Story Time – Leaf Man, written by Lois Ehlert
I borrowed some new (for us) books from the library the
other day. It’s always a fun occasion to
search for books that can be more than just stories at bedtime, and I found a
gem of a creative book for fall. Leaf
Man is a simple story about fall leaves in the shape of a man who is blown
away past other animals and landscapes made out of leaves. Each page is no more than a sentence long at most,
but what makes this book special are the artistic leaf collages on each page and
its use of imagination of where the leaf man might go.
Each turn of the page with my daughter was an exhilarating
search for the artistic outline of the animal or plant displayed. I’d question her, “Do you see it?” She’d excitedly answer, “There, there!” The end of the book states that only the wind
knows where the leaf man will go. After
reading the book, my daughter and I made up a story together of where the wind might
have blown the leaf man around our yard.
Then we walked around outside looking for the leaf man. Alas, we live in Florida and very few leaves
have turned color and fallen out of our trees yet this year; so regrettably, we
couldn’t find him. But that’s okay, the
journey is more important than the destination, and our fun with this book was
not over yet.
Leaf Man is almost begging for children to come up
with their own designs to create plants and animals out of leaves. However, my daughter is only two; so, her
creativity and eye/hand coordination make this a little more complicated than
it would be for an older child. Luckily,
there are a few very simple butterfly collages that would be easy for almost
any age to construct. The butterflies in
the book were made from only two or three leaves (one for the body and a big leaf
or two small, similar looking leaves for the wings). Then we went on a hunt around our yard for
leaves of all shapes and sizes. I
checked over each leaf we collected to make sure there were no bugs or leaves
that were too dry and brittle. Once we
had enough variety to choose from for our collage, we brought the leaves into
the house to make our picture. We spread
out the leaves on our table and organized a few that would look good
together. Then I placed a sheet of
contact paper, sticky side up, in front of my daughter so she could put the
leaves together (wings first, then the body of the butterfly on top). After she was done, I placed another sheet of
contact paper, sticky side down, on top of her art project and sealed the
leaves inside. This project was almost effortless
and fun for my two year old, but can easily be transformed into a more challenging
and creative art project for older children.
If you don’t have contact paper, you can use two sheets of wax paper,
and then iron them (no steam) between a couple of towels to melt the wax so the
sheets stick to one another.
If you are lucky enough to live up north where you have a
wider variety of fall leaves on the ground, your children just might be able to
find a leaf man in your backyard. Or at
least they will have plenty of leaves to watch and see where the wind takes
them after reading this creative and enjoyable book. It’s a fun read for children with big
imaginations and who love to pretend as my daughter does. It’s amazing how one simple book can inspire
so many activities!
Please let me know if
you’ve come across a gem of a story for children about nature. You’re welcome to tell me a little about the
book and why you like it. Books are
always a favorite for young children; and I, like many of you, am always
looking for the perfect addition for my daughter’s bookshelf.
No comments:
Post a Comment