There is nothing like these first crisp days of fall! With summer far behind us, we’re now in the thick of brisk mornings, rainy afternoons and my favorite - sweater weather. Many people love summer in Chicago, but I love to watch the leaves change colors and the lake become a little wilder as we inch toward winter.

There’s something about these cozy days that beckons readers of all ages to grab a cup of hot chocolate, crawl under a soft blanket (with a cat, if you can convince one) and snuggle up in with a good book. Here are some suggestions of cozy reads for kids of all ages.

A lonely scarecrow makes the unlikeliest of friends and finds that true friendship is forever. This heartwarming story of The Scarecrow will challenge the scary reputation of scarecrows everywhere – and possibly even bring a tear to readers’ eyes.

For the young reader with burning questions about what happens to animals when it turns cold, this one is for you. Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate? Do polar bears build homes? Do squirrels curl up under blankets? Do monkeys take hot baths to keep warm? You might think you know the answers to these questions, but you might find some surprises hidden in these pages, too!

If you’re someone who likes to help in the kitchen, A Fall Treasury of Recipes, Crafts, and Wisdom is sure to be a good fit! There are all kinds of great recipes for fall cooking/baking like apple chips and pumpkin muffins. Or if you prefer doing crafts when it turns colder like making your own seed packets or gratitude trees, this book will fit you like your favorite fuzzy socks.

Eating apples is delicious, but being able to pick your own before you eat them makes them taste so much better! Join this family on Apple Picking Day as they travel to an orchard and pick apples and eat cider and donuts, too. Rhyming text with short sentences on each page makes this title very accessible for early readers.

Join Poppleton in Fall for three charming chapters that embrace the coziness of fall and friendship. Early readers will be aided by lots of repetition in these short vignettes with this delightful pig and a few of his friends. 

Mona the Mouse stumbles upon the Heartwood Hotel after a storm washed out her home. Thankfully, the owners offer her a place to live in exchange for working there, thus beginning her adventures with suspicious skunks, weeping warblers and short-tempered squirrels. Heartwood Hotel: A True Home is a cozy tale that makes an excellent family read aloud or a great choice for those just starting to enjoy chapter books independently.

Do you have a favorite cozy read? Let us know in the comments.

If you watched every episode of Extraordinary Attorney Woo, a K-drama featuring Park Eun-bin as Attorney Woo Young-woo, and can't possibly wait until 2024 for season 2, fear not! We’ve got you. Attorney Woo is a brand new trial lawyer living in Seoul who has autism, is obsessed with whales and can't help but to endear herself to everyone. There are many different reading paths that one can follow to prolong this heart-warming series. Here are some titles I suggest.

Let an actual Korean American trial lawyer teach you how to make Woo Young-woo's favorite food - kimbap! In The Korean Vegan Cookbook, Molinaro, a fellow Chicagoan, shares short vignettes at the beginning of each recipe, explaining its importance to her or sharing a memory that she has about it. She also notes the difficulty level and allergens for each recipe, which is surely appreciated by those new to cooking Korean food.

Miracle Creek, a debut novel by Angie Kim, will prolong those gripping courtroom scenes for Woo fans. Kim, a trial lawyer, writes realistic courtroom scenes that keep readers on the edge of their seats. Readers will be in suspense as they try figure out who committed the story’s central atrocity, an explosion that killed one child and one parent during a session in a pressurized oxygen tank used for medical therapy.

If you share Young-woo's fascination with whales, Secrets of the Whales is both an informational book and a photographic escape. Based on the National Geographic series of the same name, Brian Skerry's book dives into facts about five different types of whales (as well as dolphins) and showcases his stunning photography of these graceful giants. Readers will be filled with awe for these cetaceans.

Romance lovers, I have not forgotten you! In The Kiss Quotient, Stella Lane understands algorithms as if they were her first language; it's romance that's the complicated equation in her life. When she decides to undertake a methodical exploration of French kissing, it leads her down a very unexpected path. This title (along with the others in Helen Hoang’s trilogy) features Vietnamese characters with autism spectrum disorder who experience falling in love in unique ways, just as Young-woo does.

Heart and Seoul continues the romance thread, but keeps Woo watchers set in Korea. Hara Wilson leaves small-town America for Seoul to discover more about her birth parents and birth culture, thus setting off a series of K-drama-worthy events. This, and Jen Frederick’s companion book Seoulmates, will help romance fans live in Woo's world just a stretch longer.

Do you have a favorite K-drama or Woo-related book? Let us know in the comments!

The arrival of spring is always a mystery in Chicago. Will it come? Will it stay? When can we put our snow boots away?

Whether it’s a beautiful, warm day, or another cold and blustery one, there are always books about the spring that can be far more reliable than the actual season is.

