Perfect Picture Book Friday – Goldy Luck And The Three Pandas

January 27, 2017January 26, 201721 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everybody!

Is everyone ready for the Year of the Rooster? And not just any rooster! The Year of the Fire Rooster?

The Fire Rooster is characterized by creativity, passion and energy, so I think (hope!) we have a good year ahead!

In celebration of Chinese New Year, I have a terrific book to share.

goldy-luck

Title: Goldy Luck And The Three Pandas

Written By: Natasha Yim

Illustrated By: Grace Zong

Charlesbridge, January 2014, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: retelling of classic tale, holidays (Chinese New Year), taking responsibility

Opening: “When Goldy Luck was born her mother said, “Year of the Golden Dragon – very lucky year. This child will have good luck.”
“She has a face as round as a gold coin,” said her father. “This child will bring great wealth.”
But Goldy had neither great wealth or good luck. In fact, she could never seem to keep money in her piggy bank, and she had a habit of breaking things.”

text copyright Natasha Yim 2014, illustration copyright Grace Zong 2014

Brief Synopsis: Goldy Luck is sent to deliver turnip cakes to the Chan family for Chinese New Year in spite of the fact that she’s sleepy and hasn’t had breakfast yet. When she arrives, the Chans are not home, so she samples their congee, tries out their chairs, and naps in Little Chan’s bed, leaving chaos in her wake.

Links To Resources: the back of the book includes an author’s note about traditions of Chinese New Year, a diagram and explanation of the Chinese zodiac, and a recipe for turnip cakes; Goldy Luck blog post with activities from 2nd Grade Snickerdoodles

text copyright Natasha Yim 2014, illustration copyright Grace Zong 2014

Why I Like This Book: I love retellings of classic tales, and this is a fun one. It takes Goldilocks and the Three Bears to China to celebrate Chinese New Year Although the story follows the basic format of the original, it departs after the Chans (panda bears in this version :)) come home. Goldy initially runs away (as she does in the original story) but her conscience gets the better of her and she decides to take responsibility for her actions and returns to the Chans’s home to help tidy up. The ending makes for a big improvement over the original And I love that so much back matter is included, making it so easy to expand on the use of the book. The art is bright and engaging, ending with a sweet picture of Goldy and Little Chan sharing turnip cake, the rug underneath them a depiction of the Chinese zodiac

text copyright Natasha Yim 2014, illustration copyright Grace Zong 2014

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Fair Cow

January 20, 2017January 19, 201729 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

I realize that since it’s Inauguration Day I should probably have chosen a book on a related topic… but I already reviewed President Squid last March 🙂

Setting one’s sights on the State Fair isn’t SO far off setting one’s sights on the White House… and being pinned with a blue ribbon is kind of like being sworn in as POTUS…

Okay…

Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch 🙂

But this is still a totally fun book and I hope you’ll get a kick out of it!

fair-cow

Title: Fair Cow

Written & Illustrated By: Leslie Helakoski

Two Lions (Amazon’s Children’s Publishing), August 2010, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: believe in yourself, be yourself, having goals

Opening: “Effie dreamed of being a state fair cow. She loved living on the farm, grazing in the fields, and giving milk every day. But still…she dreamed of being beautiful, of billowing blue ribbons, and big, bodacious barns.”

Brief Synopsis: Effie dreams of being a state-fair cow. Petunia the pig gives Effie loads of helpful advice on how to become beautiful and win a ribbon. But in the end, it seems that maybe it’s best for Effie to just be Effie.

Links To Resources: Amazing Cow Facts For Kids; All About Cows For Kids And Teachers; Cow Coloring Pages; Showring Ready: A Beginner’s Guide To Showing Dairy Cattle;

Why I Like This Book: Effie is cute and sassy, determined to make it to the fair, willing to follow Petunia’s (often ridiculous 🙂 ) advice to make her dreams come true. The theme of the book isn’t new, but the execution is fun and fresh, and I think there’s always room for a book that encourages kids to be themselves and follow their dreams (er… come to think of it, I’ve written one myself, though it’s about groundhogs, not cows 🙂 ) The art takes the fun story to the next level of humor – colorful, fun and engaging, with plenty of silliness and great expressions. And the repeating line of “Nothing a little {something} won’t fix” is used to great effect 🙂

Text and illustration copyright Leslie Helakoski 2010

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – An Apple Pie For Dinner

January 13, 2017January 12, 201718 Comments

Today is a special day.

