My Leaf Book

by Monica Wellington

With her trademark bold, graphic style Monica Wellington has created a picture book about autumn, trees, and leaves. When the seasons change, a young narrator visits the arboretum to collect beautiful leaves of all shapes, sizes and colors. She researches the trees and leaves to identify them, does art projects with the leaves, and creates her own book with her findings. Brilliant illustrations show each variety of tree the girl encounters, from the common oak and maple to the lesser known gingko and honey locust. Like the girl in the book, young readers will be eager to make their very own leaf books. Suggestions and directions for art projects included at the end.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Storytime, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science, Stem

34 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Monica Wellington was born in London and lived in Europe until she moved to the United States at age seven. As a child she always loved to draw and paint, but it wasn't until she went to college that she realized she wanted to be an artist for her profession. She went to the University of Michigan's School of Art to earn her BFA and studied pottery, painting and printmaking. After art school, while traveling and living in a number of different countries, she had various art related jobs, which were all good background and preparation for doing children's books. She has both written and illustrated the majority of her books. She says, "I usually start a book visually, with an idea of what I want to paint pictures about. The pictures may come first before the words for me. Both the pictures and words go through many revisions, and I am often still working on the final words after I finish the pictures." She says that doing children's books is great. "I get to have a job where I spend my days doing totally what I love to do. And it is very gratifying that my work goes out into the world and is shared with other people. I feel incredibly lucky for all this!"

Since 1994 she has taught illustration at the School of Visual Arts. She lives in New York City with her daughter Lydia.

Reviews

[Emily Briano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our breakfast book today. Informative for adults and children. I think it will inspire us to go out and collect leaves around our house and make some simple art projects with them.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is informational, without any plot or character development. Because of that, I wish that it had more realistic illustrations, even though the leaf rubbings on some of the pages are interesting. I'm not going to read this for storytime, but it would be useful in an educational context.

[Brandon Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really cute! My Leaf Book brought out so much fun during story time with my kids — there were colors and shapes everywhere, and the kids were totally engaged. What I loved most: the next time we were outside, they picked up leaves and tried to find all the different colors and shapes from the book. That kind of connection makes a children’s book truly special. We’ll definitely read this one again!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

¡Este libro fue realmente adorable! Mi libro de hojas sacó tanta diversión durante nuestra hora del cuento: había colores y formas por todas partes, y los niños estaban completamente participativos. Lo que más me gustó: la próxima vez que salimos afuera, recogieron hojas e intentaron encontrar todos los colores y formas diferentes que vimos en el libro. Ese tipo de conexión hace que un libro infantil sea verdaderamente especial. ¡Lo volveremos a leer sin duda!

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a bright fall day, we follow a little girl thru the arboretum as she looks for samples to collect for her leaf book. She finds each leaf a bit different in size, shape and color: the honey locust tree has millions of little leaves; with five points, the sweet gum tree leaf is similar to a star; and maple leaves are every shade of red and orange. The simple and colorful illustrations will draw young readers into the wonders and diversity of nature. The author also incorporates side bar notes regarding the parts of leaves and many other fun facts about trees. Includes leaf rubbings and leaf print instructions for craft projects. A great book for the autumn season to be shared in the classroom and at home. Recommended for preschool thru Kindergarten. Reviewed by: Alyson D., Youth Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Arefa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little girl visits the park with her dog to see how many different leaves she can collect for her leaf book. As the girl finds various leaves, the book goes through and identifies each one. There are small facts on each page (separate from the story) that gives more information on identifying leaves. The examples of leaves for each tree are from actual leaves. The author collected real autumn leaves to make prints, rubbings and photocopies and cut each out to use for illustrations in the book. The illustrations are very bold and colorful. The end of the book includes various leaf projects to make your very own leaf rubbings and prints. This is the perfect book to use as inspiration to make your very own leaf book!

[littlemiao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mixed-media collages that make up the art in this book are so beautiful. I love how the shapes and patterns of the leaves so simply and perfectly evoke the kind of tree they belong to. The leaf prints from real leaves are lovely too, and the author even has simple instructions for how to make your own leaf prints in the back of the book. The content of the book is very simple and introductory and couldn't be used as a guide for identifying more than about five types of leaves. But it is a beautiful art book and a vibrant start for young ones interested in nature.

[Toni Chahine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Leaf Book by Monica Wellington is a very informational book. I feel that this book would be centered around kids age 7-10. This book uses too large of words for 4-7 year olds. The book talked about many different kinds of leaves, gave pictures to represent them, and even had a leaf project for a child to do in the back. I thought that was a very neat touch. It was not much of a story besides a little boy collecting leaves, but I feel like it could inspire a child to maybe start a leaf collection book! Very informative book, I even learned stuff I did not know!

[Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"My Leaf Book" by Monica Wellington is about a young girl's adventure when she goes to the park and collects leaves. She collects leaves so she can begin a leaf book. The book describes different types of leaves and includes facts about leaves. This was a very informative book and I liked how the author at the end of the book included leaf projects. She explained that anyone can make their own leaf book by pasting leaves onto the pages of a journal, identifying them, and labeling them.

[Andrea Andrusewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great, had information about different leaves and trees! Each page had a new piece of information on it! The colors are amazing, which I think is a good reason to read to children! Overall I enjoyed reading this book!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Simple wording, yet very educational for trying to teach children the different kinds of trees & leaves. I liked that it gave ideas for stamping and printing leaves in the back. Great educational book, totally using this for my fall programming!

[Shiloah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with my Madi!

[Jj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, colorful, and not too long. I would definitely use this with older kids when talking about leaves and/or doing leaf projects in school.

[Carly MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great fall book with great pictures. Children learn about different leaves.

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book about autumn, but also an introduction to identifying trees.

[Bonn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm super biased, but this is the freaking best!!!! Forestry ID for all ages!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly colored illustrations! The books outlines different kinds of leaves and how to identify them.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information, good presentation, colorful, pretty art. A list of projects to do with leaves at the end. My daughter enjoyed it.

[Lucca · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this book! The colors and nonfiction information was amazing. We will totally do leaf book!

[Cathie Stumpenhaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this several times both with my small grandson and by myself. Full of information about tree identification and fun projects.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great science book. The pictures are over simplified but perfect for art. The suggested activities are cute, doable, and fun.

[Owen and Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and cute story to get kids out in natures with crafts

[Lorellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tot and I were both quite fascinated by this. It makes me want to start our own leaf book.

[Chris Barnhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book great for learning

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

CADL FB Live story time 10-11-2021
Holt-Delhi PJ story time 10-13-2021

[Afaf Ammar · Rating 3 out of 5]

🍁so many trees, so many leaves, so many colors, too🍁

قصة مصورة برسومات دافئة عن طفلة تذهب في نزهة خريفية لتجمع أوراق أشجار الخريف في كتاب، وتتعرف على أسماء الأشجار وألوان أوراقها،
وتمنحها بحب أشجار الصمغ الحلو والبلوط والصفصاف والكرز والقيقب، أوراقها الحمراء والأرجوانية والبرتقالية لتزين به كتاب أوراقها
🧡🍂🍁🍁🍂🧡

4 November 2024

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on Creative Madness Mama.I found myself very excited to see this book arrive yesterday. I have loved the previous titles from Monica Wellington that we have read in the past including Night House Bright House and Colors for Zena . (Links back to goodreads). It was just a stumbled upon that I discovered  Night House Bright House (my review) and I was surprised by how much I truly enjoyed the collage style book. Then last year when Monica offered me to read Colors for Zena, I was intrigued and excited as well - it is another fabulous read for the keeper shelf. This year I have discovered her latest treasure in My Leaf Book, in which a young girl goes in the arboretum of the world and collects and designs her own person leaf book. From pressed leaves, to leaf rubbings, and more this is delightfully inspiring!

My Leaf Book is a perfect addition to the books that we explore when we are using a tree unit study such as our experience with our previous  Homeschool Legacy Unit Study . I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one. Monica Wellington has created something wonderful. I absolutely must point out the creative note I discovered on the copyright page that explicitly states that the artwork and collages were created by hand and not on a computer. This makes this all the more impressive and treasure-worthy in my opinion.

Each page throughout this book is vibrant and filled with information of quite an educational value. I'm putting this one on the keeper shelf and absolutely recommended list.

 



 
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This review was originally posted on Creative Madness Mama.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with my six year old granddaughter Aniyah. She loved it. She enjoyed the colors, the art and what she learned about different leaves. She wants to make her own leaf book come early fall. Glad we shared the story together.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the tale of a girl who is making her own leaf book. She goes on a walk and collects leaves from different trees. Along the way we are told about leaf shape, simple and compound leaves, lobes, color, veins, smooth and toothed edges, and leaf size. The last page of the book instructs one in how to make leaf rubbings and prints.

I thought the content in this book was great and very instructional. The only thing that I really didn't like about it was the very unrealistic look of most of the trees in the book.

This book could be used to talk about identifying trees. More specifically, it could be used to talk about the parts of leaves. This would be a good book to read in conjunction with students making a leaf collection.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl loves trees so much, she collects their leaves and makes a leaf book. In her book she draws leaves, makes rubbings, pastes leaves, and writes about them. Wellington highlights nonfiction for kids when the little girl shows her Tree Guide and explains that it will help her identify the leaves she finds. My Leaf Book also introduces new vocabulary about trees and leaves like ginko, compound, and lobes. Like Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, My Leaf Book encourages kids to make their own nature journal. Adults can help kids collect items and research the world around them. My Leaf Book also explains how to make leaf rubbings and prints.