Before we know it the seasons will be changing again. Summer into Fall, Fall into Winter…My kids look forward to the shift in the winds and the little differences (yes even in San Diego CA there are tiny differences) in the world around us.
Now I should probably admit up front that I am not a “seasons person.” I don’t remember ever being as delighted by them as most of my friends and family in the Midwest growing up. I am comfortable with our two seasons, You need a warm layer season and the You don’t need a warm layer season, here in SoCal.
HOWEVER, I appreciate the beauty of the different seasons. I love a good picture book that illustrates the best that each season has to offer and I know how the seasons alter life throughout the year in most parts of the country.
The seasons also make for a fun storytime in the classroom or the library whenever the air starts to hint at the next approaching change.
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10+ Children’s Books about Seasons to Read Aloud
1. Old Bear
by Kevin Henkes
Old Bear falls asleep for his winter snooze and dreams of a bright spring, lush summer, colorful fall and brilliant winter. He wakes up and is surprised at what he finds. A perfect introduction to all four seasons for little ones with simple text and soft illustrations. Find Online
2. Today and Today
by Issa
Sweet haikus about the different seasons. The illustrations by G. Brian Karas are a soft, unique combination of rice paper, wood plank, pencil and paint – beautiful. Find Online
3. Park Beat: Rhymin’ Through the Seasons
by Jonathan London
This bouncing, rhythmic book follows a park through the seasons. Sledding and horse drawn sleds to picnickers lounging and dogs chasing. Colorful illustrations that are full of details. Find Online
4. Apples and Robins
by Lucie Felix
A completely fascinating use of shapes and colors and paper. As you walk through this story of seasons watch shapes evolve and transform with the turn of a page. The inventive and imaginative construction of this book is worth a read aloud, but the fun story is what makes it worth reading again and again. Find Online
5. Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter
Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring or Goodbye Summer Hello Autumn
by Kenard Pak
These books both beautifully capture the change in seasons. The words read like a conversation between children and nature as the season gradually shifts around them. What I love most about both books however are the illustrations that perfectly capture that chilled feeling in the air as winter grows closer in the first book and fill with color and glow in the second. These are perfect for reading in late in a season before the next one emerges. I hope Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer is on it’s way! Find Autumn/Winter . Find Summer/Autumn . Find Winter/Spring
6. Fort Building Time
by Megan Wagner Lloyd, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
I never would have guessed from the cover that this is a book about seasons, but it is indeed. I love this colorful, vibrant story about friends, seasons, and fort building. Certain to inspire you to run outside and start building your own fort, no matter the season. Find Online
7. When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons
by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Julie Morstad
A simply delightful book about the seasons. Brief poems grace these pages and carry you through the year. The poems reflect the changing seasons and the emotions that go with them. More importantly perhaps they hold so many delicious phrases. Beautifully written and gently illustrated – a book to treasure all year long. Find Online
8. Green on Green
by Dianne White
illustrated by Felicita Sala
A poem for the four seasons, GREEN ON GREEN is brief and lovely. I wonder a bit about whether smaller children will follow the more abstract, poetic language but I have no doubt that kids of all ages will get sucked into the details of the illustrations. Starting with the endpapers, the illustrations perfectly capture the seasons. If you look closely you will also notice that they add their own layer of story as the family depicted changes throughout the book. A beautiful celebration of what makes the seasons special all year long. Find Online
9. Sometimes Rain
by Meg Fleming
illustrated by Diana Sudyka
Written like a poem, this book travels through the seasons. It is full of weather and children playing and the beauty and pleasures of all four seasons. Find Online
10. Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves’ Hidden Colors
by Mia Posada
This doesn’t cover all of the seasons but I had to throw it on here because it is one of our favorites. My kids love nonfiction books, especially highly readable ones like this one. The sentences are pretty short but there is a lot of great info tucked and even more in the backmatter. Perfect for summer into fall transitions. Find Online
11. Seasons
by Hannah Pang
illustrated by Clever Robin
SEASONS is a gorgeous and creative look at seasons around the world. The cover drew me in immediately and its warm, vibrant beauty is carried throughout the book’s illustrations. What I love most about this book, however, is that it introduces kids to how seasons vary in different places. It goes beyond the typical spring, summer, fall, winter that we typically see in picture books. Each area is separated by multi-layered spreads that creatively use page turns and page size to show how seasons change. Some of these are the more traditional, North American seasons, but they also show places with only two seasons or seasons that are entirely different – like the wet and dry seasons in Kenyan Maasai Mara. This book gorgeously captures not only the vibrant changes of the seasons in a diverse collection of places, but also shares information about the animals that are effected by these changes. A unique and lovely nonfiction book for kids.
12. Mouse’s Wood
by Alice Melvin
This beautiful book invites you to spend a year in the woods with Mouse. Each page has short lines of rhyming text about one month illustrated with lush, detail rich illustrations and a flip the flap peek inside of a home in Mouse’s wood. The peeks inside the cozy houses are one of my favorite parts. Each feels like a glimpse inside an adorable dollhouse of sorts. Mouse’s year is busy and also reflects how the natural world transforms from month to month. It is a vibrant story that celebrates how a northern wood changes over the course of a year.
Songs about Seasons
- The Seasons by Nancy Kopman
- What’s the Weather by Nancy Kopman (Sang this ALL the time with my preschoolers)
- The Four Seasons Song on Jbrary
- The Leaves on the Trees Song and Activity from Growing Book by Book
Activities about the Seasons
General Seasons
- Create a Seasons Wheel from STEAM Powered Family
- Montessori Inspired Celebration of Life from Barley and Birch
- Four Seasons Window Art from Red Ted Art
- Four Seasons Tree Art Activity from Red Ted Art
Specific Seasons
- Fall Leaf Art with Printable
- Fall Hike Storytime with Read Alouds and Activity ideas.
- Cork Printing Fall Tree from Rainy Day Mum
- Fall Nature Walk and Activity ideas for Toddlers from Bambini Travel
- Autumn Nature Tree from Red Ted Art
- Fall Tree Drawing Prompt from Bambini Travel
- Winter Clothing Activity Pack
- Spring Flower Art Invitation
- Summer Beach Mystery Bag Sensory Activity
