Morning Leaves: Cultivating a Life of Beauty, Meaning, and Joy

by Laing F. Rikkers, Kelly Leahy Radding (Illustrator)

Overview

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR

“The poems within Morning Leaves are tender, compassionate and full of wonder. Laing's writing and Kelly's illustrations are conduits for healing and hope.”—Kristin A. Meekhof, co-author of A Widow's Guide to Healing 

“Morning Leaves is a gift to all who open their eyes to its images and their hearts to its whispers and exhortations.”—Faith Salie, Emmy-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning and author of Approval Junkie

A radiant fusion of poetry and nature art, Morning Leaves: Cultivating a Life of Beauty, Meaning, and Joy is a tender, soul-stirring meditation on grief, healing, and the quiet joy of rediscovering beauty one morning at a time.

Steeped in beautiful art and verse that invites reflection, Morning Leaves is the perfect gift book or self-purchase.

Morning Leaves is an invitation to dream of a life where you are moving away from whatever has stopped you. It might be a death, trauma, loss of a relationship, some wild dark night of the soul is upon you and you enter this book, these poems and Kelly Leahy Radding’s magnificent nature art.

You enter the possibility: Walk it. Talk it. Write it. Create it. Keep moving forward. Find your joy. Find your blessing. Find who you are going to be in your wild and precious life - one butterfly flight, one mourning dove wing, one frog leap at a time. This is a book that invites a journey into wholeness through creativity and conversation and writing and movement.

Healing isn’t static. It’s energetic! I am here to take your hand. Morning Leaves is a love letter to the growing soul who wants to move on to the next place and find joy. 

AWARD WINS FOR MORNING LEAVES:
2023 FOREWORD INDIES AWARDS WINNER
2023 PUBWEST DESIGN AWARDS WINNER
2024 FEATHERED QUILL BOOK AWARDS WINNER | GOLD
2024 IBPA BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARDS WINNER | GOLD

MORE PRAISE FOR MORNING LEAVES:
“The poems within Morning Leaves are tender, compassionate and full of wonder. Laing's writing and Kelly's illustrations are conduits for healing and hope.”—Kristin A. Meekhof, co-author of A Widow's Guide to Healing

“So beautifully written and thoughtfully constructed. Visceral. Visual. Vulnerable. The passages cracked open my heart.”—Amy K. Hutchens, award-winning speaker and bestselling author of Get It and The Secrets Leaders Keep

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781636284736
Publisher:	Red Hen Press
Publication date:	03/17/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120

About the Author

Laing F. Rikkers was raised in New York City and earned her BA from Harvard College, followed by an MA in psychology from Columbia University. She spent most of her career as a medical device investor and co-founded ProSomnus Sleep Technologies. Currently, she works as an executive coach and public speaker, supporting leaders through periods of transition and growth. Laing lives in Southern California with her husband and their spirited dog and is the proud mother of two adult children.

Kelly Leahy Radding honors the natural world she loves through her art. She finds all aspects of nature interesting subjects for her paintings. Animals, plants, butterflies, rocks, the sometimes overlooked minute details of Nature, are to her an integral and necessary part of the whole. Kelly grew up in rural Connecticut on the edge of a state forest and has come full circle living on a farm in Columbia, Connecticut at the end of a dirt road surrounded by woods. She shares the farm with her husband, her brother, three gray cats, seven elderly goats and one perfect border collie.

Editorial Reviews

The poems within Morning Leaves are tender, compassionate and full of wonder. Laing's writing and Kelly's illustrations are conduits for healing and hope.”
—Kristin A. Meekhof, co-author of A Widow's Guide to Healing

“So beautifully written and thoughtfully constructed. Visceral. Visual. Vulnerable. The passages cracked open my heart.”
—Amy K. Hutchens, award-winning speaker and bestselling author of Get It and The Secrets Leaders Keep

"Through Morning Leaves, Laing has found an elegant, beautiful way to deal with her loss. Poetry is so helpful here, isn’t it. The book is quite beautiful to look at as well."
—Nils Peterson, first Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County and author of The Comedy of Desire

“Everything about Morning Leaves is calming, soothing, peaceful, and then engaging. . . [Laing] has illuminated a road map, of sorts, for each new reader to find their own path forward towards healing and acceptance.”
—Mel Yoakum, Ph.D., curator and author of Francoise Gilot: Monograph 1940-2000

“With spare, lyrical verses, Rikkers brings us into commune with the earth, with all of life; connecting us with ourselves, with each other.”
—Tucker Malarkey, author of An Obvious Enchantment, Resurrection, and Stronghold

“This is a beautiful book. I think it will be very helpful to people navigating grief or loss, pointing the way to finding meaning and solace in connecting to plants, animals and the rhythms of nature.”
—Edward Slingerland, author of Drunk and Trying Not to Try and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia

“The voice is beautiful, delicate, powerful, rich, relatable, clear, articulate, whimsical and penetrating.”
—Reverend Elizabeth Uslander, MSW, MTS and co-founder of Empowered Endings Medical Group

“Beautiful, powerful, humbling, painful, at times terrifying – all one messy mix. It touches somewhere deep. Will read again and again to digest and fuel.”
—Dr. Elizabeth Andrews, psychologist

“Dedicated to [Rikkers'] late sister Ginna, [Morning Leaves] makes a meaningful argument for the power of quiet observation in the midst of chaos, and an appreciation for the beauty and wisdom which is all around.”
—Anna Holmes, an award-winning writer, editor at publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, and The New Yorker, and founder of the site Jezebel

“Laing bravely lifts her raw pain and willingness to listen to the lessons offered by the natural world during her morning walks and waits for the metaphors to be revealed...The striking illustrations by Kelly Leahy Radding perfectly accompany this journey, underscoring its fragility, unique gifts, and profound unfolding beauty.”
—Kitty O'Meara, bestselling author of And the People Stayed Home, The Rare, Tiny Flower and Oliver and the Night Giants

“The story that this book tells is certainly valuable to anyone who has not ‘stopped to smell the roses.’”
—Neal Seltzer, DMD, FAGD, D-ABDSM, D-ACSDD, D-ASBA

“Rikkers’ beautiful volume demonstrates how artistic endeavors can become healing balms.”
—Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, Author of Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections, and Rituals, Afoot and Lighthearted: A Log for Mindful Walking, and Kickstart Creativity: 50 Prompted Cards to Spark Inspiration

“Laing’s beautiful poems offer reflections of her deep connection with the simple beauty that exists all around us, and allows the reader a glimpse beyond what the eyes see, into what the soul experiences. The poems are soothing and provocative at the same time.”
—Dr. Bob Uslander, co-founder of Empowered Endings Medical Group

“Morning Leaves is a gift to all who open their eyes to its images and their hearts to its whispers and exhortations.”
—Faith Salie, Emmy-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning and author of Approval Junkie

“This book is for everyone whether grieving or craving a connection to your soul . . . This is a retreat for your soul. This is a way to connect to your heart. This is a way to slow down and truly see the interconnections of all of life. This is love.”
—Jessica Zemple, author of Shuck This Way, contributor to the HuffPost, Inc.com, and Forbes, and professional Life and Business Coach

From the Publisher