The Autumn Visitors

by Karel Hayes

In this fourth and final book in Karel Hayes's acclaimed Visitors series, the beloved family of bears gets in another round of adventures as they experience the full enjoyment of a New England autumn. First up the country fair--the bears sneak onto the midway after hours to play the games and be thrilled by the rides. Next comes Halloween, for which the bears all cleverly disguise themselves to gather a load of trick-or-treat candy. And finally there's a big Thanksgiving feast for all the friends of the forest. As always, the bears manage to have all their fun while carefully avoiding detection.

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Childrens, Nature, Holiday, Juvenile, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations, but the actual story felt like it meandered without much of a plot.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is nothing special, but the illustrations are delightful.

[Aune Sofia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but it was SO CHOPPY! If you are going to be a wordless book, then BE a wordless book. Don’t just put one word for a page just so you can expand the page length. Also, I had NO clue what was happening! Like, are the bears the owners of the cottage, and the humans are renting it for the weekend? Or are the bears thinking it would be nice to move in after the humans left? What is going on?!

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little autumn story about bears who share a cabin by the lake with unknowing humans! I like this story. I think the kiddos will, too. All the fall favorites are celebrated by the humans and bears- fall festivals, Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! I love the illustrations- so cute and detailed!

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked this one more than The Summer Visitors... not sure if that was a fall vs. summer thing, but I think the content was just better. It was also slightly better for storytime. Still love the illustrations and the story, but it's still not really great for a large group for storytime. The sentences drag across multiple pages, with far too many pictures in between.

[Set · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are very nice, the story is unmemorable. Also, it's a matter of opinion whether Halloween is the most fun holiday of fall. The back and forth between the bears and the people is a bit confusing.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many holiday mentions throughout this book which read more like a homage and tribute to the seasons, country living, festivals, and yumminess!

Kiddos will enjoy the fun illustrations of the bear family exploits alongside the human family ;)

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

I adored the illustrations but wasn't too impressed with the writing style or flow of the story.

Ages: 3-7

Cleanliness: Does have two full page spreads for Halloween.

#columbusday #halloween #thanksgiving

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not only was this stupid, but it was snobby in a way. Who can afford to own a cottage in the mountains just to visit one weekend per year?

But mostly, it was just stupid.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so. Very little text. Large illustrations but baby has no context yet. He doesn’t know about holiday, fairs, etc. He weren’t interested in the pictures.

[Meredith]

3 1/2 stars
Pictures create a lot of options to talk about what you see.

[The Transmuted Tree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red 3rd

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bear family are still finding ways to enjoy themselves and share with their friends as they enjoy the comforts of an empty cottage during the festive holiday times. A gentle story.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate it when I don’t love a book because I know that so much work went into every aspect of it. However, this was a strange little story for me.

[Christine Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for my Family Storytime and the children adored it!

This is a great book to encourage the use of vocabulary and encourages an open discussion; Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the State Fair are themes covered.

I don't think that this book would work well for a large storytime group, but it's a must read for one-on-one or small storytime groups.

Summary
In this fourth and final book in Karel Hayes's acclaimed Visitors series, the beloved family of bears gets in another round of adventures as they experience the full enjoyment of a New England autumn. First up the country fair--the bears sneak onto the midway after hours to play the games and be thrilled by the rides. Next comes Halloween, for which the bears all cleverly disguise themselves to gather a load of trick-or-treat candy. And finally there's a big Thanksgiving feast for all the friends of the forest. As always, the bears manage to have all their fun while carefully avoiding detection.

Notes
Watercolor artist and illustrator Karel Hayes has participated in solo, juried, and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States. Her paintings have been shown at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, the Fine Arts Center in Taos, New Mexico, and in New York City at the Salmagundi Club, the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, and the National Arts Club. Her drawings have appeared in several magazines and she has illustrated more than ten books, including Time for the Fair, The Winter Visitors, and Who's Been Here? A Tale in Tracks. She lives with her husband in Center Harbor, New Hampshire.

Subject: Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the State Fair.
Fall Holidays -- Juvenile fiction.
Autumn -- Juvenile fiction.
Bears -- Juvenile fiction.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

We picked this book up at the library because I wanted to snag some fall/Halloween books before they were all gone! This book would be perfect for a beginning reader. As a bedtime book for my daughter, it was a little too easy. There were only a few words on each page - at most a sentence. We would linger looking at the pictures a little longer than we would with a wordier book, but really the book was finished much too quickly.

My daughter did enjoy the pictures. She loved watching what the bears would do. The story told within the pictures was nice though. I like that the illustrations actually gave us more of the story than the words did. However, since I have a two year old, she is much too young to really grasp the story in the pictures. I tried to point things out like the bears crashing the fair when it closed and the turkeys sitting at the table (rather than cooked on the table like you expected). But it went over her head.

So I think this book would be better for older preschoolers and K-1st graders who are learning to read and can also look at the pictures to see what is being told through them as well. It's a neat concept, just not quite right for my 2 year old at bedtime. We'll probably revisit this one in a few years.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure whether I've read any of the other books in this series, but I liked this one. The illustrations are adorable - not too over-the-top, not too minimalistic. Juuuust right, to quote another bear story. :-p
I liked the story, too - the logistics of trick or treating was adorable, and I was glad for the last-page turkey fakeout. (How does the food chain work in stories where animals are sapient, anyway??)

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Halloween & thanksgiving

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful!!!

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this parallel story, a family and a family of bears enjoys all the fall and the countryside have to offer.