Laura Purdie Salas & Violeta Dabija
Water Can Be ...
A leaf is a leaf, a bit of a tree. But just try to guess what else it can be!
A leaf can be a…shade spiller, mouth filler, tree topper, rain stopper. Find out about the many roles leaves play in this poetic exploration of leaves throughout the year.
Laura Purdie Salas’s lyrical, rhyming text and Violeta Dabija’s glowing illustrations make simple yet profound observations about seemingly ordinary objects and encourage readers to suggest “what else it can be!” Using metaphors for a leaf (tree topper / rain stopper), a rock (hopscotch marker / fire sparker), and water (thirst quencher / kid drencher), these insightful picture books creatively highlight a variety of roles and relationships in nature.
2Millbrook Press
Non-Fiction Picture Book
Age 4+
32 pp
hc | 248 x 248 mm
Publication: 2012
Author: Laura Purdie Salas
Illustrator: Violeta Dabija
All rights available, excl. Chinese (simpl. & compl.), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish
- Poetic exploration of nature
- Inviting children to guess and think for themselves
Awards
- ILA Teacher's Choices, Winner, 2014
- Minnesota Book Award Finalist, Short-listed, 2013
- Riverby Award, Winner, 2013
- Golden Kite Award, Winner, 2013
- NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts, Winner, 2013
- Cream of the Crop for Children's and Young Adult Literature, Winner, 2012
“Simple and pleasing, with classroom-discussion and read-aloud appeal.” —Kirkus Reviews, 15 January 2012
“Dabija, a Moldovan illustrator, saturates her pictures with lush color. Of course, there is lots of green but also dusty orange, misty lavender and deep mustard, in what is as much an exploration of the variation of color as it is of nature’s changeability. . . . Grown-up readers may be a bit in awe too.” —The New York Times Book Review, 28 March 2012
“Salas explores the many functions a leaf can serve with simple grace…. Dabija bathes her mixed-media scenes in a fuzzy glow, creating a welcoming environment in every spread.” —Publishers Weekly, 9 January 2012
“A lovely observation about nature, suitable for a variety of science units or individual sharing.” —School Library Journal, 1 March 2012
“Each spread is bursting with natural wonder, and while the animals are cute rather than realistic, the art creatively and effectively supports the text’s evocation of the leafy world. This is an ideal curricular introduction to a unit on leaves, but it will also find plenty of readers drawn to its rich language and portrayal of the natural world.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 1 April 2012
“This book is sure to open a child’s eyes to the wonder of the natural world.” —Washington Parent, 1 June 2012
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