A story for anyone who has ever been afraid of facing the unknown—and a celebration of the friends who help us take the leap. A New York Times Best Illustrated Book. It’s autumn. The apples are crisp, the pumpkins are orange, the geese are flying south, and brightly colored leaves are falling everywhere. Finally, as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, a little yellow leaf discovers that it is the very last leaf on the tree. The little yellow leaf does not want to let go . . . not quite yet. Even when the first frost arrives, this little yellow leaf holds on, determined. Carin Berger’s stunning cut-paper illustrations—there are literally thousands of scraps of newsprint, catalogs, and ephemera assembled on these pages—tell a perennial and powerful story of courage, friendship, and the rewards of embracing change while introducing the fall season to young children. PreSchool-Grade 2—The human capacity for volition and fear of the unknown is central to this tale. A lone yellow leaf clings to a giant oak tree and watches the unfolding drama of winter's approach, refusing to let go of his branch. A "riot of fiery leaves" swirls to the ground, apples grow "musky" and pumpkins ripen, geese fly south, and eventually snow flurries fill the air, but still the leaf holds fast. Finally, he spies a small scarlet leaf attached high above that invites him to let go. Together, they soar away and join in a dance with the wind. In Berger's eye-catching collage illustrations, pieced background papers in shades of yellow, green, blue, and beige show off stylized forms of naked tree branches, leaves, and sun created by clipping and pasting (sometimes tiny) segments of various papers—faded, lined ledger, and graph paper; colored and printed magazine pages—and adding touches of paint. It seems the message to be inferred from this slight anthropomorphic tale is that feelings of indecision can be overcome by heeding the encouragement of another. Some parents may be inclined to disagree.— Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, Ohio Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Berger’s latest picture book focuses on a single leaf that is just not ready to leave the branch of its great oak tree. While other leaves swirl down, this leaf keeps holding on as apples grew musky, pumpkins heavy, and flocks of geese took wing. Complementing her own concise, appealing text, Berger’s inventive collage-based illustrations range from a closeup of the leaf that reveals words and letters on it to an image of the sun that seems to have been formed from a mosaic of bricks. They give a sense of both close-up textures and the wider reach of the world. Eventually the season turns to blue-gray winter, and still the leaf holds on tight. It is not until the leaf spies a scarlet flash high up on an icy branch that it can contemplate the next step. Over the next three spreads—quirky, gorgeous landscapes that incorporate lined paper, graph paper, newspaper articles, and water bills—the two leaves soar through the skies, off and away and away and away, together. Preschool-Grade 2. --Abby Nolan As all the other leaves float off and fly past, Little Yellow Leaf thinks, I'm not ready yet . As the seasons change all around, Little Yellow Leaf holds on to the tree. Still not ready . Will Little Yellow Leaf ever be ready? This is a story for anyone who has ever been afraid of facing the unknown—and a celebration of the friends who help us take the leap. Carin Berger is an award-winning designer and illustrator. Her cut-paper collages are made using ephemera, such as catalogues, old books, receipts, letters, and ticket stubs. In a starred review, Kirkus said of her Forever Friends , “Sophisticated, sensitive, and accessible, this picture book will offer new insights and pleasures with each season.” The Little Yellow Leaf was a 2008 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection , and in starred reviews, Publishers Weekly called her A Perfect Day “lovely” and her Finding Spring “exceptional.” She is also the illustrator of the acclaimed Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant , both by Jack Prelutsky, among other books. She lives with her family in New York City. www.carinberger.com