Best Autumn Books for Toddlers and Young Children

Autumn, otherwise known as “fall” in the USA, is a time when the days start to get shorter again, leaves fall from the trees and we change up our wardrobes to welcome the growing chill in the air. It also means we get to change the books that we have around the house to support our learning and understanding about the world around us. In our house, we get our autumn books out of the attic and enjoy curling up on the sofa or at bedtime reading all about the new season and what it means. Read on to find out which books we especially love in our house for autumn.

The weather changes and turns colder, leaves turn those gorgeous browns, oranges and yellows and we change what we wear in order to keep ourselves warm from the biting winds and longer nights.

Some children start school or return to a new class and it’s all about new beginnings for them.

I’ve collated a book list of books about the season of autumn but also books about starting school.

This year my daughter starts Reception in a new school. She knows what schools are like because she attended a school nursery though at a different school. But there are still things she may not be aware of about school so these books are a great way of talking about starting school in the weeks and months leading up to September.

Autumn is also the time of year for several celebrations: Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali. There is also Thanksgiving in the US.

What Other Learning Could I Link In With Autumnal Books?

Autumn is a great chance to learn about:

the changing seasons.
go for walks in the leaves.
see what colours are out in nature. You can also explore colour with fireworks as inspiration.
look at celebrations which occur in autumn such as Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night.
leaf printing
playdough – you could make pumpkin spice playdough or make Halloween shapes with it.
about (other) religions like Hinduism for Diwali.

Best Books About Autumn – The Season

National Trust – Getting Ready for Autumn

Best Books for Young Children in Autumn

Preschoolers will find the books in the first section above useful too. But these books here are a bit too wordy to be in the baby and toddler section, so I’ve created a preschooler section.