Leaves - Hardcover

Stein, David Ezra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399254978 ISBN 13: 9780399254970

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2010

Synopsis

This simple, charming story of a young bear's first autumn is perfectly suited to board book format. Bear is surprised when the leaves start falling off the trees, but when he tries to reattach them, it doesn't work. Eventually, he gets sleepy, and burrows into the fallen leaves for a long nap. When he wakes up, it's spring-and there are suddenly brand-new leaves all around, seeming to welcome him.

With its childlike main character and graceful illustrations, Leaves is a great way to teach the youngest children about the changing seasons.

About this title

About the Author:

David Ezra Stein received the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves, which was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice and a School Library Journal Best Book. He also wrote and illustrated Pouch!, The Nice Book and Monster Hug! He lives in Kew Gardens, New York.

From Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. Stein's (Cowboy Ned and Andy) pen-and-ink illustrations conjure a place readers will wish they could visit, a tiny island that pokes up out of a bay. Drawn in mossy greens and golds, the island is home to a very young bear—so young that when the leaves start falling in the autumn, he's a little shocked: He tried to catch them and put them back on... but it was not the same. The bear doesn't despair; he grows sleepy, goes off to hibernate and wakes in the spring. This set of events is depicted in a series of panels trained on the entrance to the bear's den; the single tree above it loses its leaves, is blanketed by snow, and receives visits first by a rabbit and then by a pair of cardinals.) Eventually the bear sticks his head back out to greet the spring sunshine and spies the tiny buds on the trees. 'Welcome!' he cried. And, he thought, the leaves welcomed him. Many things contribute to the success of Stein's tale: the joyously colored panels that hang on the pages like paintings—more intimate, somehow, than double-page spreads—the island's eight trees and their leaves, which seem lively and animate and entirely worthy of friendship; the innocence of the bear; and Stein's willingness to let the story assume its own haiku-like shape. His autumnal pictures seem to glow, while the bear himself has the irresistible appeal of a well-loved toy. All ages. (Aug.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0399254978
• ISBN 13: 9780399254970
• Binding: Board book
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 30
• Illustrator: Stein David Ezra