A Spring Stroll in the City takes young readers on a little walk through a city and counts various signs of spring along the way. Shamrocks, matzo, bunnies and sombreros are some of the objects readers can count on their stroll.

In the most recent in his seasonal series, Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring, Kenard Pak starts readers in the depths of a winter night: snow falling, animals hibernating, birds’ nests empty. But soon, there is more light, green shoots in a greenhouse and animals awakening as readers greet the new season.

Older readers will appreciate this fresh approach to analyzing spring in Snowman - Cold = Puddle. As Laura Purdie Salas states at the beginning, “science + poetry = surprise!” Readers get a taste of math, science and poetry while learning about the natural world and how it changes with the budding season.

For the kiddo who needs to release a bit of energy, A Spring Treasury of Recipes, Crafts, and Wisdom offers a variety of ways to do that both inside and outside the house. Kids can make edible flower cookies, press flowers and brew sweet violet syrup. Angela Ferraro-Fanning shows readers that there are many opportunities for exploring the natural world in creative ways.

What are you favorite things about spring? Let us know in the comments.

Growing up in Wyoming will prepare you for some serious wind! The Windy City has nothing on Wyoming’s frequent 60+ mph gusts. There were even some recently recorded winds of 118 mph – that’s the speed of a category 3 hurricane!

But there are other remarkable features in Wyoming besides rapidly blowing air. Yellowstone, our nation’s first national park is in Wyoming. Yellowstone turns 150 years old in March 2022. There’s so much to celebrate about this natural wonder. Built on a volcano, this two-million-acre park is bursting with hot geysers, unique wildlife and geology like you’ve never seen before. No matter the season, Yellowstone is worth the visit. Whether you’re visiting the park in person or experiencing its mystery through its live webcams, these books can help you get into the mood for your trip.

Did you know that each level of wind leading up to a storm has a numbered category? Experience a storm from calm to breezy to windy to gales, then back down to calm again in this story-in-verse, Hear the Wind Blow.

Learn about the volcano that formed Yellowstone, as well as some of the wildlife that lives there today in Volcano Dreams. This is a great introduction for younger readers to the wonders of the park and how it came to be.

Whether you’re the die-hard outdoorsy type or reluctant to leave the city, Survive in the Outdoors! has everything you need to know in graphic novel form. From making your own compass, to catching and eating a fish, to the all-important going to the bathroom in the woods, you'll be ready to head outside.

Finally, if you're not a fan of being outdoors – this is your book! The Not-so Great Outdoors is for the reluctant camper in your life. Go on this adventure with a (somewhat grumpy) child and family and watch as the child slowly adjusts from city life to the outdoors.

Have you ever thought your neighborhood buildings needed a little pizzazz? Maybe something beautiful to spice it up? Many artists and communities decided to make their own dull neighborhoods come to life through a mural! When a canvas just isn’t big enough, a large blank wall on the side of a building is the perfect place to create a painting that reflects your own community and makes it more beautiful, too.

If you painted a mural in your community, what would you paint? Are there any blank walls that are perfect for your mural? If you want some inspiration, try these books:

When a boy in Hey, Wall sees a perfect blank “canvas” in his neighborhood in a wall that is the size of an entire block, he knows exactly what he wants to happen. But can he find others to help make his larger-than-life idea come alive?

Diego Rivera was an artist who lived around a hundred years ago. Although he started his career by painting classical (or realistic) paintings on canvas, he eventually started painting the history of the Mexican people on murals all over Mexico City. If he were alive now, how might he paint the history happening today?

Surrounded by a grey world, Mira is determined to spread color through her art. When she meets a muralist, she discovers exactly how much color – and joy! – they can spread together in Maybe Something Beautiful! (Based on a true story.)

Pond water isn’t terribly exciting…until you see it under a microscope!

A dandelion isn't very big...unless you're an ant! 

Sometimes, all it takes is a shift in perspective, or how you look at something, to make you see something in an entirely new way. At the library you may hear my “teacher voice,” but you might be surprised to know as a kid I was very shy! Looking at something from a different angle, learning how something is made or finding out more about someone’s life can shift your point-of-view entirely. 

For some books that might help you change your own point-of-view, check out these titles:

In Inside Outside, a person is floating on a raft and making a fire - then readers then realize the person is actually inside a whale! These scenes of inside/outside perspectives will both surprise and delight.

Chin-ho Chôn's Look Up! tells the story of a girl in a wheelchair who tries to get the attention of folks down below to see her up above on her balcony. 

Enjoy an astronaut’s-eye view of the world through satellite images of Earth in Benjamin Grant's Overview.

Have you ever wondered how jelly gets into a doughnut, or what the inside of a race car looks like? Get a fascinating look at how things are built in Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-sections of Everything.

A giraffe seems tall compared to an 8-year-old, but what about compared to a redwood tree? Find out Your Place in the Universe with this book that can turn your view of the universe upside down.