Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: A Fall Book for Kids

Product Information

When I had my children I started writing stories for picture books, and my first book, Fred and the Little Egg, was published in 2005. I never thought that I would be so amazed in this book about what autumn is like to children who love trees, but innocently do not really understand about the life cycle of a tree. When I saw that the title character shared a name with my best furry friend, I knew I had to own this book. Fletcher is such a sweet character, and the book's gentle exploration of accepting change is perfect.

But I do like that the book focuses on a very emotional character who cares deeply about his favorite tree, it makes for such a poetic way to carry the story. As the autumn season sets in, Fletcher is very worried his beautiful tree has begun to loose all of its leaves.

The oil pastel art not only incorporates the colors of fall/autumn and winter, but also is very nice to look at, going well with the heartfelt tale.

Fletcher than goes to the tree every day to keep the leaves on the tree; however, when winter came, Fletcher noticed that all the leaves were starting to fall off more rapidly than before. Deeply attached to his favorite tree, Fletcher was terribly worried, as autumn proceeded, to notice it losing leaves. Overall, this book has gorgeous artwork that illustrates the changing seasons and tells a very heartfelt story. The narrative itself captures a young child's uncertainty and fear, when confronted with change, while the beautiful pastel illustrations evoke all the magic of the season. As the Autumn season sets in, Fletcher is very worried – his beautiful tree has begun to loose all of its leaves.Fletcher loves his tree, but when autumn comes he begins to fear that something terrible is happening--for the leaves begin to turn color and fall off. Fletcher's sensitivity is commendable, his curiosity and misunderstanding easy to relate to as it is all to easy to want something (or someone! Having spent the last 8+ years on a tropical island, I can understand how someone who has never seen the fall might be confused. My Thursday storytime had a lot of younger kids, and some of them lost interest partway through, although the adults seemed to enjoy it.

Young readers will share the feelings of wonder and empathy as they curl up with a parent or gather in circle time to enjoy this beautiful picture book. Determined to do something about it, he soon discovered that it was impossible, either to prevent the tree from shedding its leaves, or to reattach them, once they had fallen.The final page, in which Fletcher finally sees his tree in a new light, was particularly beautiful, offering a satisfying reassurance that, while change has come, it hasn't destroyed the tree's beauty.

Tiphanie Beeke attended the Royal College of Art where she gained a Master's degree in Illustration and has since specialised in children's books. The image I really loved the most was the final image where the tree is covered in icicles during winter and the icicles are covered with glitter which truly makes the image look beautiful and mesmerizing. The picture book was introducing a lot of themes here from the melancholy of Fletcher's feelings to the grief of his favorite tree changing to only being able to hold onto just a few leaves, seeing animals take the falling leaves leaving him with a sense of worry and much more. Definitely want to read more from this series at some point because its a comforting kind of story and Fletcher is the perfect kind of character to explore the concept of seasons: a curious fox! Fletcher And The Falling Leaves features cozy artwork, introducing readers to a curious fox named Fletcher whose looking to protect his favorite tree as the seasons change and the leaves begin to fall.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo! Fletcher and the Falling Leaves” is a cute story about the beauty of changes in weather that I am sure that many children who are interested in knowing what happens to the trees during winter and autumn will easily enjoy for many years!