Yes, it is Perfect Picture Book Friday, which is always special 🙂

But today is also my Brown Dog’s birthday!

Here she is when she was tiny:

773b5-dscn0128

And here she is now that she is 10!

She is the best Brown Brownie in the whole wide world – my loyal, devoted friend who has stayed by my side during some of the toughest times I’ve been through, warm and comforting and kind. I feel so lucky to have her. So we will celebrate her 10th birthday tonight with a party, complete with yellow cake with vanilla icing so she can have some 🙂 Happy Birthday, my faithful, loving friend!

I guess I should have chosen a Perfect Picture Book for today that was about birthdays or dogs or cake… I chose one about pie… that has a dog in it… (I mean the story has a dog in it, not the pie! 🙂 ) and ends with a party 🙂

apple-pie-pb

Title: An Apple Pie For Dinner

Retold By: Susan VanHecke

Illustrated By: Carol Baicker-McKee

Two Lions (Amazon Children’s Publishing), August 2009, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: resourcefulness, kindness, persistence, folktale retelling

Opening: “One day, Old Granny Smith wanted an apple pie for dinner.
She looked around her cozy kitchen.
She had flour and butter.
She had sugar and spices.
But there was one thing she didn’t have.”

screen-shot-2017-01-12-at-4-54-11-pm

Brief Synopsis: Granny Smith wants to bake an apple pie, but she doesn’t have any apples. So she fills her basket with plums and sets out to see if she can trade. She swaps plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, flowers for a gold coin… but will she ever find her apples?

Links To Resources: Apple pie recipe at the back of the book; author notes about the retelling and illustrator notes about how the three-dimensional mixed media art was created are also included at the back of the book; An Apple Pie For Dinner dedicated website with related activities

Why I Like This Book: This story has such a cozy, friendly feel. Granny is so sweet. She goes along, patiently hoping to find apples for her pie, doing good for everyone she meets and making their days better even though time after time she fails to get the apples she needs. The story is cheerful and comes full circle to delicious ending 🙂 The mixed-media illustrations are delightful in their 3-D, stand-out-from-the-page, sunny, colorfulness. An all-around satisfying read complete with an apple pie recipe to try at home!

screen-shot-2017-01-12-at-4-53-13-pm

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Mother Bruce

January 6, 2017January 5, 201748 Comments

Happy First Perfect Picture Book Friday of 2017, Folks!

There’s really nothing like Friday, is there?

Not only do we get a brand new list of Perfect Picture Books to enjoy, we have the prospect of the whole weekend stretching before us in which to read them, hopefully by a cozy fire with a cup of hot chocolate, or tucked under a warm quilt with a pajamaed youngster or two or three eagerly anticipating the stories to come 🙂

If you haven’t yet read this Perfect Picture Book, you’re in for a treat!

mother-bruce

Title: Mother ~~Goose~~ Bruce

Written & Illustrated By: Ryan T. Higgins

Disney Hyperion, November 2015, fiction – an Ezra Jack Keats Honor Book

Suitable For Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: humor, determination/perseverance

Opening: “Bruce was a bear who lived all by himself. He was a grump.”

Brief Synopsis: Bruce is a grumpy bear who lives alone and likes to cook fancy egg recipes he finds on the internet. But when the eggs he procures hatch, he’s in for a whole lot of trouble – a bunch of goslings who think he’s their mother and WILL NOT LEAVE! 🙂

illustration copyright Ryan T. Higgins 2015

Links To Resources: Geese Fun Facts For Kids; 15 Fun Facts About Geese; goose coloring pages

Why I Like This Book: This book made me laugh out loud! It’s clever and funny. Bruce is stubbornly determined to maintain his loner living status, and the goslings are equally determined that they will never leave their “mother” 🙂 And the art is amazing! Bruce’s grumpy expressions, the adorable goslings, the beautiful backgrounds and details – such fun!

illustration copyright Ryan T. Higgins 2015

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Biggest Smallest Christmas Present

December 2, 2016December 1, 201617 Comments

Hurray! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday!

