Finalist (Children’s)
Title: The Little Leaf That Wouldn’t Fall
Author: Phil Scrima
Publisher: Create Space
ISBN: 978-1492774532
Pages: 462, Paperback/Kindle
Genre: Children’s Books
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
Author Phil Scrima, lovingly known as Nonno by his nine grandchildren, great grandchild and family, has created an imaginative fable with the main character being a talking leaf. The Little leaf that Wouldn’t Fall is a story about the lone leaf survivor of a tree full of leaf-siblings; leaves casted off the tendrils, limbs and branches of their nurturing parental tree by the change of seasons and autumn breezes. Honestly, anyone can get a bit emotionally saddened while reading this book, as it strikes a chord of the cycle of life which each of us have faced, and will undoubtedly face again.The little boy talked to the leaf every year as the boy and the leaf become life-long friends. Within the boy’s imagination, the leaf talked back. Each year, the leaf explained the cycles of the seasons for the boy to understand that everything goes along the plan set out by his mother, Mother Nature that is. Leaves are sprouted, flourish and fall, turning back to become a new leaf the next year. It’s obvious this message is personally directed to foreshadow the loss everyone will have at times in their lives, and to convey the natural order of life’s cycle.
The illustrations are light and breezy, just as descriptive as the story. I noticed the same background on many of the pages while being turned, with just a movement of the boy or a bird. This gave me an animated illusion while reading the book, which will increased the reading enjoyment of young readers in this information rich and visually fast-paced world. A challenge to the reader’s memorization is also sneaked in, very cleverly I might add, to again lift this story off the pages and into the reader’s mind.
As the boy watches the tree outside his living room window go through the winter season, his anticipation of the arrival of leaves each springtime creates a wonderful pattern in which the reader is taught patience. Spring will come, and so will leaves of the tree sprout. Will the talking leaf be back? We learn that as long as the boy’s imagination is listening, the leaf will talk.
A personal heirloom to Nonno’s family, I believe The Little Leaf That Wouldn’t Fall is an ideal addition to any family library of young minds. It would make the perfect gift for 4, 5 or 6 year old birthdays, as the imagination of young minds can certainly hear leaves talk; at that age it’s their peak season.
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