I had so much fun putting these together last year that I wanted to do round two. To learn more about this check out the original post about Toy and Book gifting.

Here are a few of my favorite books from this year and some darling toys to go along with them.

Over and Under the Pond and Otter Finger Puppet

I included these little finger puppets in last year's gift guide and I just couldn't resist doing it again. They are so cute! I want one too! Maybe the alpaca! 

Also this book is darling and there are others in the series I am excited about. 

Thelma the Unicorn or Extra Yarn or Knit Together and Yarn Unicorn Craft

This pairing comes with three different book pics. I originally chose the unicorn book because unicorns are definitely having a moment and we loved this book. But then when I saw this unicorn craft using yarn I immediately remembered these two other books we read this year both about yarn and both might be on my top 10 favorite children's books (I'm going to need to work on that one later this year!) All three books have wonderful messages for children and that yarn craft looks like such a fun together activity. 

All About Cars and Lego Duplos Cars and Trucks

This has been my most favorite book to gift this year. The book is just filled with all sorts of vehicles, some real, but mostly made up. Like a POOP CAR! A POOP CAR! What kid doesn't like a POOP CAR! It is such a fun book for kids to flip through on their own and find their favorite vehicles. A perfect one to NOT have to always read to them. My favorite kind! Also, I think these Duplo cars would be a fun pairing because kids can then make up vehicles of their own. Mix and match and create the next great car! I love open ended play like this. 

World Pizza and Pizza Felt Kit

I have not read this book yet but the description just looked too great to pass up, especially since we are a big pizza family. We do have this pizza felt kit and the kids still have lots of fun with it creating their own pizza creations. 

The Mermaid and Mermaid Peg Doll Craft

Another book I have not read yet as it has just come out. But it is a new Jan Brett book! And it's about Mermaids! So you can't go wrong with that. And I love all the little craft kits that Seedling puts together. This little Mermaid Peg Doll looks like a fun and easy craft for your little one and something they can play with the book. Craft and Book pairings are so natural. 

I believe one of the greatest ways to mark a season is through literature. Books reinforce the themes that surround a child. They are a bridge from what they are learning to how they are exploring. So while my children gravitate towards the same books on their book shelves over and over again, I make sure to gather books at the library that follow along seasonally to enhance their learning. 

But besides being an educational tool, reading seasonally is just so cozy. The nostalgia of a story that celebrates the best of a season brings on all the snuggly vibes. I never tire of the morning routine of two kids piling into bed with a stack of books. Christmas is one of my favorite ways of doing this, as evident in my Book Advent Calendar. But Fall is making a good fight for second, for obvious reasons. 

In my head I see September as Apple Season, October as Halloween/Pumpkin season, and November as Leaf season, but these can all be read at any time in the fall. While Christmas gets rushed into about one month, you really can never have too much Fall.

Here are some of our favorites (mostly mine because let's face it, I'm the reader and thus picker these days.)

Apple Season Books

Apples are eaten year round in our house. But it feels so fulfilling to give them an extra special nod at this time of year. There were many more I was excited to read by alas, the Library Hold Gods were not smiling down on me this season. I look forward to adding more to this group next year.

Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie

Our beloved character is back only she ages backwards and adorably. If only we could all be that lucky. This book will make you run to the kitchen to whip up your very own pie, and a recipe is included too!

Arnold's Apple Tree

Little Arnold loves his apple tree not just for the apples in the fall, but for all the seasons that the tree provides for him. A great way to share about all of the seasons. 

Toto's Apple

With very minimal words, this book encourages problem solving in the reader to help the worm figure out how to get to that delicious juicy apple. And for those kids who love a gross ending, stay tuned!

Halloween Season Books

Halloween can be a weird scary time for a toddler and preschooler. I'm looking at you Target and your 2 story high giant purple glowing ghost. So here is a circumstance where it is great to read books about Halloween to show the not so creepy side of Halloween. Some of these books are down right adorable. I can't say that for the Halloween aisle at Target.

Not Very Scary

Perfect for the little one a little confused and slightly afraid of the creepy things at Halloween, it is helpful to learn that often what seems scary can sometimes just be friendly. Also this one reads like the 12 days of Christmas which is very fun as everything adds up like a tongue twister in the end. Read it fast and giggles will ensue. 

Room on the Broom

I first discovered this one last year when we watched the animated version of the story on Netflix. This is a rare instance when I think the movie is a little better than the book, mostly because I love the British narrator and the facial expressions of the animals. The story is a sweet look at how there is always room to be friendly and welcoming to friends in need. I might have cried a bit at the end (you'll notice that being a common theme.)

The Scariest Book Ever

If you are familiar with The Funniest Book Ever by the same author, you will love this Halloween Edition. Kids will get a kick out of the ghost who is super scared of the "forest" when the kids know it is filled with cupcakes, crafts, and kittens. A Halloween book that makes you giggle is a good book.

Birdie's Happiest Halloween

If last year’s election is still a bit too raw for you, this one might make you cry for sure. Halloween is a great time to remind our little girls, and boys, they can be anything they want, even the President of the United States!

Creepy Pair of Underwear

We have read this one 627 times in our household. We all have it memorized. And while I would love nothing more than to return it back to the library never to read it again, it is still a pretty adorable book. I mean what kid doesn’t love a book with creepy underwear that exude that ghoulish greenish glow?!

Leaf Changing Season Books

Let’s just be real here. This collection of books fall primarily in the category of “my kids think they are kind of boring but I will read them anyway because they give me all the feels.” Trees are such a great expression of growth and change. These books give you that glory fall feeling. 

