Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

by Kathy Stinson

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, who has been a landscape architect for more than sixty years, considers her profession “the art of the possible.” The description also applies to the very way this remarkable 86-year-old has lived her life. Playing in her grandmother’s garden as a child, Cornelia absorbed the beauty and importance of the natural world and by the age of eleven had decided that she would become a landscape architect.

Leaving her native Germany in the wake of Hitler’s persecution of the Jews, the teenaged Cornelia was transplanted in America, where she could pursue her dream in safety, although not without having to struggle to carve out a place for herself in the male-dominated world of her chosen profession. This 96-page biography tells her remarkable life’s story, complete with photographs and plans for the imaginative playgrounds and the innovative museum and embassy grounds she has created around the world, and for green rooftops, her latest passion. Young readers will not only learn about the profession, but also will find inspiration in Cornelia Hahn Oberlander’s love for the natural world and the respect and concern she shows for our increasingly fragile environment.

Genres: Biography, Canada

96 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2008

About the author

Kathy Stinson, author of internationally acclaimed Canadian children's classic, Red is Best and the TD Award Winner, The Man with the Violin, also writes novels, short stories, and nonfiction for young people of all ages.

Reviews

[Canadian Children's Book Centre]

First up is Kathy Stinson’s inspiring story of a visionary landscape architect who is not well enough known here in the country she now calls home. Fleeing Hitler’s Germany in 1939, Cornelia Hahn ended up in New York. At the age of 11, Cornelia had decided to pursue landscape architecture and in America she began to follow her dream. Although it was a field not particular welcoming to women, Cornelia’s professor described her as “a person of imagination, efficient, and capable”. Her future husband Peter Oberlander was studying town planning and their first date turned into a four-day work session, with each one helping the other. After graduation, one of her first projects was a playground for children, work that continues to be nearest to her heart. Her philosophy – that children needed natural features like hills, trees and bushes, and what she called “beautiful junk” (materials to encourage creativity) – developed through the years as she planned successful playgrounds both large and small. One of her most successful projects was the children’s play area at the Canadian pavilion at Expo 67. Making her home on Canada’s west coast, Cornelia also worked on projects like Robson Square in Vancouver, the National Gallery in Ottawa and the Yellowknife legislative building. Now 85, she continues to work on landscape projects around the world. Stinson tells the story of this remarkable woman’s life with beautiful prose. While attractively designed, the book may appear a little daunting to a child – the text is dense and the photos are all black and white. But don’t let the traditional design put you off. It is an interesting story of a woman with amazing drive and creativity, and Stinson’s passion for her subject is clear throughout the telling. I learned a lot about the importance of good landscape design and how crucial it is for children to have creative play spaces. Kudos to Kathy Stinson on her first biography and I hope it is not her last.

Reviewed by Mary Anne Cree in Canadian Children's Book News
Winter 2009 VOL.32 NO.1

[Janet Barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is a biography written for young people, it includes valuable lessons for people of all ages.

While studying landscape architecture at Smith College in the 1940s, Cornelia Oberlander learned “3 P’s” that would benefit any of us to keep in mind:

Be Patient. People often need time to come round to your way of thinking.

Be Persistent. Stand up for what you know is right.

Be Polite.People are more likely to be convinced by your arguments if you present them in a pleasant manner.

During her impressive career, she added two more “Ps” to her arsenal which also contributed to her success. Can you guess what they were? If not, I highly recommend that you read Love Every Leaf! In addition to finding the answer to this question; you’ll be fascinated to learn about this amazing woman who has contributed so much to the world, and continues to do so in her 90s.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathy Stinson is a lovely writer. I know her through children's books, Red Is Best is a long time favourite of ours in this household. Stinson has written this brief biography of the extra ordinary work of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. I had vaguely heard the name but I did not realize she was the Landscape Architect responsible for so many of those familiar iconic projects in Canada and elsewhere. Her body of work is astounding and it is work I had never connected to one designing mind. I would like to have known of her years ago, when I was in university and she was still actively working somewhere in North America. But of course all the designers I was taught of by name were men, from long ago and (Mostly) far away. Sigh. It is some comfort to know that her work was familiar even if her name was not given the attention it deserved. Her work and legacy still stands and for that I am extremely grateful.

[Leslie A]

Another side of Kathy Stinson - introduces Cornelia Hahn Oberlander to younger readers -really enjoyed this book.