I have a cute one for you today 🙂

Along with a heads up that this is probably the last Perfect Picture Book Friday of 2016. By next Friday the Holiday Writing Contest will be underway… as well as the Friday after…and then we will all be up to our ears in holiday preparations – cleaning, ~~sampling the gingerbread~~ baking,~~tasting the Christmas brownies~~ shopping, wrapping, greeting, entertaining the little angels who are on school vacation,~~sustaining ourselves with Something Chocolate~~ traveling, spending time with friends and family – far too busy for blogging!

But I hope you’ll like today’s pick – a little reminiscent of Eloise to my mind!

the-biggest-smallest-xmas-present

Title: The Biggest Smallest Christmas Present

Written & Illustrated By: Harriet Muncaster

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers, October 18 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-5

Themes/Topics: Holidays (Christmas), ingenuity, perseverance, making the best of things

Opening: “Clementine lived in an ordinary house on an ordinary street with her ordinary mom and dad and brother, Charlie.
But there was one extraordinary thing about Clementine…”

Brief Synopsis: Clementine is not an average-size girl. She’s so tiny she bathes in a teacup. Santa keeps bringing her presents that are much too big. How can she get him to bring her a present that’s the right size?

text and illustration copyright Harriet Muncaster 2016

Links To Resources: The 5 Best Toys Of All Time (or how to let kids use their imagination and creativity as Clementine does 🙂 ); 25 Easy Christmas Crafts For Kids

Why I Like This Book: Clementine is cute and spunky. She may be tiny, but she finds ingenious and creative ways to use the gifts she receives that are too big for her. She can’t use the xylophone sticks to play the instrument… but they make great stilts! And the xylophone itself? Well, she can play it by dancing on it – making her own music! The fairy slippers are too big to wear… but one of them makes a perfect bed. Still, she longs for a present that’s just the right size. She does her best to explain this to Santa, but her first two attempts are foiled. I love the ending because of the ambiguity. Did Santa really get her message? Or has he known all along that she would get more out of presents she had to find her own way to enjoy? The art is delightful and engaging, showing Clementine’s disporportionatly big personality. A fun, fresh read for Christmas time!

text and illustration copyright Harriet Muncaster 2016

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Waiting For Snow

November 18, 2016November 17, 201613 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

You know, there’s nothing the WeatherFolk like better than drama!

They are never happier than when they can use words like “hurricane”, “tornado”, and “polar vortex”!

They love prompting you in urgent tones to make sure you’re stocked up on batteries, bottled water, canned goods, flashlights, and toilet paper 🙂 (I don’t know why they never mention chocolate… seems to me that should be right up there at the top of the list!)

They love predicting that holiday travel will be nightmarish. It warms them to the cockles of their weather-beatin’ little hearts 🙂

So, in my neck of the woods, the headlines for the next couple days read:

SNOW IN NORTHEASTERN US AS TEMPERATURES PLUNGE UP TO 50 DEGREES THIS WEEKEND!!!

As writers, we can all appreciate the WeatherFolks’ use of ~~exaggeration~~ evocative verbiage 🙂 I believe the content of the article suggests that some places may see a dusting of snow and it’s going to be a wee bit colder over the weekend than it was this unusually warm past week 🙂 But it just sounds so much more interesting when they say the temperature is going to “plunge 50 degrees,” doesn’t it? Kinda makes you want to stock up on toilet paper… in case you need to wrap yourself in it to stay warm… 🙂

Anyway, speaking of snow, look at this wonderful book!

waiting-for-snow

Title: Waiting For Snow

Written By: Marsha Diane Arnold

Illustrated By: Renata Liwska

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, November 1, 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: publisher says 4-7… I think 3-6/7

Themes/Topics: patience, seasons (winter), snow, friendship

Opening: “Hedgehog found Badger staring at the sky.
“What are you doing, Badger?”
“Waiting for snow. It’s winter and I haven’t seen one snowflake.””

