Autumn is Calling

It is a crisp fall day in Appalachia and Katie is learning about the season of fall as she and her mother walk to the local Autumn Festival. She sees squirrels and other animals putting away food for the cold winter months and compares it to the canning of fruits and vegetables that she and her mother did the day before.

At the Autumn Festival, she experiences Appalachian music while admiring the beautiful fall mums and pumpkins. Katie sees and learns about many other traditional Appalachian customs, like making apple butter, quilting, folk toys, and pumpkin patches. The fun illustrations make this a book for the entire family as they go with Katie on an autumn adventure!

Jan Thornton Jones

Katerina Boyer Case is from Salem, West Virginia, where she studied graphic arts and AP Art for three years consecutively with a short gap before continuing her art education at Fairmont State University. She enjoys doing small illustrations and portraits and was honored by the West Virginia Art Education Association with a 2021 Youth Art Month Award. She has also designed the poster for the Italian Heritage Festival in both 2019 and 2021. Autumn is Calling is Katerina’s first book as an illustrator.

Autumn is Calling

Award-winning author Jan Thornton Jones graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Communication Studies, and another Master’s in Early Intervention Special Education. Jan spent many years as an early childhood teacher and is now enjoying retirement with her husband, Don. She is the author of three multi-award-winning books, The Angel In City Park, Last Letter To Gettysburg, and Why Me? Jan is a Zoom Into Books author and loves to make school visits. She was a featured author at the 2022 American Library Association (ALA) National Conference in Washington, D.C. Jan lives in New Martinsville, WV, where she is a pianist, vocalist, and Director of Music and Worship for her local church. For more information visit www.JanJonesBooks.com.

Jan Thornton Jones

illustrated by

Katerina Boyer Case

Jan Thornton Jones illustrated by Katerina Boyer Case

Autumn Is Calling

by Jan Thornton Jones illustrated by Katerina Boyer Case ©2024 Jan Thornton Jones All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books, Inc. To order additional copies of this book or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Books, Inc. P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.headlinebooks.com mybook@headlinebooks.com Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books, Inc. ISBN: 9781958914441 Library of Congress Control Number: 2024941430

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A

To Dallas and Sadie, “You are the apple of my eye!”

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“Wake up, Katie,” said Mother. “Leaves are falling and Autumn is calling!”

Katie opened her sleepy eyes and mumbled, “Who’s calling?”

“It’s just an old saying,” Mother said. “It means the season of autumn with its cooler air and falling leaves has arrived! Now get dressed because we are going to the Harvest Festival!”

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Mother helped Katie get dressed in a sweater and her favorite old blue jeans. As they pulled woolen socks over her cold toes, the smell of applesauce drifted throughout the house and tempted Katie to hurry down for breakfast.

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Yesterday, she helped Mother peel dozens of apples. They put the apples in big pots on the stove and added lots of sugar and brown cinnamon. The applesauce cooked in the big pot all day and filled the entire house with a wonderful aroma. This morning, Katie was going to eat applesauce for breakfast, along with her warm oatmeal.

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After breakfast, Katie stepped out onto the big porch that spread across the front of the house. The smell of wood smoke from a neighbor’s chimney tickled her nose. Katie heard the kitchen door shut and turned to see Mother joining her. “What a beautiful day for an adventure,” Mother said as she breathed in the crisp autumn air.

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Mother and Katie began the short walk to the Harvest Festival which was being held in the Town Square. As they walked down the shaded street, Mother pointed out the changing colors of the trees. Most of the leaves had already turned to beautiful shades of orange, red, and gold.

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A small gray squirrel hurried up a tree and ran through its branches. As he chattered down at Katie and her mother, an acorn fell by their feet. “What is he doing, Mother?”

“He is busy preparing for winter,” replied Mother. “The squirrel knows that colder weather will soon be here, and he must have plenty of food to see him through the wintry days ahead.”

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Strolling on, Mother explained autumn is the time of the year between the playful, warm days of summer and the snowy, chilly days of winter. Like the squirrel, farmers must gather their crops before the coming of winter. Then, the fruits and vegetables can be stored away or canned in jars for later use.

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As Katie neared the Town Square, she saw a large wagon filled with hay. Sitting on the floor of the wagon, tapping out the beat with his foot, was an old man playing a fiddle. Sitting next to him was a younger man who was playing along on a banjo. Surrounding the wagon were big pots of beautiful flowers called Mums. The flowers were shades of orange, red, and yellow. Just like the autumn leaves they walked past on their way to the Harvest Festival. A crowd of people stood watching, clapping their hands, and singing along to the tune that the fiddler played.

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Katie’s attention was pulled away from the music and the crowd by a wonderful smell. They followed the scent to where a woman was cooking apple butter in a large kettle over a fire. She wore a pretty apron over a long woolen dress. Covering her white hair was an old-fashioned bonnet. The woman asked them if they would like to taste the apple butter. “If you like it, Katie, we’ll take a jar of apple butter home with us,” Mother said. The lady spread some on a thick chunk of bread and gave each a bite of the warm, sweet treat.

