Fall in Silicon Valley

Ever since I was a kid I would enjoy the Peanuts Gang a.k.a. Charlie Brown and friends. I have been a fan for as long as I can remember, the words "blockhead", "the great pumpkin", "Ugh!" and "sweet baboo" are quotes from the cartoon that I know. On Valentine's Day I loved watching their special on TV, on Halloween and Christmas they were always enjoyed.

Everytime I watched the cartoon in the fall season I would dream of jumping in a pile of leaves. It looked like so much fun and most importantly watching the leaves fall to the ground as they turned red, yellow, brown symbolized the change of season. Something in Southern California I did not experience. I don't remember ever getting to see fall in all its splendor. 

I dreamed of one day moving to somewhere where seasons do change and you can see the signs of it around you. You can feel the weather change and your wardrobe transition to a warmer or cooler items depending on the season. 

Back in March when we were planing our move to Northern California, I honestly did not think of the experience with nature we would have. I knew seasons were different here, but did not realize how different it would be. In summer you feel the heat and then as September begins you start noticing a difference in what you wear and the air is lightly cooler. By October it is definitely a must wear sweater season with the occasional hot day -just like in Southern California that you must wear flip flops and shorts. 

This past week with the Holiday break we traveled to Southern California and Baja Mexico. We enjoyed the warmer weather with me wearing a sleeveless top and pants to our Thanksgiving dinner. As we returned back to Northern California I began noticing I was feeling cold, leaves were turning a dark shade of red and some were golden yellow. 

Today as I drove our daughter to school I couldn't help but notice how many leaves were on the ground and how much it reminded me of all those Charlie Brown cartoons with the pile of leaves. How much I dreamed of it and now.... now it is real. I'm here blessed with enjoying watching leaves fall off the trees in my neighborhood and stopping to take pictures of it all. 

Favorite Fall Books for kids.

As a family that loves to read, we have a big collection of you guessed it... Books! Since I was pregnant with our daughter we began reading to her. We enjoyed reading to her every evening and when she was born we continued to read books to her. With our son it's been the same story, except now that our daughter can read she sometimes reads to him {this melts my heart}.

Among our collection of children's books we have books that are perfect for Fall weather. These books show how the leaves turn into red, orange, gold and brown and how the air is cooler. Here are our favorites:

"Mouse's First Fall" Is a very special book that explains about Fall. It is written by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Buket Erdogan. In this cute book you will meet "Mouse and Minka" who go out of their home to play. On their way to play they notice something is different and begin talking about all the changes that they are noticing. The illustrations are beautiful and make children feel they are there inside in the book enjoying Fall. 

"Colorful Leaves" is a science book written by Maria Fleming, in which you will not only see pictures of different types of leaves but also learn their names and what leaves do.  It also contributes to children's vocabulary by teaching them new words related to Fall. One of my favorite features in this book is that the last page has a list of new words with their meaning and 3 questions you can ask your child for reading comprehension.

"Ruby's Falling Leaves" was written by one of our favorite authors -Rosemary Wells. This is the story of Ruby and her little brother Max who reminds us so much of Adventure Boy. As Ruby is searching the backyard from leaves she is missing in our "Leaf collection book" Max enjoys seeing leaves and how different they are.

"The Legend of Spookley" Is a great book that not only shares about Fall and pumpkins but also the story of a square pumpkin and teaches us to accept differences with others and appreciate them. Spookley shows in the story how being different is good. Written by Joe Troiano and illustrated by Susan Banta. 

"I Spy a Pumpkin" Perfect book with riddles and photographs that allow children to pay close attention and search for specific items. Best part is kids get motivated to read. Adventure Boy loves this book as he can "read" some of the words that are represented through images. 

There are many other books that are perfect for toddlers that talk about fall. It's always a great way to teach about colors, numbers and science as well as increase a child's vocabulary. 

Do you or your child have a favorite book about fall?