leaves – Mom Read It

I think I can finally put away my winter coat, which has me embracing Spring and Spring-like books! I think I’ll devote today’s posts to nature-related artwork and storytelling.

Drawn from Nature, by Helen Ahpornsiri, (March 2018, Candlewick), $22.00, ISBN: 9780763698980

Recommended for readers 6-10

This look at the seasons is just stunning. The artwork is created using hand-pressed flowers and foliage (responsibly grown or foraged in the wild, as the artist/author’s note takes care to mention). Flowers and leaves create bird feathers and beaks; eggs and nests, ladybugs and butterflies. Helen Ahpornsiri takes readers through each season, making sure we notice the beautiful little notes from nature; from building a nest in Spring, to swooping swallows and chirping crickets in the Summer; from the fragile dandelion puffs of Autumn to the bare branches of Winter, each season reveals itself through delicate and exquisite art.

The endpapers delight with colorful garden scenes and each season’s nature maintains its color palette: Spring is verdant and green, bright and bold; Summer is deeper, vibrant, with an emphasis on fireflies and nocturnal animals who hunt by night; Autumn colors become more yellow and red, crisping at the edges, and Winter is spare, fragile, with clustered and hibernating animals and bare branches; evergreen leaves holding onto their leaves.

As Booklist notes, Drawn from Nature is a beautiful blend of art and science and is a wonderful inspiration for art classes as well as nature and earth science classes. A glossary includes terms mentioned throughout the book. Get those leaves, twigs, and stones for the kids, then let them have at it! Drawn from Nature has a starred from Kirkus.

Recommended for ages 2-5

A group of friends goes on a leaf hunt, which leads them on adventures over a mountain, through a forest, around a waterfall, and across a lake.

I have a special place in my heart for this book; it was one of my son’s favorite books, because of its repetitive interactivity. The story follows a group of friends on a leaf hunt. They state their beginning intention – “We’re going on a leaf hunt. We’re going right away. Let’s find colorful leaves. It’s a wonderful day!”. The group’s arrival at each point – a mountain, a forest, a waterfall, and a lake – comes is accompanied by a repetitive phrase (“climb, climb, huff puff. We made it!”). They collect leaves from a different tree at each spot, and when they return, they revisit these areas, arriving home ready to jump and play. It makes for a fun read-aloud, where children can echo the repeated phrase and act out the group’s actions (climbing a mountain, crossing a lake).

The artwork appears to be watercolor, with lively reds, browns and yellows to create a beautiful fall day. The story font is mostly brown and bold, but words with emphasis receive a different treatment: the world “colorful” is spelled out with different fall colors; the names of the trees are bright orange, and water-related words are blue.

There are many websites available that offer printouts of different leaves that children can color for a fun, seasonal craft. There are also many seasonal and Fall-related songs and fingerplays.

The author’s website offers links to all of his books, with printables related to some of his books.

Tag: leaves

Nature is the artwork in Drawn from Nature

Book Review: We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt, by Steve Metzger/illus. by Miki Sakamoto (Scholastic, 2008)