A Fall Ball for All

Leaf invitations sweep through the forest, declaring to the animals: “You’re invited, one and all, to the annual Windfall Ball!” Even as the cooler weather approaches, “Geese postponed their grand migration,/ Bears and bats, their hibernation.” The highly anticipated event is a windfall (Swenson defines the word as “fruit or other crops blown down by the wind” and “an unexpected gift or good fortune”). Fedele captures the blazing colors of the season as the flutter of crimson, yellow, and orange leaves drift throughout the pages like butterflies. In the windfall’s wake, the animals—badgers, bears, raccoons, and more—eagerly gather “cranberries, chestnuts, corn, and plums,/ Sunflowers, daisies, chrysanthemums,” for their winter dens. The bounties of autumn are on full display in this cozy story. Ages 5–8.[em] (Sept.) [/em]