Leaves, Leaves Everywhere...

After the much needed rain on Friday and Saturday, I had a front-yard full of leaves that had fallen from my huge liquidambar tree. So I spent yesterday afternoon raking and weeding, and I thought about some of the great leaf books we have at the library.

Here are my favorites:

Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert

Ehlert tells the story of a leaf man who blows from town to town. The reader never knows quite where he'll land or what he'll see on the way. The pictures in this story are fabulous. They're created from color copies of leaves that Ehlert and her friends collected. Kids will have a great time finding the cows, birds, and fish made from leaves on each page. And, as usual in Ehlert's books, there are additional pages of information in the back about leaves and trees. Also to try by Lois Ehlert: Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf

Cinnamon Hen's Autumn Day, by Sandra Dutton

Cinnamon Hen has a yard full of leaves to rake, and is very happy to rake them until Mr. Rabbit comes along and convinces her to hire him to rake them instead. Reluctantly, Cinnamon Hen agrees. But the whole time Mr. Rabbit is raking she longs to be outside raking them herself. Eventually, she offers to rake her neighbor's yard instead and everyone is happy. This story is cute, and it might even inspire your little ones to rake the leaves in your yard!

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, by Julia Rawlinson

This story was new to me this year, and I'm so glad I found it. Fletcher is a fox kit who has a favorite tree. Fletcher considers the tree to be his friend, so he is very distraught when the tree begins to lose its leaves. Fletcher's mom tries to tell him the tree is fine, but Fletcher is not convinced. He tries everything to keep the leaves from falling off- from holding them on for hours on end to taping the leaves to the branches. Of course, nothing works and the tree is eventually bare. But Fletcher finds that the tree has a surprise in store for him one frosty winter morning.

Happy Reading!