Autumn

by Kimberly Fulmer

Table of Contents
Septemember..........................................................5
Seasons.....................................................................8
Seasons
Science of the Seasons
Apples........................................................................14
Apples
Apples, Non-Fiction
Apple Tall Tales and Other Tall Tales Too
Autumnal Equinox.....................................................21
Autumn
Autumnal Equinox
Harvest Moon............................................................27
Harvest Moon
Full Moon
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Moon Phases

October........................................................................33
Squirrels....................................................................36
Squirrels
Squirrels, Non-Fiction
Fall Animal Behavior
Falling Leaves............................................................41
Falling Leaves
Leaves, Non-Fiction
Trees
Trees, Non-Fiction
Spiders.......................................................................48
Spiders
Spiders, Non-Fiction
Halloween..................................................................52
Halloween
Pumpkins
Pumpkin Science and Math

November...................................................................61
Owls............................................................................64
Owls
Owls, Non-Fiction
Nocturnal Animals
Harvest.......................................................................73
Harvest
Corn and Popcorn
Scarecrows
Thanksgiving..............................................................82
Thanksgiving
Gratitude
Native Americans......................................................88
Native American Legends
Native Americans

October
Golden is the garden,
Golden is the glen,
Golden, golden, golden,
October's here again.
Golden are the tree-tops
Golden is the sky,
Golden, golden, golden,
October's here again.
-Traditional

Notes For October

Themes:
Week One____________________________________
Week Two___________________________________
Week Three__________________________________
Week Four___________________________________
Week Five____________________________________

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Notes For October

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Spiders
The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.
And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.
Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider's web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

-E.B. White

Spiders
Be Nice To Spiders
by Margaret Bloy Graham
Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spiders Tale
by Eileen Spinelli
illustrated by Jane Dyer
Anansi the Spider: A Tale From the Ashanti
by Gerald McDermott
1973 Caldecott Honor Book
Aaaarrgghh! Spider!
by Lydia Monks
A Story, a Story
by Gail E. Haley
Caldecott Medal, 1971
Dream Weaver
by Jonathan London
illustrated by Rocco Baviera

Spiders, Non-Fiction
Spiders
by Gail Gibbons
Spinning Spiders
by Melvin Berger
illustrated by S. D. Schindler
A Let's Read and Find Out Book
Are You A Spider?
by Tudor Humphries
illustrated by Judy Allen

Stories:
Little Spider's First Web
A big spider saw a little spider. The little spider was spinning a web. It was her
first web.
The big spider got on his web. And he began to swing.
A fly saw the big spider on his web. He said, "Why do you swing, big spider?"
"I swing because little spider is spinning her first web."
The fly said, "Then I will buzz. I will buzz and buzz."
A bee heard the fly buzz. She said, "Why do you buzz, little fly?"
"I buzz because little spider is spinning her first web."
The bee said, "Then I will hum. I will hum and hum."
A cricket heard the bee hum. He said, "Why do you hum, little bee?"
"I hum because little spider is spinning her first web."
The cricket said, "Then I will chirp. I will chirp and chirp."
An ant heard the cricket chirp. She said, "Why do you chirp, cricket?"
"I chirp because little spider is spinning her first web."
The ant said, "Then I will run to and fro. I will run and run."
A butterfly saw the ant run to and fro. She said, "Why do you run to and fro?"
"I run because little spider is spinning her first web."
The butterfly said, "Then I will fly. I will fly and fly."
A bird saw the butterfly. She said, "Why do you fly, butterfly?"
"I fly because little spider is spinning her first web."
The bird said, "Then I will sing. I will sing and sing. I will make the children
happy."
The children heard the bird sing. They saw the butterfly fly. They saw the ant
run to and fro. They heard the cricket chirp. They heard the bee hum. They heard the
fly buzz, They saw the big spider swing on his web. They saw the little spider spinning
her first web. The children were happy.

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The Story of Arachne

There was once a beautiful little earth-child named Arachne, who was a
wonderful weaver of tapestry. She lived with her father in a far-away forest and she
set her loom out under the trees, that she might match the colors of the birds, the
flowers and the sky.
As her fingers flew in and out among the bright threads, the fairies left their
play under the trees to watch her. The cloth grew wide and long, and Arachne wove
such beautiful pictures upon it that one could almost hear the rustling of the trees
and smell the gay flowers.
"The goddess Minerva, the mother of all the weavers, must help her," cried all
who watched Arachne; but Arachne was a proud child. She tossed her head. "No one
helps me," she cried, "and no one can weave as well as I," she said scornfully.
One day an old woman in a long, dark cloak came through the forest and
stopped by Arachne's loom.
"It is wonderful tapestry," she said, "but you must not expect to excel the
gods, my child."
Proud Arachne laughed scornfully.
"If the goddess Minerva herself were here," she said, "I would show her that
my work is the better."
In a second the long, dark cloak fell from the old woman's shoulders, and
there stood the beautiful goddess Minerva!
"We shall see," she said.
So Arachne and the goddess Minerva began weaving. Minerva wove the
picture of a wonderful palace where everyone was doing a kind deed for someone
else, but through Arachne's cloth there ran a thread of pride and selfishness that
tangled and knotted until it quite spoiled the picture.
Then Arachne threw herself upon her loom and hid her face in the cloth, and
tried to choke herself with the threads because she was angry to see that any one
could weave better than she. But the goddess Minerva touched her upon her
forehead, and Arachne began to shrivel, and twist about the threads in her loom,
until she changed to a spiderthe mother of all the spiders, who must spin and spin
from morning till night! And that is how the spider came to weave such a wonderful
web.

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