“Leaf Man,” written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, shows the author’s trademark mastery of collage in a gorgeous celebration of fall foliage.
Not only that, its endpapers provide a valuable service, at least for leaf know-nothings like me, by giving names to the leaf litter on sidewalks and forest floors, including maple, honey locust, sweet gum, ginkgo, ash and oak.
Everyone’s familiar with the sight of a man in the moon or a hippo in the clouds. In this case, Ehlert takes the same idea – and a little artful arrangement– to see figures in leaves. The story, such as it is, chronicles the journey of Leaf Man up up and away from his origins in a leaf pile.
Like a folk troubadour, our hero leaves “no travel plans” because “a Leaf Man’s got to go where the wind blows.”
Ehlert’s illustrations of chickens, ducks, pumpkins, orchards, and so on are rendered in collages of green, orange, yellow and brown leaves against contrasting, textured backgrounds. I can imagine young children having a great time identifying the pear tree or finding the leaf that forms a turkey’s beak or a cow’s udder.
In the end, author encourages readers to find Leaf Men of their own, which is really just a way of saying they should appreciate the surprising visual pleasures of the world. In an author’s note, Ehlert writes that she has always had an eye for beautiful leaves on the sidewalk, and the raw material for her collages were photocopies of leaves she and her friends collected all over the U.S.
Speaking leaves, Lane Smith’s new picturebook, “Grandpa Green,” is one of a kind –a fanciful family story told primarily in illustrations of topiary. The illustrations show an overall-clad little boy hard at work in a park while he recounts the life of his great grandfather, born “before computers or cell phones or television.”
Moving the story along are enormous topiary babies, bunnies, carrots, dragons and even (my favorite) a child afflicted with chicken pox, just as Grandpa was in fourth grade. Toward the end, Grandpa himself appears, clippers in hand, creating a new masterpiece.
Grandpa’s memory is imperfect, the narrator tells us, so sometimes his garden – or more precisely the topiary he’s created -- does the remembering for him.
Yeah, it’s a little mysterious to me, too. Children inclined to ask “Why?” will have a field day with this book. Parents and teachers should be prepared to use patience and imagination in answering.
Finally, I’m late to the party for “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin Stead, which won the Caldecott Medal this year. The Caldecott is given for illustration, and in this case brilliant illustrations are wedded to brilliant story – which makes sense because so are illustrator and writer.
It’s a truism that children’s books must have a child or animal hero, but very occasionally an old person is allowed to be used as a stand-in. In this case, it’s big-nosed, balding, sweet-faced Amos McGee, zookeeper. When a cold forces him to take a day off, his pals the zoo animals are so disappointed they take matters into their own, uh… paws.
The illustrations, created by hand using woodblock techniques and pencil, offer sweet rewards on every page – the penguin’s wing entwined with the elephant’s trunk while they walk, the rhino’s patient expression as he waits for the bus, the way Amos clasps his hands when his friends arrive at his bedside.
With its old-fashioned look and old-fashioned story, “A Sick Day for Amos McGee” was a surprise choice for the Caldecott, but I think it’s perfect.