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As Katie held the warm jar of apple butter in her hands, Mother led her past baskets of red and yellow apples to a huge tent. Inside the tent were hung large, colorful patchwork quilts. “Some of these quilts were made a long time ago and are very valuable,” Mother explained. “A quilt is a special blanket. It is made of hundreds of small pieces of cloth that are sewn together to make a large picture—like a puzzle. Making a quilt is so much work that groups of ladies often gather to make the work go faster—and more fun, too. This is called a Quilting Bee.”

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Katie and her mother walked by tables filled with jars of honey and jelly. She saw small wooden toys and dolls made from the husks of corn. Mother bought each of them a steaming bowl of soup for lunch. They sat and ate while listening to the sounds of the distant music.

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When Mother finished her lunch, she said, “You may pick out one pumpkin to take home with you.” Katie practically bounced all the way to the large field where hundreds of bright, orange pumpkins lay scattered about the corn shocks and hay.

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As they walked home through the dried leaves already on the ground, Katie chanted, “Leaves are falling, and Autumn is calling!” What a special day it had been!

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Let’s Have Fun With Leaves!

First, find a beautiful leaf. Use paper, glue, markers, and other craft items to create a beautiful leaf creature

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Let’s Make Applesauce (This is a parent-child activity.)

1. You will need about 6-8 sweet apples. Let your parents peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into small chunks or slices.

2. Place the apples in a crock pot or slow cooker. (They can also be placed in a big pot and cooked on the stove at low heat.)

3. Pour about ¼ cup water over the apples.

4. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon onto the apples.

5. Pour ¼ cup sugar over the apples.

6. Use a large spoon to stir the ingredients into the apples.

7. Put a lid on the crock pot and cook on slow for about 4-6 hours.

8. If the apple sauce is too chunky, blend it with a fork or a potato masher.

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Fun Facts What is a Quilting Bee? Quilting bees started many years ago. It was a social time when several quilters could join together and relax over their sewing. They might work together on a group project or work on their own individual project. Bee is an old name for a party or social gathering.

Therefore, a quilting bee is a quilting party.

Why do leaves change colors in the Fall? In the Fall, there is less daylight.

As the amount of light shrinks, the reduced daylight, along with the lack of nutrients and less water, causes the chlorophyll to break down, and the green color in the leaves begins to fade. As the green fades, the beautiful Fall colors come out.

What are folk toys? Many years ago, children’s toys were made at home.

Families would use common materials such as wood, clay, stone, and corn cobs to make simple yet fun toys and games. These hand-made toys might include corn cob dolls, wooden guns, slingshots, toy wagons, carved animals, and fun games.

What is folk music? It is an old-time style of music commonly played on the fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, and banjo. The notes and the lyrics were seldom written down, so the music was taught and passed down by families and friends. These amateur musicians would gather to play for weddings, parties, and just for their enjoyment. Those listening would dance, clap hands, stomp their feet, and sing to the music.

What is apple butter? Apple butter is not a combination of apples and butter! In fact, it has no butter in it at all.

Apple butter is made from apples, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. The apples are finely chopped, smashed, and cooked for a long period of time to get the water out. The old-time way of cooking apple butter was in a copper kettle over an outdoor fire. When the apple butter is finished, it is very thick and dark brown. It is used like jelly on toast or biscuits. It is much denser than apple sauce.

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It is a crisp fall day in Appalachia and Katie is learning about the season of fall as she and her mother walk to the local Autumn Festival. She sees squirrels and other animals putting away food for the cold winter months and compares it to the canning of fruits and vegetables that she and her mother did the day before.

At the Autumn Festival, she experiences Appalachian music while admiring the beautiful fall mums and pumpkins. Katie sees and learns about many other traditional Appalachian customs, like making apple butter, quilting, folk toys, and pumpkin patches. The fun illustrations make this a book for the entire family as they go with Katie on an autumn adventure!

Jan Thornton Jones

Katerina Boyer Case is from Salem, West Virginia, where she studied graphic arts and AP Art for three years consecutively with a short gap before continuing her art education at Fairmont State University. She enjoys doing small illustrations and portraits and was honored by the West Virginia Art Education Association with a 2021 Youth Art Month Award. She has also designed the poster for the Italian Heritage Festival in both 2019 and 2021. Autumn is Calling is Katerina’s first book as an illustrator.

Autumn is Calling

Award-winning author Jan Thornton Jones graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Communication Studies, and another Master’s in Early Intervention Special Education. Jan spent many years as an early childhood teacher and is now enjoying retirement with her husband, Don. She is the author of three multi-award-winning books, The Angel In City Park, Last Letter To Gettysburg, and Why Me? Jan is a Zoom Into Books author and loves to make school visits. She was a featured author at the 2022 American Library Association (ALA) National Conference in Washington, D.C. Jan lives in New Martinsville, WV, where she is a pianist, vocalist, and Director of Music and Worship for her local church. For more information visit www.JanJonesBooks.com.

Jan Thornton Jones

illustrated by

Katerina Boyer Case