Brief Synopsis: Poor Badger is desperate for snow, but no matter what he does the weather won’t cooperate. Hedgehog assures him that everything comes in its own time, but oh! it’s so hard to wait!!!

text copyright Marsha Diane Arnold 2016, illustration copyright Renata Kiwska 2016… a glimpse of ways the friends try to pass the waiting time… 🙂

Links To Resources: waiting is hard, and kids have to do a lot of it! Have your kids/students make a list of things they have to wait for, or draw a picture of something they’re waiting for; 10 Ways To Play With Kids While You’re Waiting; 12 Games To Play While You Wait

Why I Like This Book: If you’ve ever had a kid… or been a kid… or, well, you’re anyone living life on this earth 🙂 you’ve had to wait for things and you know how hard it is! (er, ahem, writers… agency and/or publishing contracts…! Am I right? 🙂 ) This sweet, funny, and beautiful book is about a little badger who is waiting for snow. He and his friends try everything they can think of to hurry it along but, as is so often the case when you really want something to happen, nothing works. What he learns in the meantime is the value of good friends. What he learns in the end is that everything happens in its own time. I think we can all take a lesson from Badger’s experience 🙂 The soft, fuzzy art is the perfect complement to the text – endearing, engaging, sweet!

text copyright Marsha Diane Arnold 2016, illustration copyright Renata Kiwska 2016

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Before Morning

November 11, 2016November 10, 201623 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

Oh my goodness do I have a beauty for you today!

I read a lot of picture books.

Many of them are excellent.

But every now and again I read one that is just so perfect, so magically written and illustrated, that it takes my breath away, knocks my socks off, and makes me whisper to myself, “Man! I wish I’d written that!”

Today’s selection is one of those 🙂

The Halloweensie Contest is over.

Thanksgiving is coming.

And that means, before you know it, the skies will be swirling with flurries of snow!

My Perfect Picture Book today is all about that most coveted of childhood days – the peaceful, happy, special perfection of snow days 🙂

before-morning

Title: Before Morning

Written By: Joyce Sidman

Illustrated By: Beth Krommes

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 4 2016, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-7

Themes/Topics: seasons (winter), snow, snow days, invocations, language fun (rhyme, word choice)

Opening: “In the deep woolen dark, as we slumber unknowing, let the sky fill with flurry and flight.” (These few words actually cover 5 spreads, some of which are wordless.)

Brief Synopsis: Although there is much going on in the busy, busy world, a small child wishes for just one day to be a delightfully snow-covered pause.

before-morning-2

Links To Resources: the final page of the book explains invocations and invites young readers to come up with their own; make paper snowflakes; snow recipes; make your own snow!

Why I Like This Book: Oh my goodness! What’s not to love? This book is beautiful in every way! The rhyming text is written by Joyce Sidman (you know what a huge fan I am of Red Sings From Treetops!) and it is gorgeous and poetic and spare. How can you not love a book that begins “In the deep woolen dark”?! 🙂 The entire book is 66 words, so expertly chosen and crafted together that as a writer I can only feel awe. And the art is scratchboard and watercolor, exquisitely done, showing the little girl’s hopes that while she sleeps the world will turn white, allowing for a hushed, snow-covered morning that keeps her family home for a leisurely breakfast, some extra time together, the chance to go sledding and make snow angels, and come home to dry wet mittens. It is everything we all love about snow days, and every child’s prayer for one to come to their house!

before-morning-1

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

P.S. One little side note: my email service is msn, which has recently switched its Outlook mail platform. I am having TERRIBLE trouble getting my email!!! So for people who have contacted me about the Halloweensie Prizes, or people who are in my writing class, or anyone else who may be emailing me, if I don’t get back to you right away, that’s why! I can’t receive, read, or send email with any kind of reliability. A serious problem in the world we currently live in! If anyone else has experienced this problem and found a work-around, PLEASE let me know!!!

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Spooky Wheels On The Bus

October 21, 2016October 20, 201620 Comments

It’s Friday! It’s Friday! The weekend awaits! 🙂

So what are y’all doing this weekend?

