Fall is one of my favorite times of year for classroom read-alouds. Between pumpkins, changing leaves, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, there are so many books that elementary students get excited about reading.
But seasonal read-alouds can be more than just fun!
Some of my favorite fall picture books also provide wonderful opportunities to talk about kindness, perseverance, courage, gratitude, friendship, empathy, and other important character traits.
If you're looking for fall books that are both engaging and meaningful, here are some great read-alouds to add to your elementary classroom this season.
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
🎃 The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin
Character Trait: Being Yourself & Acceptance
Spookley isn't like the other pumpkins in the patch—he's square!
This sweet fall story opens the door for conversations about accepting differences, being yourself, and recognizing that the things that make us different can also make us special.
After reading, ask students:
What makes Spookley different? How does the way the other pumpkins see him change throughout the story?
This is a great October read-aloud for discussing acceptance, inclusion, and kindness.
🍁 The Leaf Thief
Character Trait: Flexibility
Squirrel is very concerned when the leaves on his tree begin disappearing. Of course, readers eventually discover that nothing is actually stealing them—the seasons are simply changing!
The Leaf Thief is a fun way to talk about how we react when something unexpected happens.
Students can discuss how Squirrel handles change and what he could do when something is outside of his control.
Character connection: Sometimes things change, and we have to learn how to adjust.
🎃 The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky
Character Trait: Kindness
The Bad Seed is ready for Halloween, but there's one problem: he can't find the perfect costume.
As his frustration grows, he has to make choices about how he's going to treat the people around him.
This makes a fun Halloween read-aloud for talking about kindness, attitude, and how our feelings can influence our actions.
Ask students:
Can you feel disappointed or frustrated and still choose to be kind?
👻 Creepy Carrots!
Character Trait: Courage
Jasper Rabbit LOVES carrots—especially the carrots growing in Crackenhopper Field.
But then he starts thinking those carrots are following him.
Creepy Carrots! is always a fun October read-aloud, but underneath all the spooky silliness is an opportunity to talk about fear and courage.
Students can discuss whether Jasper's fears are reasonable, how fear affects his choices, and what it means to be courageous when something scares us.
🧹 Room on the Broom
Character Trait: Kindness & Friendship
As the witch travels on her broom, she continues making room for new friends who help her along the way.
It's a fun Halloween story with a wonderful underlying message about kindness, friendship, inclusion, and helping others.
After reading, have students think about how small acts of kindness eventually make a big difference for the witch.
Discussion question: How did the witch's kindness come back to help her later in the story?
🍂 Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
Character Trait: Acceptance
Fletcher becomes worried as the leaves begin falling from his favorite tree.
He tries desperately to protect them, but eventually he learns that the changing tree is simply part of nature.
This beautiful fall picture book lends itself perfectly to conversations about change, acceptance, and letting go of things we cannot control.
It's also a wonderful book to pair with a science lesson about seasonal changes.
🦃 Turkey Trouble
Character Trait: Perseverance & Problem Solving
Turkey knows Thanksgiving is approaching, and he does NOT want to become dinner!
His solution?
Disguises.
Lots and lots of disguises.
As each idea fails, Turkey keeps trying until he eventually comes up with a solution.
Beyond being a hilarious Thanksgiving read-aloud, Turkey Trouble provides a great example of perseverance, creativity, and problem solving.
Ask students:
What does Turkey do when one of his ideas doesn't work?
It's an easy connection to the idea that successful problem solvers don't necessarily get things right on their first try.
🥧 How to Catch a Turkey
Character Trait: Perseverance & Teamwork
A turkey is loose in the school right before the Thanksgiving play, and everyone is trying to catch it!
This silly seasonal story is perfect for discussing perseverance, teamwork, and problem solving.
It can also lead into a fun STEM challenge or writing activity where students design their own plan for catching the turkey.
🦃 The Thankful Book
Character Trait: Gratitude
Fall is a natural time to focus on gratitude, and The Thankful Book provides a simple way to begin that conversation with elementary students.
After reading, students can brainstorm things they're grateful for—from important people in their lives to small everyday moments they sometimes overlook.
Turn it into a class activity by creating a gratitude wall where students add something they're thankful for each day throughout November.
🍁 We’re All Wonders
Character Trait: Empathy & Kindness
While We're All Wonders isn't specifically a fall book, it fits beautifully into a fall classroom community or kindness unit.
The story introduces younger readers to Auggie and encourages them to think about how their words and actions affect others.
It's an excellent read-aloud for discussing empathy, kindness, acceptance, and choosing how we treat people who may be different from us.
Ask students: What does it mean to choose kind?
Turn Your Fall Read-Aloud Into a Character Lesson 🍂
One of the things I love most about using picture books to teach character traits is that the lesson doesn't have to be complicated.
After your read-aloud, choose one character trait and ask students to find evidence from the story showing that trait in action.
For example:
Kindness: What did the character say or do that was kind?
Perseverance: When did the character want to give up? What did they do instead?
Courage: What was the character afraid of? How did they respond?
Empathy: How did the character think about someone else's feelings?
Gratitude: What did the character appreciate?
Acceptance: What did the character learn about themselves or someone else?
You can even create a class Fall Character Traits anchor chart and add characters to it as you read new books throughout the season.
By the end of fall, students will have a collection of familiar book characters they can reference when talking about what these traits look like in real life.
Building Character One Read-Aloud at a Time 📚🍁
Seasonal books are always exciting for students, but choosing stories with meaningful messages gives us an opportunity to sneak a little more purpose into those fun fall read-alouds.
Whether you're talking about Spookley's acceptance, Turkey's perseverance, the witch's kindness, or Jasper's courage, students get to see positive character traits demonstrated through characters and stories they'll remember.
And those conversations can extend far beyond the read-aloud.
The next time a student is struggling with something difficult, working through a disagreement with a friend, or dealing with an unexpected change, you can bring them right back to the characters you've met together throughout the fall.
Sometimes a favorite story is exactly what students need to understand a big idea. 🍂❤️
Add comment
Comments