Fall: A Seasons Story - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

This sweet, lyrical, softly illustrated picture book is the perfect complement to the first books Summer: A Solstice Story and Winter: A Solstice Story. In this book, the animal community welcomes and helps a weary traveler, pausing during her fall migration.

Fall: A Seasons Story

Author: Kelsey E. Gross

Illustrator: Renata Liwska

Publisher: Beach Lane Books ( August 25, 2026)

Ages: 4 - 8

Themes:

Fall, seasons, friendship, STEM, and animals.

Synopsis:

From Kelsey E. Gross and New York Times bestselling artist Renata Liwska comes the next book in the stunning Solstice & Seasons series, this time as the animal pals celebrate fall with a new monarch butterfly friend.

Fall is here, and so is a new friend! Monarch is making her way south before winter arrives, and she needs a safe place to rest. Owl, Mouse, Duck, Rabbit, Squirrel, Chickadee, and Raccoon are ready to lend a helping hand. Soon it’s time for Monarch to continue on her journey, but first a celebration of the season reminds everyone that even when things change, the friends will always have each other.

Opening Lines:

At dawn,

a rosy glow blooms across the sky,

and a chilly breeze

curls through the fields and trees.

What I LOVED about this book:

The dreamy quality of the almost chalk-like, expressive digital illustrations create a wonderful opening spread as Chickadee welcomes the day's dawn in the field by a farm.

Text © Kelsey E. Gross, 2026. Image © Renata Liwska, 2026.

As Owl swoops across the field to a hay bale, he "spies a shimmer of black and orange" and investigates. With a delightful continuity, Kelsey Gross utilizes rhyme for Owl's dialogue. Nicely setting it off against the narration and the other animals. "What brings you to our woods today?/ Do you need a place to stay?," he asks. In contrast to the previous books (and other animals in this book), Monarch's dialogue is also written in rhyme.

Text © Kelsey E. Gross, 2026. Image © Renata Liwska, 2026.

I’m flying south to meet my friends;

we all head there when summer ends.

I must go on—I cannot quit!

But first I need to rest a bit.

In response to Owl's call to the community, Mouse, Duck, Rabbit, Squirrel, Chickadee, and Raccoon create a cozy, safe place for Monarch and offer her a lullaby, stories, and company. I love the softness and sense of a quiet, calm, community of friends that Renata Liwska created in this image. It is such a sweet bedtime scene. And I adore the little stick, leaf, and cotton bed the animals made for Monarch.

 Text © Kelsey E. Gross, 2026. Image © Renata Liwska, 2026.

I love all the STEM information (seasonal changes, migration, etc.) woven into Renata Liwska's illustrations. After Monarch is rested and the weather changes, the ending is both tender and celebratory, with a glorious, lively gatefold illustration and a wonderfully heart-warming statement by Owl - "Even when you’re miles apart,/ friends are always in your heart." This is a wonderful snuggle time book celebrating empathy and encouraging us to treasure our friendships and the wonderful moments in Fall's seasonal changes.

Resources:

• Try some of these 30 Creative Fall crafts.

• make a toilet paper tube Owl, Raccoon, Rabbit, Squirrel, Mouse, Duck, & Chickadee what Fall adventure will your friends have?

• what changes do you see in the Fall around where you live? Make a season journal and record the changes with photos, drawings, poems, or lists of thing you see in the fall or each season.

If you missed my interview with Kelsey Gross on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.