A deciduous tree recites little poems about the activities it observes throughout the fall, each inspired by a playful coinage of adjectives such as "beautifall" and "delightfall." Each seasonal spread offers bold colors and shapes that often go beyond the edge of the page. Hall's style of chunky collage reminds me of Lois Ehlert.

An appealing choice for younger kids, who may not get the wordplay but will appreciate the imagery (and it's easy to skip pages if they get restless). Older kids will feel satisfaction at understanding the wordplay and could be inspired to make poetry and collage of their own.

Song pairings: "Autumn leaves are falling down," "The leaves are falling down," "Rain on the grass"
Read-alike: Fall Is Not Easy also offers poetry from a tree's perspective and takes a similar approach to the visual layout.

Author/artist Michael Hall offers a poetic picture-book tribute to the beauties of autumn in this lovely collection, presenting fifteen short poems, each inspired by a particular portmanteau word, from 'peacefall' to 'watchfall.' A brief afterword gives more information about fall, and the coming of winter, from the perspective of the tree who provides shelter for the squirrels...

As someone who loves pretty much everything about autumn, from the colors to the seasonal celebrations, someone who also enjoys a good portmanteau word, I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy Wonderfall - and I did! The brief poems work very well, both on their own, and as a narrative building toward the culmination of a snowfall, while the vibrantly colorful illustrations capture all the beauty of the season being depicted. Highly recommended, both to fellow fall-lovers, and to those looking for children's books about autumn, and the changing of the seasons. ( )

Seasons, play on words, whole class read