When Fall Comes: Connecting with Nature as the Days Grow Shorter, by Aimée M. Bissonette , Erin Hourigan (Illustrator)

 

Publication Sept. 5. 2023

There's nothing as consistent as change. Living in Alaska, I could definitely relate to this book. One day you're enjoying the summer sunshine. The next you feel a change in the air. Nothing obvious, but you can sense it. The author and illustrator both get it. Toss in some absolutely lovely illustrations and this book is a winner.

I honestly had to go check the bios on the author/illustrator to see if I'd somehow missed that they lived in Alaska or maybe Canada. Close. Bissonette lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, no stranger to cold and changing seasons, while Hourigan lives in Portland. Yep, they not only get it, they live it. 

It shows. The text and illustrations are spot on. The attention to detail, too, should be noted. I absolutely loved the illustration for the mention of Canadian Geese flying overhead. Normally you'll see a shot of tiny silhouettes in the sky. Not here. Hourigan shows the geese, true, but as reflections on a lake where an adult and child, both wearing life-jackets, I might note, as one of the unfailing signs of change on the way. People are shown wearing cooler weather gear, jackets and boots, and working together to prepare for what is to come. 

You'll spy a beaver swimming with a branch for its lodge or dam, salmon swimming upstream to spawn while bears wait patiently on the shore to feast, and even things like a giant gray whale swimming south to warmer waters. These and many other sights. Heck, even the mud flats get a mention, something we are quite familiar with here in Alaska. Again, great attention and thought has been given to detail, such as the dog being on a leash and different ages working as one, for instance. And, it's all washed in gorgeous fall colors, with yellows and oranges and a somehow cooler looking air. Lovely.

In other words, I loved it. There's so much to see and enjoy in this book that I recommend it highly. It's not only a great look at how seasons change in colder climates but how both animals and people prepare and work to get ready. Kudos to the author and illustrator. And, thanks to #NetGalley and #SasquatchBooks - #LittleBigfoot for letting me wallow in my favorite season a bit early.