The Little Yellow Leaf

I already spoke on this one in my last post but it deserves a place on this list. I find myself walking around whisper cheering for that last little leaf on the tree to go ahead and be brave and make the change (and maybe I’m cheering a little bit for myself too.)

Bertolt

This is the story of a self proclaimed introverted boy who is ok with being different as long as he has the company of his beloved tree, Bertolt. I dare you not to cry at that end when the boy makes something beautiful out of the tree after a sudden death. Dare you.

Yellow Time

This book celebrates that lovely golden glowing time we find ourselves in right now. I know that the grays of winter will come but for now, I am soaking up all the loveliness, and loving this book. 

As an Oak Tree Grows

We often forget how long a tree can live. This story takes us all the way back to that first acorn planted into the ground 275 years ago and watches the world change as it grows. How mighty and wonderful our trees can be.

Leo's Tree

Talk about books to make me cry, this was one of the first books I received a week before the birth of my first child, and thus I associate it with my little ones' growing. Here baby Leo grows along with the newly planted tree. Trees grow, kids grow, it's all so adorable. 

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That about wraps it up, although confession I picked up a few more of my library holds and it looks like I'm going to have to add a whole bunch more to next year's list. Happy Fall Reading!

This post contains some affiliate links, which means if you purchase through them, I make a small commission. That being said, these are my honest opinions and I was not paid to talk about any of the products mentioned. I just think they are pretty great! Also, the links send you to IndieBound.com, a site for encouraging sending business to local independent book stores. Support your neighborhood bookstores! And Happy Shopping!

Sometimes you just want to write. Today is one of those days.

Sometimes you have so much you want to write and you don’t know where to begin. Today is another one of those days.

How about a little Currently Collective?

Currently I'm...

Loving. I have a letter board people!!! Someone FINALY figured out all the hints (and the subtle nudges from really great friends who know me and get me) and gifted it for our 10 year anniversary. I found out through Facebook. He made his own little sign (our wedding song, seen above. Now for the collective awwwwwww) and took a picture of it and waited for me to find it on Facebook, because obvi that would be the first thing I would do in the morning. (That was such a millennial cusp-er thing to do.) I’m in love. But also a little terrified about SAYING THE RIGHT THING! Words. Metaphor for my life. 

Also a wonderful metaphor for life? Trees. I stumbled upon these beautiful words in the collection of fall recipes by Susan Branch I pull out every year. I nabbed them for my board.

Looking up. Speaking of trees, I am in love with the trees of Minnesota. All of them. Even the kind of ugly ones are super insane with color right now.  If you didn’t know this you must not be on Instagram to see my spam and therefore your world is a little bit sad without all of my musings. 

(Also do we need to talk about how 22 years old I am with this Insta-story thing? I know. I know. Snapchat was doing it forever. But insta is my place. I want to stay there forever and not click over to anymore apps. And thus, insta-stories forevah evah.)

Fall has been everything I wanted it to be. Cool mornings. Sunshiney afternoons. All of the color. I mean all of it. It’s ridiculous. 

Nesting. And with Fall comes nesting. I see those squirrels bustling around our neighborhood and I’m like, oh yeah. They know what’s up. Time to get busy and make this house cozy before we can never leave. 

I want to come at you with a house tour because I am the biggest nosy nose and love to see how people live. Even people with messy houses. Especially people with messy houses. I just like knowing the space you call home. So maybe you want to know mine too? I’ll get to it soon. Think of this post as a sneak peak into all the things I will get to/hope to get to/will think about getting to. Eventually. 

For now, I share above my new favorite little corner of the house because A) It is all mine. 2) It is beautiful. And D) I worked RIDICULOUSLY hard on all of that getting rid of the green business so I am mighty proud of it right now. 

The thing with house projects is it completely satiates my creative hunger. 

Thus the unavailability for words.

It’s fine. 

Seasons. 

I love them. And now we get all of them. Something tells me the season of cozying on the couch will quickly be upon me. The words can flow then.

Reading. You know what else has been catching my attention. Books. So many good ones. So many Looooooooong ones. I’m looking at you 11.22.63.

But also particularly great books for kids. I want to do a round up of all my favorite fall books. There are so so many great ones!  I’ll leave you with my fave fave fave right now. And let me preface this with these are MY favorite books. My children would prefer to read the Creepy Underwear Book and Daniel Tiger’s Halloween on repeat. Both great classics. But they do not set the mood for Fall for me in quite the same way. I want poetic beauty. 

Nature's Day is going on my list to own. It takes you through all the seasons and what is going on in the natural world around us from the earth to the sky. And the description of Fall is just dead on. It reminds you to notice the world. It’s the kind of book that I want to read again and again as the seasons change. 

And finally my most most favorite fall book right now is this book The Little Yellow Leaf. It’s a charming story about a leaf that is just not quite ready to let go. And it feels kind of alone. Until it finds another leaf that is holding on too. And together they decide to float away. I tear up every single time. A reminder of the people in our lives that help us through difficult times of change. Also the illustrations are like a collage and I just adore it. Get this one. For yourself. Your kids prob won’t care about it. But you get to pick out books too. 

Well. That seems like enough words for this Friday afternoon. I have a TWO DATE NIGHT kind of weekend.

For the first, I’m headed out on a SOLO DATE NIGHT tonight. WHAT?! How great does that sound?! I need to get primped! What should I do? Shop? Drink Wine? Write? Find a book store? ALL OF THE ABOVE??!! What would you do on a solo date night?

And then a date night in for the fellow in my life that will involve queso, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and only a little bit of ACL FOMO. Wild!

Here’s to a lovely fall weekend filled with naps, baseball, roasted foods, house projects, and lots and lots of beautiful trees. And hopefully more word writing for next week!