HAPPY FRIENDSGIVING!

 Every day, in every way, I try to pause to be thankful. Sometimes it relates to a specific gratitude. Sometimes I simply note that opening line from e e cummings:

"Thank you god

for most this amazing day

for leaping greenly spirits of trees

for a blue true dream of a sky

for all that is natural

all that is infinite

all that is 

YES"

Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2025

With that in mind, HAPPY FRIENDSGIVING is a delightful book to share on Thanksgiving, in NewYork City, with a wide-ranging group of friends pouring into a joyful space from corners far and wide. Or anywhere! Written by Marcie  Colleen and illustrated by Laura Sandoval Herrera, this lovely depiction of a familiar event extends far beyond  formulaic. There are other countries that designate dates for official giving of thanks. Even so, here in the good old USofA, we seem to have staked a claim on what a THANKSGIVING DAY should look like. 

In fact, this artful and appealing approach blends  many iconic situations and images that you might expect. HAPPY FRIENDSGIVING lifts its story from that familiar platform to expand in specifics (diversity on many levels) as well as concepts (traveling, gathering, preparing, and more, but without labels of time, place, recipes) allowing folks in many locations and from many traditions to see themselves in this work and in such a joyous gathering. 

The illustrations are warmly colorful and convey genuine emotions without inserting features that clearly identify or label those involved. The range of activities, emotions, events, and experiences open the pages to every eye and hand. 

For some other recommended books on this topic, check posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The most important idea I took from this (and some of the prior posts) is that the name of the holiday matters little, whether THANKSGIVING, FRIENDSGIVING, HARVEST DAY, or INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY, whether your gathering has a parade outside the window or a farm field or a dirt track, what matters is drawing together, sharing, caring, and extending ourselves to others with welcome and respect. 

Now that's a reason for gratitude. 

A Fall Ball for ALL: Nature Throws a Party in Wisconsin

Yesterday morning I pulled out of my driveway and nearly every tree in my yard was leafy green. When I returned in the evening I found half (or more) of those leaves were sporting glorious fall golds, oranges, and reds. It's no surprise that so many people who live in temperate climates list Fall as our favorite season. Adjectives (and even camera lenses) can't do justice to the spectacle nature provides at this time of year. The sudden color adds to my recognition that a single windy night could- WHOOOOMP -snatch that overhead brilliance from the sunlight above and cover the ground with a carpet of leaves. 

MIllbrook Press, 2018

There are times, like yesterday, when Mother Nature's hand feels very deliberate, intentional.
Jamie A. Swenson's latest picture book, A FALL BALL FOR ALL, captures that sense of intention by giving a personified voice to The Wind.
While I felt Autumn's painterly hand in yesterday's sudden transformation of color, Swenson's book gives life to the wind with this beckoning message:
"Once upon a golden day,/Autumn Wind blew in to play,/ Whooshing leaves into the air--/ Orange, brown, purple, everywhere!"

With that irresistible opening, the stage is set in a Wisconsin woodland  (a location Swenson confirms in the author note back pages). 
The animals welcome the news, delaying migration and hibernation in order to participate. The Windfall Ball is coming!

While Swenson's rhyming text swirls from page to page, rich with delightful descriptions and figurative language, illustrator Chiara Fedele's double-page spreads saturate the scenes with movement, revealing growing enthusiasm among the guests, and conveying expressive wildlife postures and features. 

Swenson's text utilizes both familiar and expansive vocabulary, with a lilt:

"Gusts and gales and tempest forces/ set a fete with seven courses:/

Cranberries, chestnuts, corn and plums,/ Sunflowers, daisies, chrysanthemums."

On the spread with this text the listed elements are pictured, along with pumpkins so robust they make the page look heavy, magnificent mushrooms, late season daisies, and more. On each page I was seeking out faces, tails, and beaks- and any other signs that the complex mix of residents of the woods might be tucked among the dense visual images, anticipating a celebration on each pre-ball day.

There is a brief note about the TWO meanings of windfall on back pages:

The actual fruit and other crops blown to the ground by the wind, 
and 

An unexpected gift or good fortune.

That note called to mind the many years when I lived on large acreage in a rural area. The land included an overgrown orchard. Windfall fruits attracted countless furry and feathered wildlife to the area. As critters are together in the dark they occasionally generated quite a bit of noise.  Upon hearing it, I would hope that their disagreements would end with no one harmed. Now I realize it may have been rousing windfall parties like the one we are privileged to attend in A FALL BALL FOR ALL.