And, in the type of clever book design for which Ehlert is known, the pages are die-cut and/or patchworked at the top to create a rolling, flowing effect throughout. The boldly colored background papers, of varying texture, make the leaves pop. Fiery maple, brown mottled catalpa and bright yellow ginko leaves take the shape of various animals and objects on each spread. All the while, Ehlert sparks her foliage flight of fancy with her snazzy leaf collages. past the spotted cows,' and punctuates the lyrical text with an occasional refrain ( 'a Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows'). 'He left no travel plans.' From that breezy beginning, the narrator imagines the different flight patterns the Leaf Man may have followed 'past the chickens, toward the marsh. A narrator recalls the Leaf Man that used to live nearby but recently blew away with the wind.

(There is a teaser for a longer story by the author in the file as well, but I don't do teasers)ĭon't think I'll look for more from this author, unless of course Golden books decides to pick her up and get some awesome illustrations.Ehlert (Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf) returns to one of her favorite themes-the rainbow beauty of autumn leaves-for this refreshing riff on leaf peeping and collecting.

Yeah, One-click this one and read it to your young kids at bed time, it will leave them warm and fuzzy, but asking for more since it's so short. However, the story has a redeeming ending (which I won't spoil) but was really the best part of the whole book. Why are all the women in his life so flaky? I had a hard time deciding if the girl was a toddler or older and spent most of the story wondering why her parents didn't have the police and the neighbors out looking and an Amber Alert blaring across all the media. I also didn't like that Leaf Man got suckered into helping some lost little girl get home. Why are fairies so thoughtless? I kinda wish the author would right another book giving this fairy her come uppance. 'One Fall day, a thoughtless fairy played in the leaves.' I was irritated the fairy got bored with her new sentient being and flitted of to play with someone else (presumably Puck). This read like a golden book ,and I probably would have liked it better if it had been.

(Ha! See what I did there) Leaf man only has the day to live and while pondering great things ends up helping some lost little girl get home. Some silly fairy (read dumb bitch with a wand and some wings) creates leaf man then leaves him hanging.

The leaf man book