I Love Fall!

Inches, Alison. 2009. I Love Fall! Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata.

I like the idea of this concept book. It's a touch and feel book about the fall season. I don't know about you, but there's something inviting about this little girl. It makes me want to like the book.

I love fall!
In the fall, the air is chilly,
but my scarf feels warm and woolly.
Scritch, scratch!
Rub my woolly scarf!

I think this one works for the most part. (Especially if you're not picky). But it's not quite right either. The scarf doesn't feel woolly. It feels soft and fleecy. Or perhaps soft and velvety. (Definitely not something you could scritch or scratch. Just saying.) And this is the case with so many of the touch-and-feel items. The "smooth pumpkin" doesn't come close to feeling like an actual pumpkin. It feels like plastic or vinyl. (It's shiny and reflective too.) Granted I haven't felt up all that many pumpkins in my lifetime, but smooth isn't the first thing that comes to mind. One other small thing that I noticed, and then I'll be quiet.

Grandma bakes pumpkins
and apple treats.
She gives me yummy pies
that are warm and sweet.

Crinkle, crinkle!
Feel the shiny pie tin that
I put in my basket.

Anyone want to tell me exactly how shiny feels? Shiny is something that you see with your eyes, not touch with your fingers. The pie tin--which is the touchable part of this spread--actually comes closest to feeling like the object it is supposed to depict (unlike the smooth pumpkin and dry leaves), but the feeling isn't shiny. (I should also note that they got the wicker basket part right of this touch-and-feel.)

© Becky Laney of Young Readers