stories and I also have a number of other harvest soup stories that we are going to be looking at - and hopefully trying out in the kitchen!

Stone Soup is an old fairy tale in which strangers trick a starving town into giving them some food. It is usually told as a lesson in cooperation, especially amid scarcity. In varying traditions, the stone has been replaced with other common inedible objects, and therefore the fable is also known as button soup, wood soup, nail soup, and axe soup. -wikipedia


Marcia Brown's version was first published in 1947, it's strangers are three soldiers that outwit a greedy village into providing a feast.  Brown's version is based on an old French tale.

Jon J Muth's version takes us to the Far East.

"Three monks, Hok, Lok, and Siew, journey along a mountain road trying to understand what makes one happy.

At once the monks encounter frightened villagers who lock their windows and darken their homes.  The villagers have long been ravaged by harsh times, and their hearts have grown hard toward everyone they meet.  But when the monks cleverly entice them to make soup from stones, the villagers discover how much they each have to give-and how much more comes back in return.

With magnificent watercolors that invite reflection of deeper meaning, Jon J Muth combines his love of Zen Buddhism and Eastern culture with a favorite old trickster tale that celebrates the power of generosity."

Finally we will look at Stone Soup by Ann McGovern with pictures by Winslow Pinney Pels.  This departs from the common structure of three strangers and a village,  instead it centers on just a young man and a little old lady.  I like this one because it will allow us to compare the elements that are from the original tale and discuss the new elements that McGovern introduces. 

Staying on the theme of fall/harvest soups we will move into our soup books!

I love Helen Cooper's books, her illustrations pop, her text make you giggle, and her stories keep you turning the pages.  Pumpkin Soup introduces readers to Duck, Cat, and Squirrel, who continue to appear in A Pipkin of Petter and Delicious.  I find this one great for talking about sharing with my students, because they all want to get a chance to do everything!

Next we will look at Lois Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup, guided reading level B.  I enjoy Ehlert's books because the language and illustrations are simple, yet vibrant.  This is another text that takes us from the planting of seeds to the feasting on delicious soup.  Her text is accessible for emergent readers and the pictures help to tell the story.

Rounding out our fall soup stories is Vegetable Soup, written by Ann Morris with pictures by Tatjana Krizmanic´.  The illustrations really complete this text, Krizmanic's use of pastel creates fluid images that pop off the page.  Morris' rhyming ties the pages together and is appropriate for young readers.  I am going to use this to discuss end rhyme and phonemic blends.

And what would soup be without crusty bread?  Good Bread, A Book of Thanks by Brigitte Weninger and Anne Moller illustrates the process from seed to loaf of fresh, homemade bread.  This was first publised in Switzerland under the title Danke, gutes Brot!  In our current hectic times we rarely have the luxury of baking our own bread, this book guides readers through the process of what goes into making a loaf of bread.  

And on that note I am off to make some delicious Amish Friendship Bread!

Happy Reading!