Apple picking? Visiting Granny? Washing the dog? Baking pumpkin-related items? Putting finishing touches on costumes? Making sure every flavor in the bag of fun-size candy is as delicious as the manufacturers purport them to be?

That was a test!

The correct answer is “writing my Halloweensie Contest entry!”

Anyone who answered correctly may have one of these 🙂 You have earned it! (And you’ll need it to give yourself time to write 🙂 )

get

Just a quick housekeeping item (since we’re on the subject of not doing any 🙂 ) which is that next Friday, October 28, there will be no PPBF because we will be all caught up in the excitement of the ongoing Halloweensie Contest which opens Thursday October 27!!! So instead of posting favorite picture books next week, we will enjoy reading all the contest entries!!! I seriously can’t wait!!! (PPBF will return on Friday November 11 – I think…!)

Now! Onto today’s Perfect Picture Book, just in time for Halloween 🙂

spooky-wheels

Title: The Spooky Wheels On The Bus

Written By: J. Elizabeth Mills

Illustrated By: Ben Mantle

Cartwheel Books, July 2010, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-5

Themes/Topics: holidays (halloween), concepts (counting)

Opening: “One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,
RATTLE and SHAKE, RATTLE and SHAKE.
One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE
All through the town.”

Brief Synopsis: (From Amazon) “Count from One Spooky Bus up to Ten Goofy Ghosts as this Halloween ride races through town picking up a few unsuspecting passengers along the way.”

Links To Resources: Kids’ Halloween Crafts of all kinds!; Kid-friendly Halloween recipes; make up your own Wheels On The Bus song about Halloween, your birthday, or any other holiday!

Why I Like This Book: You can’t really go wrong with a fun Halloween-themed version of this popular song. Kids can enjoy it as a story, or sing along with it. In addition to being a story/song with an entertaining cast of Halloween characters, it is a counting book – great for youngest picture book enthusiasts. The art is bright and warm, colorful and inviting, showing witches and ghosts and spiders in a way that is friendly and engaging and not at all scary. The town looks like a cozy place to go trick-or-treating. All-around Halloween fun!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Sleep Tight Farm

October 14, 2016October 13, 201629 Comments

Hurray! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday!

I’m excited because this weekend I’ll be at the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, reading during story time with my author friends Iza Trapani and Nancy Shaw, and signing copies of Can’t Sleep Without Sheep and some of my other books alongside them.

If you’ve never been to Sheep & Wool, I highly recommend it if you’re in the area! It’s like the fair, only with lovely autumn weather, every kind of sheep under the sun,

llamas and alpacas,

llamas

craft workshops, gorgeous yarns,

yarn

knitting and crochet patterns, beautiful clothing and other gift items made from wool, all kinds of fun activities for kids, AND delicious treats like apple crisp made from local apples! 🙂

I hope you’ll join us!

Meanwhile, today’s Perfect Picture Book fits rather nicely with the sheep and wool theme since it’s all about farming and getting ready for winter! Have a look!

sleep-tight-farm

Title: Sleep Tight Farm: A Farm Prepares For Winter

Written By: Eugenie Doyle

Illustrated By: Becca Stadtlander

Chronicle Books, August 2016, nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: publisher says 2-5 but I think 3-7 is equally doable

Themes/Topics: nature, seasons (fall/winter), farming, jobs/careers

Opening: “The December days shorten and darken. We are busy putting the farm to bed.”

Brief Synopsis: This peaceful book shows a family getting their farm ready for winter after the cycle of spring growth, summer heat, and fall harvest. Beautiful and informative.

Links To Resources: author’s note at the end describes her life on the farm; extensive list of Autumn Lesson Plans from Scholastic; fun Fall & Harvest-Themed Lesson Plans from Bright Hub Education; 10 Easy Steps To Making Homemade Jam With Your Kids; draw a picture of a farm; draw the fruits and vegetables you would like to grow and pick!

