In November

Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Rylant explores the beauties of November in this lyrical picture-book celebration of late autumn/early winter in the countryside. From the activities of animals both wild and domestic to the special festival that the humans engage in, all of the important key-notes of the season are covered...

I wasn't expecting to enjoy In November quite as much as I did, but I found Rylant's text immensely evocative. The conclusion - "In November, at winter's gate, the stars are brittle. The sun is a sometime friend. And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, till spring" - strikes just the right note, while the narrative throughout captures the sense of change and excitement in the air at show more this time of year. The artwork by Jill Kastner, done in oil paint, is also lovely, depicting the cozy, quiet joys mentioned in the story. My favorite scene (no surprise, given my love for all things feline) was the one with the pile of cats in the barn! Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books about autumn, Thanksgiving (although not mentioned by name, it is clear that this is the holiday depicted in text and artwork), and the changing of the seasons in a rural setting. show less

This is a short, quiet, visually beautiful picture book, which consists of poetic prose rather than a narrative. Rylant’s focus is on the micro season that occurs just before winter. She notes some of the changes the natural world is undergoing, and she addresses activities in the human world—specifically, American Thanksgiving.

The author’s writing is lovely—her similes and metaphors carefully chosen. Here are a few examples:

“the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets.”

“the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers.”

“In show more November, at winter’s gate, the stars are brittle. The sun is a sometime friend.”

While I admire the work, I admit that I am not overly keen on plotless picture books. Furthermore, as a citizen of the country to the north of the U.S., I feel the book’s content isn’t entirely suitable for a Canadian audience. I’ve seen it recommended as a “mentor text”—a model to be used for students’ descriptive writing. I’ll give it that, but I don’t see it as an essential addition to a classroom or school library. show less

A well-paced book that makes you feel the time slow down in the coldness and quiet of November. You can feel the warmth in the colors and smells of food in November in the illustrations of cherry pie, "an orange smell" and "a squash and a pumpkin smell." You can feel the closeness of a shared family Thanksgiving meal described as, "They travel very far on a special November day just to share a meal with one another and to give thanks for their many blessings." This book has a very rich vocabulary including brittle, tucked, cracking, woodstove, cider, cinnamon, shiver and serious.

Maybe I'm just overwhelmed by Rylant's fantasies of a perfectly wholesome world, but I just don't think this is one of her most valuable works. Not everyone lives in Virginia or Ohio or wherever.

1/13 Huh. I'd forgotten that I didn't much like this book when I was gathering read-aloud books at the library. And interestingly enough, though I still loathed the illustrations, this time Rylant's prose worked for me. I must have been in an especially curmudgeonly mood the first time- or maybe I was going too fast since I wasn't sharing it with anyone. Either way, I retract my earlier review.

7/11 2 stars. I usually adore Rylant's stuff. This is the exception. Part of it is that I loathed the illustrations (A blonde cardinal? Really?) and part of it is that the text was less grounded than I expect from Rylant. It wasn't exactly phoned in, but it wasn't nearly as good as I expected. Give it a miss.

A story that shares the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn. This story shares how nature prepares for the hard upcoming winter in November. It shares several animals preparation for the winter season.

The story plot and illustrations are wonderful and inviting for the young reader. I personally love the detail provided by both the author and illustrator that provides the reader a sense of the autumn season.

This book would be wonderful to share with student who do not experience a major change of seasons like northern states of the northern hemisphere. I love the illustrations of this book as they are captivating and will engage the reader.

I would love to share this book during the autumn season with my students in southeast show more Louisiana to provide them with a sense of the changing of the seasons. This would be a great book to support a science lesson on how animals prepare for the winter season. show less

This wonderful book by Cynthia Rylant does a great job of allowing the reader to feel the warmth and coziness November brings. It contains wonderful examples of personification, metaphors, similes, and other figurative language uses. Students enjoy the pictures and deciphering what the metaphors mean. I highly recommend this book to read as a class and then do writing/art activities based on the book.