The Little Yellow Leaf

by Carin Berger, Carin Berger (Illustrator)

Overview

A story for anyone who has ever been afraid of facing the unknown—and a celebration of the friends who help us take the leap. A New York Times Best Illustrated Book.

It’s autumn. The apples are crisp, the pumpkins are orange, the geese are flying south, and brightly colored leaves are falling everywhere. Finally, as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, a little yellow leaf discovers that it is the very last leaf on the tree. The little yellow leaf does not want to let go . . . not quite yet. Even when the first frost arrives, this little yellow leaf holds on, determined.

Carin Berger’s stunning cut-paper illustrations—there are literally thousands of scraps of newsprint, catalogs, and ephemera assembled on these pages—tell a perennial and powerful story of courage, friendship, and the rewards of embracing change while introducing the fall season to young children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061452260
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	302,263
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Carin Berger is an award-winning designer and illustrator. Her cut-paper collages are made using ephemera, such as catalogues, old books, receipts, letters, and ticket stubs. In a starred review, Kirkus said of her Forever Friends, “Sophisticated, sensitive, and accessible, this picture book will offer new insights and pleasures with each season.” The Little Yellow Leaf was a 2008 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection, and in starred reviews, Publishers Weekly called her A Perfect Day “lovely” and her Finding Spring “exceptional.” She is also the illustrator of the acclaimed Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, both by Jack Prelutsky, among other books. She lives with her family in New York City. www.carinberger.com

Carin Berger is an award-winning designer and illustrator. Her cut-paper collages are made using ephemera, such as catalogues, old books, receipts, letters, and ticket stubs. In a starred review, Kirkus said of her Forever Friends, “Sophisticated, sensitive, and accessible, this picture book will offer new insights and pleasures with each season.” The Little Yellow Leaf was a 2008 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection, and in starred reviews, Publishers Weekly called her A Perfect Day “lovely” and her Finding Spring “exceptional.” She is also the illustrator of the acclaimed Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, both by Jack Prelutsky, among other books. She lives with her family in New York City. www.carinberger.com

Editorial Reviews

Carin Berger, the author and illustrator, allows the raw materials of her collages to show through, including the lines of graph paper and the type of newspapers and old books. Notebook paper brings schoolwork to mind, but with scissors Berger transforms the stuff of homework into art. Adults will note with satisfaction the snipping-up of receipts and water-meter readings. The creases and stains and faded edges suggest a nice parallel between aging paper and aging leaves. Berger's technique is a great relief compared with the glossy slickness of computer illustration: Readers will understand that it's O.K. to let imperfections show. The visibly hand-crafted look should inspire kids to race to the art room and say, "I can do this."
—The New York Times

David Barringer

PreS-Gr 2

The human capacity for volition and fear of the unknown is central to this tale. A lone yellow leaf clings to a giant oak tree and watches the unfolding drama of winter's approach, refusing to let go of his branch. A "riot of fiery leaves" swirls to the ground, apples grow "musky" and pumpkins ripen, geese fly south, and eventually snow flurries fill the air, but still the leaf holds fast. Finally, he spies a small scarlet leaf attached high above that invites him to let go. Together, they soar away and join in a dance with the wind. In Berger's eye-catching collage illustrations, pieced background papers in shades of yellow, green, blue, and beige show off stylized forms of naked tree branches, leaves, and sun created by clipping and pasting (sometimes tiny) segments of various papers-faded, lined ledger, and graph paper; colored and printed magazine pages-and adding touches of paint. It seems the message to be inferred from this slight anthropomorphic tale is that feelings of indecision can be overcome by heeding the encouragement of another. Some parents may be inclined to disagree.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, Ohio

School Library Journal

Beautifully designed and executed, this modest fable anthropomorphizes a leaf who hangs onto his oak branch far into the winter. When he discovers another late-lingering leaf on his tree, both agree to let go at once and dance away in the wind together. The brief text has a modestly elegant beauty and patterning that makes it a delight to read aloud (with one unfortunate adverbial faux pas: "the / sun / sank / slow"). The handsomely designed collage compositions are showstoppers in a palette of earth and sky, sometimes on a subtle background of paint over graph or notebook paper. They take full advantage of the visual bounty of autumn, which will be a delight in many preschool storytimes. However, the implicit moral of taking courage from a friend may be over some children's heads. They might wonder, as well, what exactly happens to the brave little leaves after they drift out of sight into the cold winter sky. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews