Oak Leaf: A Picture Book

by John Sandford

Overview

Award-winning author/illustrator John Sandford’s Oak Leaf is an artistic picture book about an autumn leaf’s journey that beautifully evokes the season.

A lone autumn leaf falls and flies away on a breeze. It travels up and over the world and down again—where it finally lands on the page of a little girl’s open book and becomes a keepsake.

“Written with a quiet poeticism.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944903732
Publisher:	Cameron Kids
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

John Sandford has illustrated over 60 children’s books. He earned a gold medal from the Parents’ Choice Awards, a best book selection from the Children’s Book Council, and starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, among other honors. Sandford has worked in children’s publishing for more than 30 years and is the art director for Cricket magazine. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Frances, and daughter, Eleanor.

Hometown:

St. Paul, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

February 23, 1944

Place of Birth:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Education:

State University of Iowa, Iowa City: B.A., American History; M.A., Journalism

Website:

http://www.johnsandford.org

Interviews

Sandford: Chicago, IL

Editorial Reviews

10/14/2019

“Spinning, spiraling, tumbling... Circling, fluttering, falling.” Using simple descriptive language and swirling scenery, Sandford depicts the windblown journey of a leaf from the branches of an oak tree to a resting place between the pages of a book. Perspectives tilt in a series of richly hued illustrations, reflecting the leaf’s movement through a series of adventures—dodging the mouth of a fox, catching a gust of air from a passing train, drifting past a cattle farm, and passing maple trees, chilly lakes, lofty clouds, and soaring geese, until finally, the leaf pauses, then drops “down through clouds... Down to a colorful city below.” The fantastical narrative serves as a framing device for Sandford’s scenic illustrations. His impressionistic style and use of saturated, creamy tones effectively captures landscapes and animals, but style stumbles in the final spreads; the child who catches the fluid, interesting leaf feels awkwardly rendered in comparison, breaking the book’s fragile spell. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Written with a quiet poeticism."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

09/01/2019

PreS-Gr 2—Sandford's simple tale begins with the season advancing from summer to fall. "Autumn arrived quietly so no one would notice. But the trees knew." Oak Leaf changes color prior to detaching from its tree and taking off for an adventure before becoming a keepsake. Drifting on breezes and wind gusts, it encounters a family of foxes, a hurtling train, and, briefly, the nose of a calf in a farmyard, before continuing on its journey. Lush illustrations offer a variety of perspectives from close to the ground to high above a flock of migrating geese. The colors of fall—bright blue skies with fluffy white clouds and swirling leaves in red, yellow, and orange—fill the pages from margin to margin. VERDICT Pair this appealing title with Kenard Pak's Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and Michael Hall's Wonderfall for a seasonal storytime.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

School Library Journal

2019-06-23
Autumn's arrival sends an oak leaf on a windswept adventure against dappled, pointillist-style paintings.

A leaf appears, distinct and crisp against the gauzy background. It's an eye-catching burst of gold and umber that contrasts with the lovely, if unexpectedly spring-y, Monet-inspired pastel colors. As the text catalogs the leaf's travels through settings both natural ("over freezing lake waters") and built (blown about by a freight train), it's odd that there are so few autumnal references. Some of the leaf's adventures, such as wafting through a vividly crimson maple tree or glimpsing geese migrating, are topically seasonal, but others, like a visit to a calf or a momma fox, don't feel as germane. As the oak leaf floats lower over the city, it's caught and pressed in a book by a white girl, a pleasant conclusion that gives the leaf's journey a feeling of completion, though the ending is hampered slightly by the child's somewhat unfinished-looking face—the illustrator is clearly more adept at capturing sweeping natural scenes than portraits. Written with a quiet poeticism, concise lines such as "Up through the mist, away from the earth, up" establish a pensive tone that neatly matches the quiet tale, though the text isn't exactly bursting with personality either.

It's pretty to look at, but it's too generic to be an essential addition to an autumnal-themed book collection. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews