When the Leaf Blew In (Book and Audio CD)

by Steve Metzger

Key Features Description A wonderfully zany story about what happens on a farm when a leaf blows into the barn!When the leaf blows into the barn,The cow sneezes "Ah choo!"And when the cow sneezes "Ah choo!"The spider falls on top of the owl.With simple, repetitive text and silly, expressive illustrations, children will fall for this hilarious autumn story about the way one leaf turns an entire barnyard upside down! A wonderfully zany story about what happens on a farm when a leaf blows into the barn!When the leaf blows into the barn,The cow sneezes "Ah choo!"And when the cow sneezes "Ah choo!"The spider falls on top of the owl.With simple, repetitive text and silly, expressive illustrations, children will fall for this hilarious autumn story about the way one leaf turns an entire barnyard upside down! Product Details Item #: NTS985931 9780439859318 Paperback Book 32 Pre-K - K Lexile AD260L Guided Reading GR Level J DRA 16 - 18 ACR 1.7 Key Features Item #: NTS985931 9780439859318 Paperback Book 32 Pre-K - K Lexile AD260L Guided Reading GR Level J DRA 16 - 18 ACR 1.7

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Halloween

32 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I grew up in Queens, NY in the 1950s with my “baby” sister, Lois. She is now a wonderful writer of young adult novels and nonfiction. My mother was born in Vienna, Austria, and my father came from Brooklyn – an interesting match! My best friends were Neil, Robbie, Krebs, and Paul. I’m still good friends with most of these guys. It was less hectic in those days – no computers, no emails, fewer TV channels (MANY fewer!) We had lots of fun playing ball and listening to records. I’ll never forget when the Beatles came to America – Beatlemania!
After graduating from Baruch College in NYC, I didn’t know what to do with my life. I bounced around doing odd jobs, including taxi driver, dishwasher, and hotel desk clerk. One day, while relaxing in Central Park (OK, I was unemployed), I saw a group of children from a local daycare center. It struck me that I always liked children -- perhaps I could make a career out of something I liked. Eureka! Ever since then, I’ve been involved, in one way or another, with the lives of young children.

I received my Masters in Education from Bank Street College and taught preschool kids for a bunch of years. I loved the childrens' innocence and vivid imaginations. After moving into school administration for a few years, I began working at Scholastic, where I have been ever since.

At Scholastic, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to write children’s books. The first book that I wrote was "The Dinofours: I’m Super Dino!" Twenty-seven other Dinofours’ books followed. I hope my respect and appreciation for young children shines through in my stories.

Nowadays, I’m lucky to be married to my beautiful and talented wife, Nancy (she’s also a writer). In 1998, we were blessed with a terrific daughter, Julia, who helps criticize my story ideas and lets me play with her once in a while.

And furthermore…any recollections of my life would not be complete without mentioning my grandmother, Mutti. She was an ever present source of love, appreciation, and wisdom.

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this one is too fun! This is an appealing crowd pleaser for sure!

Ages: 2 - 6

Cleanliness: nothing to note.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for any "fall" units. It really shows the fall landscapes and different animals around a farm. I used this book for a story basket, because it has so many different characters that are affected by one another. It would be a great book to act out or have the children use puppets to tell the story themselves. It has short sentences and no complex words, so it would be great for early readers.

[Emily Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very simple story that all starts when a cow sneezes. Once he sneezes and a spider lands on an owl, there is a series of events that happens on the farm. This book would be great for predicting or working on sequencing strategies.

[Taylor Brune · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a cute story to use with kindergarteners when talking about different animals and the noises different animals make. It would also be a good book to use when modeling expressive language.

[Brenna Call · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the bright and clear illustrations in this book. I also thought the circular chicken or the egg type story was interesting. I think kids will like it.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

great silly chain reaction book

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a Leaf Blew In, is a great book to show students rurality. The illustrations show the rural farm life. The article RURAL- The Other Neglected R states, "Rurality is rarely considered or often times completely neglected in conversations about culturally relevant pedagogy." I completely agree with this. I have lived my entire life in the city, so I never thought about teaching students about rurality and the culture of rurality. I think it is important for students to learn about different places and the culture of which they live life. Students need to see authentic rurality and not what some other depict rural living to be.

This book does a great job of showing what rurality could be. Lots of people who live in rural areas tend to be farmers, They need lots of acres to have for animals and/or crops. In this book, it shows all the different types of animal that you could find in a rural area. It shows the open farm space with fences, land, barns, and ponds. I also like how it brings in the season of fall with the leaf falling and blowing into the farm. This would be a good book to teach on rurality, as well as fall.