Why I Like This Book: This is a very quiet book. It shows a family harvesting the fruits of their year-long labor – fruits and vegetables, honey from the beehives, wood to warm their home – and tucking their farm in for the winter. The harvest is pictured ripe and colorful. The indoor scenes of home and barn are cozy and filled with warm, bright colors, animals and loving family. By the last page where the light is blue and silver and the snow is falling gently you feel just as tucked in as the farm 🙂 But in addition to being a calm and cozy read, it is extremely informative about how the things we eat are grown and harvested, so young readers will get a sense of where their food comes from. A pleasant and educational read!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! Work on your Halloweensie entries!!! 🙂 Come to NYS Sheep & Wool if you can!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Fletcher And The Falling Leaves

October 7, 2016October 6, 201636 Comments

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

Today is especially awesome for several reasons:

First, it’s Friday, which is a delight all on its own.

Second, it is the first Friday upon which I am experimenting with a new Friday FB feature which I’m hoping will be tons of fun and not fall flat on its face as some other of my genius ideas have been wont to do! 🙂 Assuming all goes according to plan, it will post at 10:30 AM Eastern and I hope you will all go check it out! (Link to Susanna’s FB page)

Finally, this happy Friday, many folks have a long weekend for Columbus Day… the day upon which (with luck and a following wind) I shall post the guidelines for the 2016 Halloweensie Writing Contest!!! (I can hear you! Snickering in the back row! Just because it sometimes takes me a little longer than I intend to get things organized is no reason to guffaw! I’ll get to it, my pretties… all in good time! 🙂 And I hope you were suitably impressed just there by my spot-on impression of the Wicked Witch of the West! Very fitting for Halloweensie, don’t you think? 🙂 ) So stay tuned for the Halloweensie posting… but maybe don’t hold your breath… 🙂

So are you ready for just about the cutest fall picture book ever written? Have a look at this truly Perfect Picture Book!

aren’t you just already in love with that little fox?! 🙂

Title: Fletcher And The Falling Leaves

Written By: Julia Rawlinson

Illustrated By: Tiphanie Beeke

Greenwillow Books, August 2008, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: seasons (autumn/winter), nature (changing seasons), love

Opening: “The world was changing. Each morning when Fletcher bounded out of the den, everything seemed just a little bit different. The rich green of the forest was turning to a dusty gold, and the soft, swishing sound of summer was fading to a crinkly whisper. Fletcher’s favorite tree looked dull, dry, and brown.
Fletcher was beginning to get worried.”

Brief Synopsis: When the leaves on Fletcher’s favorite tree turn brown and begin to fall, Fletcher thinks something is terribly wrong. “Don’t worry,” his mother tells him. “It’s only autumn.” But Fletcher is worried. He does his best to catch the falling leaves and reattach them, but in spite of his efforts the last leaf finally falls. He promises the tree he’ll keep the last leaf safe and he takes it home to bed, still worried. To his surprise and delight, though, he wakes in the morning to a magical sight that convinces him everything is all right.

Links To Resources: Scholastic Classroom Guide; Teachers Guide (from The Picture Book Teacher’s Edition); 15 Fabulous Fall Leaf Crafts For Kids

Why I Like This Book: Oh my goodness! What is there not to like?! The story is so sweet. Fletcher is so earnest in his desire to help his tree, so dedicated to saving it, and so worried on its behalf since he’s unable to understand from his child’s-eye-view the concept of autumn, changing seasons, and the cycle of life. He doesn’t know that it’s natural for leaves to fall and that his tree is just fine and will green again come spring. It takes the magic of icicles glimmering in the morning sun to show him that his tree is beautiful (and okay!) in every season. The art is such a perfect match for the story – impressionistic water colors in soft, hazy tones of autumn brown and orange that give way to the cool blue/green and white tones of winter, and Fletcher himself is so endearing. As adults, we often take the change of seasons for granted, but this book is a gem for the way it shows the wonder of changing seasons as a child appreciates them.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Susanna Leonard Hill

Children's Author

Category: Perfect Picture Book Fridays

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Goldy Luck And The Three Pandas

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Fair Cow

Perfect Picture Book Friday – An Apple Pie For Dinner

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Mother Bruce

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Biggest Smallest Christmas Present

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Waiting For Snow

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Before Morning

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Spooky Wheels On The Bus

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Sleep Tight Farm

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Fletcher And The Falling Leaves