Perfect for the reading season of autumn! Recommended picture books that will captivate elementary school children
Acorns are falling, and a pleasant breeze is blowing.
The season that makes our hearts race with the sights of autumn has arrived.
How about enjoying the changing season with elementary school children through picture books about autumn nature, moon viewing, and fallen leaves? Here, we introduce picture books perfect for both reading season and art season, where you can feel the autumn scenery through delicate illustrations and heartwarming stories.
These picture books are also ideal for read-aloud time, letting you relax and enjoy the beauty of autumn nature.
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Perfect for the reading season! Recommended picture books (21–30) that elementary school kids will love
fallen leaves
A book that warms the heart like a gentle autumn breeze.
Through a single leaf fluttering down from a tree, it quietly portrays the cycle of life, farewells, and new beginnings.
The illustrations are soft and warm, and even with few words, deep feelings come through.
It’s a picture book that gives children a chance to think about nature and life while sensing the changing seasons.
After reading, you’re left with a tender afterglow that makes you want to look up at the sky with your child or pick up fallen leaves together.
It also makes a wonderful gift for children.
Good night in the bed of fallen leaves.
In the autumn forest, fallen leaves rustle softly…
It’s time for the animals to say good night.
The squirrels, the foxes—everyone finds their own cozy nest and drifts off to sleep.
This picture book portrays a quiet night in the woods with warm illustrations and gentle words.
As you read, it feels as if you’re quietly walking through the forest.
With every page you turn, children naturally feel calm and you’ll want to snuggle close and say, “It’s just about bedtime, isn’t it?” It’s a perfect book for those moments when you want to give your child a tight good-night hug.
Snug Hugs Shichi-Go-San
A picture book filled with a father’s love, Hug-Tight Shichi-Go-San, is perfect for celebrating the Shichi-Go-San festival.
It portrays a five-member family with three siblings going to their shrine visit.
While it’s not a work that delves deeply into the customs of the event, it entertainingly captures the realistic behavior of children experiencing Shichi-Go-San and the father’s responses to them.
Scenes of harvesting rice and hanging persimmons vividly convey the change of seasons.
If you’re looking for a fun Shichi-Go-San picture book, this is a great choice.
Kuroneko Kuro’s Halloween Party
Let me introduce a charming book that depicts a Halloween party for cats.
On Halloween, the costumed cats go around knocking on doors of various houses.
They say “Trick or treat” to get sweets, and at the party they dance.
The fun continues, but when they accidentally knock a pumpkin off the table, chaos erupts.
To their surprise, the angry pumpkin summons a witch! Beyond the entertaining story, the many cats with their different patterns—and even their expressions—are rendered with such delicacy that each page feels as satisfying as viewing a painting.
On a night when snow falls silently
On a winter night, the fox protagonist walks through a snowy forest, meeting all kinds of creatures along the way: a woodpecker tapping out telegrams, a rabbit practicing how to escape from a fox…
There are bears, owls, and many more forest animals in this picture book.
The animals you encounter in the quiet snowy landscape feel somehow different from usual.
This is a book that lets you notice the mysterious charm of the winter forest—something we don’t often think about.
It’s perfect for reading aloud, so please enjoy it on a snowy night.
Elephant’s Letter
The protagonist of this story is a young elephant living in a zoo.
One day, he receives a letter from a human boy and has the zookeeper read it to him.
He wants to write a letter back, but he can’t write.
So, to send a reply to the boy, he begins practicing his letters.
The excitement of waiting for a letter and his determination to put his feelings into words will surely make children want to write letters too.
It’s a charming and lovely book that also teaches the importance of effort and the value of not giving up.
My dear friend
This is a lovely story about the friendship between Toto the hedgehog and Rabi the field rabbit.
As the weather turns colder, Toto takes out the scarf he got from Rabi.
Hoping to fluff it up before using it, he leaves it out in the sunshine—only to find it has disappeared before he knows it.
You can’t help but feel a flutter of suspense as Toto talks with Rabi without being able to bring up the missing scarf, and as he searches high and low for it.
It’s also a book where you can enjoy autumnal scenes, like yellow leaves and squirrels nibbling on acorns.
What are the animals’ autumn delights?
When autumn comes, a cool breeze blows, the trees change color, and delicious harvests abound everywhere.
In the midst of it all, animals vividly savor their “autumn delights.” That world unfolds in this picture book.
A crow circles through the clear sky, a raccoon mother gently strokes her baby, and bears enjoy a feast together—“chomp chomp, munch munch.” Read it to a child, and they’ll feel, “Oh, autumn is fun!” It’s a warm and gentle picture book.
This single volume is filled with the wish to give the gift of “time to feel the seasons together.” Please be sure to place it in a child’s hands.
Acorn Roly-Poly Bug
This is a delightful tale about cute little bugs who live inside a tiny acorn and go on fun adventures.
The picture book is filled with scenes of colorful insects playing inside a tumbling acorn and kindly helping their friends.
With gentle words and warm illustrations, even very young children can slip right into the world of the story.
It’s a heartwarming book that will bring smiles to both children and adults when read aloud.
It also nurtures curiosity about nature and small creatures, making it a great choice for a first picture book.
Acorn, acorn
This is a story about a mother squirrel who goes out to gather acorns.
With a basket on her back, she heads into the forest and, as she finds acorns, she counts them and puts them in the basket.
There are a few mishaps along the way—she even takes a tumble—but she makes sure to bring back one acorn for each of her four children.
It’s a cute tale that lets you enjoy the changing autumn scenery while appreciating the season’s bounty.
A lovely episode might be born of this—like a child who went acorn gathering coming home with a little souvenir.