Official Review: The Story Of Autumn by Anne E. Reardon

[MsTri]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Story Of Autumn" by Anne E. Reardon.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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When I was young, my mother gave me a book of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. I was so fascinated with the origin tales that it doesn't take much to bring them back to mind. And so it was that all of those great yarns came rushing back to my memory when I read Anne E. Reardon's book, The Story of Autumn, and witnessed the creation of new words in a similar fashion.

In this children's story, the focus is on a tree that is unlike any other in the forest. The highfalutin evergreen trees refuse to be friends with her, or even acknowledge her presence, because she's so different from them. Despite her initial sadness, Autumn manages to hold her leaves up, keeping a mostly sunny disposition and making the forest a better home for all.

In our current climate of bullying, I thought this was a wonderful story about staying positive even when not accepted by one's peers. Even though the evergreens wouldn't talk to Autumn, a friendly squirrel named Skippy befriended her and even helped her come up with a name. The situation wasn't ideal, and Autumn continued to wish she had other trees to talk to, but she made the most of what she had. Eventually, Autumn had a lot of animal friends, and the friends would occasionally stand up for her against the evergreens, going so far as to "white out on" - use your imaginations - the unyielding evergreens. Being the gracious tree that she was, she'd admonish her aviary friends and ask them not continue engaging in such behavior.

I loved the way that Ms. Reardon brought life to everyone in the forest. She often wrote about Autumn and the evergreens bending over, using their limbs as arms, and otherwise moving in human ways. She even wrote about how Autumn would sometimes be weighed down by the heavy sap within her. Also, as noted above, there were some words that were given interesting genesis stories, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the animals and Autumn's ingenuity.

The thing I found most creative about The Story of Autumn was Anne's call for young readers to illustrate the book themselves. There were blank pages every few pages with prompts on what to draw or paste into the spaces. For instance, one prompt read, "Draw or paste a picture of your forest floor with flowers and butterflies." I loved how these instructions were designed to bring out the creativity in young minds. One of the readers could very well be a future illustrator of children's books with the seed having been planted from reading this story. I should add that there was one hiccup in that one of the prompts fell right in the middle of a sentence. I tried the file on two different readers, and it appeared that way on both, so it seemed to be a formatting issue.

Sadly, this book needs more work in the editing arena, as it is full of grammatical errors, mostly of the punctuation variety. There are also a few instances of singular words that should have been written in the plural form. Due to these typographical errors, I am forced to give this yarn 3 out of 4 stars. Since this is a tale for the younger set, I strongly urge the author to have this tome professionally edited so that it can meet the high standards for children's books.

Despite the myriad missteps in The Story of Autumn, I am happy to recommend this story to children on the higher end of the recommended age range (6-12) because the book is short, but the pages are full of text and contain complex words. Alternately, parents can read the book to younger children, perhaps turning it into a series of mini-stories, spread out over the course of a week. I also think it would be fun for children to come up with their own ideas on what they want to draw, perhaps in tandem with their parents' ideas, using drawing paper as their canvas. This book would be great for readers of any age who are being bullied as well, as I'm sure there's something to be learned from Autumn's consistent refusal to lower herself to the evergreens' levels, thereby keeping a bad situation from turning into an even worse one.

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The Story Of Autumn
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[Rafaella Michailidou]

I love the plot of this book I think it's something very creative and sweet but at the same time useful for a child to read. The illustration part thought got my attention! I think it's very fresh and it helps children use their imagination and skills. If they correct the errors I'm more than happy to read this with my students. Thank you for your review you've been very helpful!

[Bianka Walter]

I LOVED the Just So stories too! I hope the author sorts out the editing - we can't have enough of these types of books around

[Jessacardinal]

I agree with you. This book seems to be a great tool to be used in this current climate of bullying. I love how the author included a bit of humor in the story because, often times, books can be better companions than friends. Any book that has the ability to stir up positive emotions in a person struggling with such abuse is a great book to have on the shelf!

[kdstrack]

"Autumn manages to hold her leaves up." Beautiful and moving! This seems like a creative story that teaches some important lessons to the target age group. Thanks for an intriguing and interesting review.

[kandscreeley]

I love that this book is interactive! I know when I was a child, I really would have enjoyed that. Plus, it sounds like the book has great themes that are so needed. Too bad about the editing, though. That always brings my enthusiasm down a notch. Thanks.

[Faithmwangi]

It's awesome how this book is a combination of fun and lessons all in one. I am sure many parents together with children will appreciate this read. Thanks for the review.

[Sabena Lemoine]

The story of this book sounds interesting to apply in our life. To teach children the good values on how to be a good person, how to be nice instead of bullying. How to be a positive person if someone down you, despite on it you have still kindness to offer for them when they need help.

[nonamer_miss]

I agree with what you said about bullying and I also like that the author encourages her audince to be creative too bad for a children's book that there are grammatical errors.

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

Sounds like such a beautiful book for young children. The imagery of trees as human is too pretty! I am sure the book conveys the educational aspects very clearly, as well. A pity that the editing part needs to be taken care of. Thanks for the review!

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

In our current climate of bullying, I thought this was a wonderful story about staying positive even when not accepted by one's peers. Even though the evergreens wouldn't talk to Autumn, a friendly squirrel named Skippy befriended her and even helped her come up with a name. The situation wasn't ideal, and Autumn continued to wish she had other trees to talk to, but she made the most of what she had. Eventually, Autumn had a lot of animal friends, and the friends would occasionally stand up for her against the evergreens, going so far as to "white out on" - use your imaginations - the unyielding evergreens. Being the gracious tree that she was, she'd admonish her aviary friends and ask them not continue engaging in such behavior.

Self-acceptance and showing kids a healthy way to deal with bullying is so important in this day and age! I absolutely love the idea and the fact that it encourages kids to let their imagination loose and get creative.
It's quite unfortunate that it has so many mistakes because kids absorb what they read but, hopefully, the author will take your comments into account and make the necessary changes.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience, it enriches the review very much.

[Susmita Biswas]

This reminds about my childhood and the poems and stories I used to read. Thanks for the review.

[Espie]

I am amazed by the trees and what they stand for, love the colours of autumn, believe that bullying should cease to be, and like your review. Thank you for an insightful piece.

[Beatus]

Oooh what a creation! Now I want to be a tree. Lovely an moving indeed. So many lessons can be learned from the story. Very good review too.