This post will provide you with a list of the best books to read aloud with your children this autumn. Here in England the leaves have just started to change colour and fall from the trees. There’s nothing better than getting cosy under a warm blanket and enjoying an autumn book when it’s cold and rainy outside. Celebrate the autumn season with your child by sharing one of these wonderful books.

A lot of these books I have been able to buy secondhand online from either eBay or World of Books. I would also encourage you to have a look in your local library for seasonal children’s books. For convenience though I have included links to buying these books on Amazon.
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Autumn Books for Babies & Toddlers
Autumn by Gerda Muller
Despite not containing any words, this is my favourite autumn book to read / look through with my children. The illustrations are beautiful and show so many cosy autumn activities that really celebrate the season. It’s lovely to look at the pictures and talk about what the children are doing. We make up names for the children and tell funny stories about what they might be thinking. This board book is part of a four part set, as there is one book for each season. Autumn features lots of rainy days wearing wellies, eating apples, collecting conkers, playing in the leaves and making crafts. It is suitable from birth, but my 7 year old daughter also still enjoys this book.

Seasons & Sounds – Listen to Autumn illustrated by Morena Forza
My toddler loves looking through this colourful board book. Each page contains a button for your child to press to hear autumnal sounds such as crunching leaves, the wind blowing and geese migrating. The pictures are lovely and bright and show children outside enjoying nature during the autumn season. Each page contains a short sentence that (sort of) rhymes. This is a four part series, one book for each season, which would make a great gift for a toddler. These board books are suitable from birth.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
This is a ‘Touch and Feel’ board book and a slightly shorter version of the story by Julia Donaldson. This isn’t necessarily a Halloween book, but it does feature a witch, a (slightly scary) dragon and talking animals. The language is nice and repetitive and the different textures on each page make the book nice and tactile. However, due to its fantasy storyline and illustrations, I would say this book is more suitable for children aged at least 3 years old.

Autumn Books for Kids
Out and About – A First Book of Poems by Shirley Hughes
The illustrations in this book are so nostalgic and remind me of how much simpler life was growing up in the 80s and 90s. Shirley Hughes is a fantastic author, I love her books. In this book she has written a few poems that capture the essence of each season through the eyes of a child. I highly recommend this book. Some of the poems require a slightly longer attention span, so I would say this book is suitable from age 4 onwards.

The Story Orchestra – Four Seasons in One Day illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
I love The Story Orchestra book series. These books are a wonderful way to introduce children to classical pieces of music. This story follows a little girl on an adventure through the four seasons. On each page there is a button which plays an excerpt from The Four Seasons violin concerto by Vivaldi. Suitable for children aged 4 and above.

Charlie and Lola – Boo! Made you jump! By Lauren Child
This is a silly and mildy spooky story about a little sister who is trying to scare her older brother. Charlie and Lola was a popular kids TV series years ago, but isn’t shown very often anymore. Charlie and Lola have a very sweet brother and sister relationship and enjoy spending time together and with their friends. This isn’t exactly a Halloween book, but it features kids dressing up as ghosts and a story about a spooky castle. I would say it is more suitable for children aged 4-7 years.

Brambly Hedge Autumn Story by Jill Barklem
These seasonal stories follow a little community of mice that live in adorable miniature homes set within the roots and trunks of the trees of Brambly Hedge. The illustrations are really intricate and beautiful. This book is from my childhood and to be honest I didn’t really remember the stories, but I vividly recall the pictures within these books after spending so much time studying them. This story starts of describing how the mice are collecting fruits to make preserves for the winter ahead, when one of the little mice gets lost. I would say these books are more suitable from age 5 upwards.

Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley
I’ve had this book since I was a little girl and recently I’ve started reading these stories to my 7 year old daughter. This book was written in 1928 and it illustrates how children get so much enjoyment from the simple things in life. Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in the English countryside with her family. She enjoys playing with her friends whilst they embark on some lovely autumnal activities like blackberry picking and going to the village fete. This sweet and innocent book is a timeless classic and I’m so glad that I held on to it for all these years. Suitable for children age 5 and up.

“I must get a big basket and go blackberrying the very next Saturday, so that there can be lots of puddings and jam and tarts and jelly and stewed blackberry-and-apple and fresh blackberies, for Farver and Muvver and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty – and me!” ~ Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
This picture book follows the story of a little girl who goes apple and pumpkin picking with her mum and dad. I like the first part of this book, but the last few pages show children dressed up for Halloween and I’m not a fan of the outfits and masks that they are wearing. There’s one child in a red devil costume, one in a pretty scary alien mask and another in a green faced witch mask. This is a shame as the first 75% of the book is really nice and depicts some lovely autumn scenes. I would therefore say this book is suitable for children age 6 and above.

Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
I have never been able to read this book without crying! It is just the sweetest book. It is literally the lyrics to Dolly Parton’s song, Coat of Many Colors, alongside some beautiful illustrations that just bring the story to life. She tells the story of how her mother lovingly makes her a coat out of pieces of rags that someone had given to them. Dolly is so pleased with her new coat, but when she goes to school wearing it the other children make fun of her. It’s pretty heartbreaking, but also a beautiful story and it’s set in autumn. I love this book. Suitable for ages 6 and above.

“There were rags of many colors, but every piece was small. And I didn’t have a coat, and it was way down in the fall.” ~ Coat of Many Colors
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara
This book is part of the Mr Tiffin’s Classroom series. It’s a nice story based in a classroom where the children are given a project to discover whether there are more seeds inside of larger or smaller pumpkins. It’s good for children who are starting to learn their times tables and has a nice moral to the story too. Suitable for ages 6 and above.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
This story follows a little girl as she takes a walk through a forest and then a town and greets all of the signs of autumn along the way. This is a really lovely book that celebrates the beauty of nature, as the seasons transition from summer to autumn.

Little Goose’s Autumn by Elli Woollard
We recently borrowed this lovely book from our local library and it has been a big hit with both my toddler and my seven year old. It’s the story of a little goose who has the feeling that she should be doing something important once autumn arrives, but she’s not quite sure what that is. She calls upon her fellow animal friends to see what they are busy doing during autumn and eventually she figures out what she needs to do. The illustrations in this book are beautiful and it’s a great way to introduce the topic of migration to children. I highly recommend this book.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this list of autumn inspired books. I plan on adding to this post as I discover more books with my children in the future.
Let me know in the comments below if you have a favourite book to read with your child in autumn and I’ll be sure to check it out!
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For further seasonal book recommendations for children please check out my posts:
Thank you so much for stopping by!


What a lovely article, we just ordered the Lola and Charlie book! 👌😊✨️
Thank you, Diana! So pleased you enjoyed the article. Have fun reading Charlie and Lola with your little ones 🙂
thanks for sharing! We’ve read some of those but not all, will have to add them to our library list 🙂
Thank you so much, Emily! Hope you and your little ones enjoy them 🙂
Such quality reading material. Thanks for these amazing resources, perfect to read to my son!
Thank you so much, Jeanie! Hope you enjoy reading some of these with your son 🙂