Leaf Man

Leaf Man (c. 2005) by Lois Elert remains one of those stories that's just pure-and-tee fun!   If you don't believe me, just try to check this book out . . . there's a waiting list at the library . . . and then once you get it, you'll first notice the love-worn cover of this newer book, just published in 2005.  The story begins on the cover jacket flap: Where does a Leaf Man go when the wind blows?  Do you know?  Follow the fantastical journey of the Leaf Man and his Leaf Friends.

While your children examine the creative and intricate construction of Elert's illustrations, they cannot help but recognize the names of the leaves.  Elert constructed the quirky illustrations in Leaf Man through years of collecting and copying actual fall leaves.  A wonderful book to own, Leaf Man inspires the youngest to the oldest of us.  After reading it, my children and their friends have embarked on a journey of gathering leaves to create their own leaf men, leaf animals, and leaf fairies.  What better way to teach children the beginnings of botany than through this fabulous fall read that Lois Ehlert provides.

If your family had a blast reading Leaf Man, then here's some more Lois Ehlert books to check out:

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf (c. 1991) explores the life cycle of a maple tree.

Nuts to You! (c. 1993) follows a day in the life of a squirrel.

Count Down to Fall

If your child is an animal lover, here's a book with detailed animal illustrations.  Count Down to Fall (c. 2009) with author Fran Hawk and illustrator Sherry Neidigh teaches about various trees, leaves, seeds, and animals.  Note: I love the illustrations but find the text somewhat lacking. However, the end pages presents good natural science information.

A is for Autumn

Welcome autumn with Robert Maass' A is for Autumn (c.2011), a photographic alphabet salute to one of the year's most delightful seasons.  This title is great for preschoolers and great for early readers.  And the photographs make it an overall "feel good" kind of book, perfect for the change of season.

Leaves

Here's another bear story that I was drawn to by the illustrations . . . that and the fact that it's about fall.  I'm telling you childrens' book illustrators beckon like sirens when their illustrations are stunningly executed!

In Leaves (c. 2007), David Ezra Stein creates his artwork with bamboo pen and watercolors giving the illustrations a unique personality.  This sweet book chronicles a bear's first year.  Imagine his surprise and bewilderment as he witnesses the first leaves fall.

"Come, Little Leaves"

Come, Little Leaves

by George Cooper

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day.

"Come over the meadows with me and play;

Put on your dresses of red and gold,

For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

Soon as the leaves heard the wind's loud call,

Down they came fluttering, one and all;

Over the brown fields they danced and flew,

Singing the sweet little song they knew.

"Cricket, good-by, we've been friends so long,

Little brook, sing us your farewell song;

Say you are sorry to see us go;

Ah, you will miss us, right well we know.

"Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold, 

Mother will keep you from harm and cold;

Fondly we watched you in vale and glade,

Say, will you dream of our loving shade?"

Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went,

Winter had called them, and they were content;

Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,

The snow laid a coverlid over their heads.



 Buell, Ellen.  Read Me a Poem: Children's Favorite Poetry.  New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1965.

Autumn Leaves

On the first day that it actually felt cool and crisp, we went outside to pick up some of our falling leaves and brought them in to compare them to the pages in these two books.  Then a few days later, our neighbor came over with her granddaughter, suggesting that we collect leaves and make crayon rubbings to pass the time.  Well, the kids sat outside coloring and rubbing their collected leaves for 45 minutes.  This could be a record!  What I like about the following two books is that they're informative and educational without being wordy or overwhelming, making leaf identification an elementary adventure.

• Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins ~ I have just two words to say: excellent photography.  You feel like you can pick up the leaf right off the page, making it easy to identify the leaves in your yard or neighborhood.  The publishers best described the book in the jacket cover: This sumptuous picture book is a primer on tree and leaf identification.  Close-up pictures reveal leaf details, a simple text provides easy clues for identifying trees, and notes in the back explain just how and why leaves change color in the fall.  Award-winning author/photographer Ken Robbins invites very young children to learn about thirteen different trees from all across the country in this glorious portrait of nature's most colorful season.  On our nature walk, we could identify 11 of the 13 leaves/trees.  Also, you may notice that I mentioned this same author in the apple book list for his title Apples.  I find this book the best of the two.

• Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber ~ Gerber identifies eight different leaves through a rhyming story.  Leslie Evans' linoleum-cut illustrations helped us to quickly identify seven of the eight leaves on our neighborhood walk. 

Here's one of our leaf rubbings.