{"id":29314,"date":"2026-08-28T13:10:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=29314"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:03:08","slug":"kari-percival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2026\/08\/28\/kari-percival\/","title":{"rendered":"Kari Percival’s ‘Fall Day, All Day’: A Celebration Of Toddlers’ First Autumns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cFall is a great time to go outdoors and see squirrels running around gathering nuts, hear the bluejays and crows calling, Canada geese honking, see the leaves turning vivid orange and yellow and red,\u201d says Kari Percival<\/a>, Boston-area author and artist of the new children\u2019s book, \u201cFall Day, All Day.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s time to harvest squash and Brussels sprouts and pumpkins from the garden, find mushrooms and raspberries and seeds, rose hips and milkweed seeds, acorns. It\u2019s time to go apple picking. Feeling the wind, hearing the wind in the trees. Seeing all the animals and plants changing and getting ready for winter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published at the end of August by Rise x Penguin Workshop, \u201cFall Day, All Day\u201d<\/a> has already earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly<\/a> (\u201csuperb\u201d) and Kirkus, which wrote<\/a>: \u201cPercival draws clear, enticing parallels between the seasonal preparations made by humans and those involving the natural world. . . The vibes couldn\u2019t be cozier, and the science shines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kari be giving free readings the book at Molly\u2019s Bookstore in Melrose on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 10:30 a.m. and at Bookends in Winchester on Saturday, Sept. 5, and 11 a.m. (Full list of readings below.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
Kari Percival’s \u201cFall Day, All Day,” 2026. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kari also happens to be married to me. We met in a woodcut and linocut class when we were studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kari grew up exploring the woods of Boston\u2019s North Shore and Mid-Coast Maine. She transferred to Chicago from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she\u2019d been involved in ecology and theater and painting. At Chicago, she was busy with scientific nature drawing in the Field Museum and the Lincoln Park Zoo, performance art, woodcuts, painting. She arranged lighting and sound for performances at the alternative art space Randolph Street Gallery and for the giant community spectacle troupe Redmoon Theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After art school, we moved to the Boston area to return to Kari’s family. Kari formed the Earthworm Pie Puppet Theater that performed original puppet stories around Boston\u2019s North Shore and at Somerville\u2019s ArtBeat festival. She pursued graduate studies in environmental education at Antioch University in Keene, New Hampshire. She taught middle school science and theater. She apprenticed with the Bread and Puppet Theater at their farm in northern Vermont, forming a friendship with the giant spectacle troupe that continues to today. She illustrated posters and T-shirts for the Charles River Watershed Association, Mystic River Watershed Association, the City of Somerville’s Sustainaville, Extinction Rebellion, 350.org and other environmental groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had babies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Years back, when Kari was nearing adulthood, she dreamed of making children\u2019s books. After having kids, she began to purse it\u2014taking workshops, going to children\u2019s book conferences, finding an agent. Her first book, \u201cHow To Say Hello To A Worm,\u201d<\/a> inspired by a community gardening program she founded for toddlers and their families, and filled with digital illustrations evoking woodcuts, was published by Rise x Penguin Workshop in 2022. The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly: \u201cIn this deceptively simple, sparkling debut, Percival conveys the joy children can feel in working together, being outdoors, and eating food they\u2019ve grown themselves\u2014all with a fizzy immediacy.\u201d It became a Blue Ribbon Selection for Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library literacy program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d<\/a> her children\u2019s book about protecting frogs and salamanders on their annual spring mating migration, was published by Chronicle Books in 2025. Kirkus: \u201cPercival chronicles this process in unadorned prose through the eyes of one multiracial family, who not only volunteer, but also advocate for the creation of a wildlife tunnel to allow the creatures safe passage beneath the road. \u2026 The illustrations, rendered digitally but in the style of woodcut prints, are spectacular.\u201d \u201cSafe Crossing\u201d was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, Book Page, Pen America, and statewide librarian reading lists: Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee, Washington, Maine, Missouri, Delaware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kari says her new book, \u201cFall Day, All Day,\u201d \u201ccelebrates playing and learning outdoors in autumn.\u201d Children head out to find chickadees, cottontail rabbits, staghorn sumacs, wooly bear caterpillars, chipmunks with their mouths full of acorns to store away for winter. The children learn about hibernation. They harvest potatoes and beets and pumpkins. They watch ducks flying south for the winter. They catch falling leaves and dance like maple trees bending in the breeze.\u00a0Publishers Weekly<\/a>\u00a0says, \u201cReminiscent of a field guide, Percival\u2019s sprightly account features jaunty prose and texturized digital woodcut prints that invite readers to reflect on autumnal transformations. \u2026 Part manual, part appreciation, this superb science-led portrait succeeds at highlighting key seasonal adaptations and species.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Readings:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Aug. 29 Melrose, Molly\u2019s Bookstore, 10:30 a.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Sept. 5 Winchester, Bookends, 11 a.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Sept. 26, Shutesbury Public Library, 10:30 a.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Sept. 26, Amherst, Eric Carle Museum, 2 p.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Oct. 3, Boston, Roslindale Branch Boston Public Library,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Oct. 11, Cambridge, Porter Square Books, 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, Oct. 10, Medford, Moon & Back, 2:30 p.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, Oct. 20, Boston, Beacon Hill Books, 4 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures, and nature that you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, occasional newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. Follow us on Instagram<\/a> and tell us what you really think on Facebook<\/a>. (All content \u00a9 Greg Cook 2026 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “Fall Day, All Day,” 2026. (Penguin Random House)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cFall Day, All Day,” 2026. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cFall Day, All Day,” 2026. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cFall Day, All Day,” 2026. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s \u201cSafe Crossing,\u201d 2025. (Chronicle Books)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Kari
Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"From
From Kari Percival’s book “How to Say Hello To A Worm,” 2022. (Rise x Penguin Workshop)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFall is a great time to go outdoors and see squirrels running around gathering nuts, hear the bluejays and crows calling, Canada geese honking, see the leaves turning vivid orange and yellow and red,\u201d says Kari Percival, Boston-area author and artist of the new children\u2019s book, \u201cFall Day, All Day.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s time to harvest squash […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,107],"tags":[211,294,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29314"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29360,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29314\/revisions\/29360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}