Up in the Leaves: The True Story of the Central Park Treehouses

by Shira Boss, Jamey Christoph (Illustrator)

Overview

“Bob lived in the big city. The city was very crowded.”
A true story about Bob Redman, a New York City boy who built a series of intricate treehouses hidden in Central Park.
This charming picture book tells the true story of Bob Redman, a child growing up in New York City. Tired of the noise, the people, and the rushing around, Bob took shelter in the natural beauty of Central Park—where he covertly built a series of amazing treehouses, starting with a simple platform and growing more and more elaborate over time. He played cat-and-mouse with the park workers, who kept tearing down his houses, until he was finally caught. But his story ends with a happy surprise . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454920717
Publisher:	Union Square Kids
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	636,298
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Shira Boss is a writer who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, three blocks from Central Park. Up in the Leaves is her second book. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia University, including a master’s in Journalism. When her Japanese maple tree needed pruning, several people suggested she call arborist Bob Redman. He said it was the smallest tree he had ever worked on (about four feet high, in a pot). Now they have two sons, two whippets—and many more trees. Connect with them at shiraboss.com.

Jamey Christoph’s illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and in several award-winning children’s books, including Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford (Albert Whitman). He works out of his 1920s home in Cleveland Heights, OH, with his crazy dogs, Owen and Jack.

Editorial Reviews

02/19/2018
From age 13 to 21, Bob Redman (Boss’s husband) escaped the city’s chaos by building treehouses from salvaged materials in Central Park: “Every day after school, Bob’s treehouse was waiting. He hugged the tree’s trunk and scampered straight up. The city—roar, clang, bang—fell away.” Having his first treehouse dismantled doesn’t deter Redman, who simply builds another in its place. Christoph’s matte spreads show Central Park and its surrounding cityscape throughout the seasons. When park authorities arrive one morning, readers may anticipate that Bob is in trouble. Boss, however, delivers a gentle surprise: Redman is hired to work as an arborist in the park—so long as he agrees to stop building treehouses. There’s no don’t-try-this-at-home message; the conclusion delivers a heartening suggestion that, when someone breaks the rules in the spirit of ingenuity and imagination, the circumstances call for an equally innovative form of intervention. Ages 5–8. Author’s agency: Dunow, Carlson, and Lerner. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Boss shares the tale of Bob Redman, a real arborist in New York, with simple, heartfelt language, displaying compassion and understanding of Bob’s dedication to his trees.” —KirkusReviews

“Christoph’s digitally rendered illustrations mimic watercolor, offering beautiful hues and visible, delicate brush strokes. . . . sure to inspire young arborists.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

04/01/2018
Gr 1–3—As a child, Bob Redman preferred nature to the densely crowded New York City streets. He found a secret spot in the branches of Central Park, where "each tree has its own world, every limb an adventure." Gathering wood and rope from dumpsters, he built a tree house in the park—a place where he could go to escape the "roar, clang, bang" of down below. One day, his hideaway mysteriously disappeared. Redman made another. Then it happened again. This game continued over time until Redman, now an adult in the narrative, built the biggest tree house of all. Park employees caught him in the act and offered him a job tending to the trees—so long as he agreed to stop building. The epilogue contains a short biography and photograph of the real Bob Redman. Christoph's digitally rendered illustrations mimic watercolor, offering beautiful hues and visible, delicate brush strokes. Leafy endpapers make the reading experience akin to climbing up the trees and sitting alongside Redman. Onomatopoeic phrases like "tap, tap, tap" and "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" pepper the text with read-aloud potential but the story feels slightly oversimplified. In favor of its whimsical tone, the text evades the fact that Redman is rewarded with a job for his rule breaking. Readers may have lingering questions about why the tree houses were continuously taken down. VERDICT An additional purchase that's sure to inspire young arborists.—Alec Chunn, Eugene Public Library, OR

School Library Journal

2017-12-06
Bob is uncomfortable with the noise, the crowds, and the fast pace of New York City.He feels claustrophobic and longs for escape. Most of all, the young, white boy needs to be above it all. Climbing lampposts or going up to his building's rooftop help, but it is the expanse of Central Park that soothes his soul. The trees seem to invite him to climb them and explore. He is happy above the city in his secret spot. He builds himself a treehouse and makes it his peaceful hideaway. When the treehouse disappears (the text never explains this phenomenon, leaving it to caregivers to help children understand), he feels its loss deeply but begins a new one, more hidden, and better than the first. As the years pass, he builds ever more intricate ones, even a kind of village in a tree, but every one of them is taken away. Finally, park officials order him down—and, miraculously, offer him a job caring for the park's trees. It becomes his life's work, and he loves everything about it. Boss shares the tale of Bob Redman, a real arborist in New York, with simple, heartfelt language, displaying compassion and understanding of Bob's dedication to his trees. The text appears in white spaces nestled among Christoph's soft, delicately hued illustrations, which beautifully depict, with great attention to detail, the wide variety of trees that Bob encounters.A tender, gentle celebration. (epilogue) (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Review