The Stranger is a children's book written in 1986 by the American author Chris Van Allsburg.

[1] One fall day, while Farmer Bailey is riding down the road in his truck, he hears a thump.

The man tries to leave, but loses his balance and falls down again where he and his wife, Mrs. Bailey, discovers that the stranger cannot talk.

As the doctor holds it up to his mouth, the stranger blows on it and the mercury inside freezes.

When the stranger leaves, fall comes to the Bailey's farm, and the trees are now all red and orange.

Etched in frost on the farmhouse window is a message from the stranger that says, "See you next fall".