Cozy Fall Chapter Books {Updated}

My favorite fall activity: reading cozy books under a big blanket with my kids! I’ve done just that with each of the books below. These are seasonal, sweet, innocent, wholesome chapter books. In each of these, you’ll find strong family relationships, characters to emulate, and… lots of woodland creatures! Bonus: each of these is part of a series, many with a book per season!

These titles are likely available at your local library, or through the affiliate links provided. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Eagle (The Lighthouse Family series) by Cynthia Rylant. This is a short chapter book of 58 pages with pencil illustrations throughout. A darling series, and this installment is no exception. Mouse children Lila and Whistler are desperate to explore the woods behind their Lighthouse home. They finally receive permission (yay! they showed they were responsible and were granted permission first!), so they set out and discover many nature treasures and wonders before losing their compass! A new friend saves the day. We read this in one sitting because my kids were loving it! It felt at times that it had been written by our nature curriculum because so many of our topics appeared!

The Maple Festival (Sophie Mouse series) by Poppy Green. We have enjoyed each book in this early chapter book series. Pencil drawings throughout and short chapters made this a great choice if you’re moving to longer read alouds. In this Fall installment, Sophie and her family are preparing for the upcoming town-wide Maple festival (I can’t help but think of Gilmore Girls a bit when I read this). Sophie’s family owns a bakery, and they’re especially excited to share their goodies but strangely find that no one has come! Sophie’s creativity saves the day. A simple read, very light.

A True Home (Heartwood Hotel series) by Kallie George. My boys surprised me by how much they enjoyed this chapter book (I loved it from the start). While a lovely book, I wasn’t sure it was going to hold their attention. I thought it was pretty slow moving, with a lot of emotional drama…. inferring how characters felt, why they felt that way, and what might be motivating their actions. But, they asked for “one more chapter” about 16 times. And then at its conclusion asked to go to the library and check out the next book in the series… and played “hotel” in their free play time all week. Lesson learned, don’t judge a book by its emotional complexity.

Mona the mouse stumbles upon the Heartwood Hotel after a storm that destroys her home. She is offered the position as (temporary) maid and despite struggling to fit in, she shows her compassion, bravery, and wit as she protects the hotel from danger.

The Adventures of Geraldine Woolkins(one of two books, with a third in the works) by Karin Kaufman. Geraldine is “the smallest of ground things” who dreams of having big adventures. As a “young mouse,” Fall is brand new to Geraldine, and as it turns out, is full of excitement. From October through December, Geraldine wrestles with ideas about worry, bravery, gratitude, and faith. She questions Very Very Big Hands (aka God)—can he hear her, does he care, and why did he make her so small anyway? There are a lot of philosophical/spiritual depths to mine in this story, but overall we just enjoyed each episode and the exciting challenges Geraldine faced. There was just enough tension and suspense for my sensitive first grader. Thanksgiving and Christmas scenes were included.

Autumn Story (Brambly Hedge series) by Jill Barkam. This book is in the space between picture book and chapter book. Throughout are beautiful, full color illustrations, beside full pages of text. As a turn of bad weather approaches, the community is busy preparing when Primrose wanders off and gets lost, just as the rains begin. While it won’t take you long to read, the characters are memorable.

Autumn is for Apple Pie: God Gives Us Friends When We’re Having A Bad Day (Tales of Buttercup Grove series) by Wendy Dunham. This is really an early reader book (for children learning how to read) but I wanted to include it on this list as it is so perfectly Fall! A sweet story with all of the Fall fun you’d expect from a book with this title. The whole series is darling.

Applesauce Weather is a novel told in verse. It deals with grief, but is not heavy but rather beautiful. (And features the main character receiving his first pocket knife, so my kids connected with this one.)

The Vanderbeekers: Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glaser. We have loved this series so much and the characters feel like old friends. This installment in the series deals with some difficult topics, including grief, homelessness, and foster care, but in typical fashion all is handled beautifully– without leaving readers despairing. I am grateful for this deeper dive to open my kids’ hearts to these topics they will have to grapple with in time. (And yes, it takes place against the backdrop of autumn, with a character training for and running the NYC Marathon in November.)

Books That Don’t Take Place Solely in Autumn

The books below don’t occur exclusively in the fall but have strong seasonal connections that make them a great choice for fall reading nonetheless:

Toaff’s Way

Charlotte’s Web

Sweet Home Alaska

Winter (Growly series)

What are your favorite cozy reads?? Share with me in the comments below, or on my Instagram or Facebook pages.