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Red leaf, yellow leaf
1991
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A watercolor collage, leaf-shaped die cuts, and pieces of seeds, fabric, wire and roots introduce the life cycle of a tree, and also features tips on how to plant a tree - (Baker & Taylor)

A child describes the growth of a maple tree from seed to sapling. - (Baker & Taylor)

In this innovative and colorful work of early nonfiction from Caldecott Honor–winning author Lois Ehlert, little ones are introduced to facts about trees.

Ehlert blends bold graphics, vibrant colors, and precise details in her watercolor collage alongside found objects like seeds, fabric, wire, and roots.

A special glossary explains how roots absorb nutrients, what photosynthesis is, how sap circulates, how to make a bird treat, and other facts about trees. Children and adults will feel inspired to take a closer look at the nature in their own backyards.

Celebrate Earth Day, spring, and the basics of trees while improving color recognition with Lois Ehlert's Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf!


- (HARPERCOLL)

This rich introduction to the life of a tree by Caldecott Honor'winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert is a celebration of nature featuring a child's connection to a sugar maple tree. - (Houghton)

This rich introduction to the life of a tree by Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert is a celebration of nature featuring a child's connection to a sugar maple tree. - (Houghton)

This rich introduction to the life of a tree by Caldecott Honor'winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert is a celebration of nature featuring a child's connection to a sugar maple tree.

Ehlert blends bold graphics, vibrant colors, and precise details in her watercolor collage alongside found objects like seeds, fabric, wire, and roots in this innovative work of early nonfiction. A special glossary explains how roots absorb nutrients, what photosynthesis is, how sap circulates, how to make a bird treat, and other facts about trees. Children and adults will feel inspired to take a closer look at the nature in their own backyards.
- (Houghton)

This rich introduction to the life of a tree by Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert is a celebration of nature featuring a child's connection to a sugar maple tree.

Ehlert blends bold graphics, vibrant colors, and precise details in her watercolor collage alongside found objects like seeds, fabric, wire, and roots in this innovative work of early nonfiction. A special glossary explains how roots absorb nutrients, what photosynthesis is, how sap circulates, how to make a bird treat, and other facts about trees. Children and adults will feel inspired to take a closer look at the nature in their own backyards.
- (Houghton)

Author Biography

LOIS EHLERT has created many celebrated picture books inspired by the world around her. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- (Houghton)

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Trade Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

A simple narrative celebrating a child's pleasure in a sugar maple--its prepurchase history, its changing appearance during the year, planting, growth--is extended with excellent notes on the tree's parts as well as lucid instructions for planting and caring for it. In her handsome collages, Ehlert blends bold graphics, vibrant colors, and laudably precise details (e.g., of maple flowers and roots). An outstanding example of early nonfiction that is not only visually striking but also informative and scrupulously accurate. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright 1999 Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Ehlert ( Color Zoo ) uses a variety of materials--including paper, ribbons and paints--to depict the beginning of a sugar maple's life. Some time after seeds fall from a tree in the woods, nursery workers collect the slender sprouts; years later the tree is sold to a customer (the young first-person narrator of the book), taken home and carefully planted. Once again Ehlert provides a visual bounty: her pages are awash in the riotous reds and golds of autumn and the fresh, vibrant greens of new growth. There is bounteous information, too: in addition to the tree itself she includes several varieties of birds and many of the objects associated with gardening. An appendix provides further details on the biology and upkeep of trees. Less successful is the story line linking the tree to the narrator; the child remains an unseen abstraction whose utterances (``I love my tree'') appear stiff and a bit forced. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-Gr 3-- This very striking book examines the life of a sugar maple tree from the point of view of a young child. Each spread is a visual masterpiece; Ehlert has added elements of collage and watercolored paper that lend sophistication and diversity to her ever-evolving style. Preschoolers will delight in naming objects found on each double-page spread, newly independent readers will appreciate the oversized type, and slightly older children will make use of the appendix explaining the various functions and parts of a tree, along with tips on selecting and planting one. Although the book is absolutely stunning, text and illustrations in several instances are not a perfect union. Youngsters may question the ``I'' in the opening narration, or wonder why seeds covered with snow are mentioned but not depicted. The cover spread is gorgeous, yet the title is not particularly apt or telling. Still, both public and school libraries will find this book popular and valuable, especially when used along with Janice Udry's A Tree Is Nice (HarperCollins, 1956) or Alvin Tresselt's The Dead Tree (Parents Magazine Pr., 1972; o.p.). --Eve Larkin, Chicago Public Library Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information.

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