Leaf by Stephen Michael King6/12/2023 Copious white space and deft use of simple lines and details make the watercolor illustrations cozy yet clever. The boy’s zest for life is fully apparent as he cartwheels across pages and plays with his pup, and the sound effects (the only words) add further bounce and gusto. The windup is a little heavy-handed and the protagonist’s initial gender ambiguity may make the conclusion a little startling up until then, though, this is a winsome and wonderful story that offers young viewers themes of humor, playfulness, introspection, and problem solving. Retrieving the little seedling, he plants it outside, where it grows into a tree as time passes the boy too grows, continuing to come back and see the tree over the years, accompanied in his last appearance by a pregnant wife and two children. The boy is delighted with the plant, inventively attempting ways to care for it (he finally waters it by stepping in the shower), but unfortunately all revels are ended when the boy’s mother gives him a buzz cut. After a bird drops a seed on the boy’s head, it sprouts into a plant. This nearly wordless picture book follows a shaggy-haired, high-spirited boy, who dodges his mother’s threat of a haircut by diving headfirst into a stand of bushes.
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