[Kaci Beesecker]

With simple, repetitive text and silly, expressive illustrations, children will fall for this hilarious autumn story about the way one leaf turns an entire barnyard upside down! A wonderfully zany story about what happens on a farm when a leaf blows into the barn!

This story could be used in a lower elementary class, and then with this book, you can have them do a sequencing lesson. As the story goes... the leaf blew in, then have the students do the sequencing for much of the book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfect cause and effect book. The leaf blew in, so the cow sneezed. And so forth. Until we get to the end of the book where we find out the cause for the leaf blowing in. Then it is circular because it can be reread. Fun illustrations and plausible situations.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for pre-school. Read it through once and then have them read it to you. The sequence is easy and the pictures are good enough they can figure out how to tell the story. Great early reader

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storytime ages: 2-4

Kids seemed to like it, especially if you sneeze with the cow and neigh with the horse.

A leaf blew into a barn which made a cow sneeze, which in turn, made a whole list of other things happen (think along the lines of "There Was an Old Lady")

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those stories that builds on it like the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The leaf causes a chain reaction ending in the leaf being blown into the barn again. Simple and enjoyable for a toddler.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

An autumn leaf blows into the barn, which sets off a chain of events involving different farm animals.

This picture book introduces readers to farmyard animals as well as the concept of cause and effect. It is also a circular tale that ends with the cycle ready to start all over again.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute

[Set · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an barn animal book. I don't like animal books. I thought it would be about autumn but it's just a progressive series of events book about barn animals.

[Stefanie Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrations are fantastic! This will become one I read over and over I think!

[Kaylyn Burrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great to use on the first week of Fall. You can setup a gallery walk of fall items and have the students predict why the items are out. Then after that, you can read this book to them.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

So silly and with the most perfect, colorful, full page illustrations!

[Zazie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun for the kids and the illustrations are great but not a story I would like to be repeating to a child over and over again.

[Julie Culver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has good pictures and is a fun tale about case and effect.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie says Ms Dodwell read this to her class last year in kindergarten. It’s cute.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute. Kids love it.

[Deidre A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for young readers who struggle. It is repetitious which is very helpful!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fun cause-and-effect circular story begins when a leaf blows into a barn, causing the cow to sneeze, which blows a spider off its web and onto an owl - and on it goes with each animal scaring another. It leads right back to another leaf flowing into the barn. Lovely illustrations.

[Megan Cureton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole story started when a leaf blew in the barn right infront of a cow. This leaf made the cow sneeze, and then the leaf flew on and this started the chain reaction. The leaf ended up making its way to a frog, and when the frog sneezed, it moved onto a dragonfly, and the dragonfly made the dog chase the squirrel, and when the squirrel ran up the tree, it caused a bird to fly into the tree and the leaf back into the barn, which started the whole thing over again. I would read this story for a read aloud for a kindergarten classroom. I really enjoyed the repetition for the younger children and I think this helps them comprehend and focus more on the story and this lets them be able to enjoy the story and not have to worry about not being able to comprehend and try to process the story in their heads. For a first grader, I think this story would be good for them to read on their own. With the repetition, I think the student would feel more comfortable and confident with the text, over a story that was challenging and every page had brand new text on it. I really enjoyed the illustrations in the book. It reminded me of fall and how the leaves fall off the trees. You could also take this story in that direction and go into a more in-depth conversation about why the leaves fall off the trees and so on. I like the simplicity of the story to build beginning readers confidence and to let younger children understand the story. I would have this book in my classroom library for that reason, to build reading confidence for beginning readers. I really enjoyed the simple text and how the illustrations showed exactly what the text was saying, so even if the reader didn't read the text, they can still understand what is happening in the story by looking and examining the illustrations.

[Diressa Belcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the leaf blew in silly things began to happen! The animals began to make funny noises and the animals began to run away from their homes. Eventually all the farm animals make their way back to each other. They were in amazement after the leaf finally returns to the tree.

As a literary tool students could write a beginning and ending. The story does not tell where the leaf blew in from. The story does not in a good place for me personally. I would like for students to sue their imagination and tell where the leaf came from. I would like for them to tell what happened to the leaf or the animals at the end. They could accomplish this through a poem or a mini story. Students could also retell the story through a picture walk. Each group could draw a picture line up in accordance to event.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A circular barnyard tale about the series of events set off by a simple leaf blowing in the barn...and eventually goes back to a leaf being knocked out of a tree blowing into the barn.

For kids who love If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and have exhausted those tales, this is another nice little chain reaction story. Also a good one for kids to practice naming their animals. The illustrations are vibrant and eye-catching. Could be used in Preschool or Kindergarten lessons about barnyard animals, autumn, or to test listening skills (see if kids can put the animals in the correct sequence named in the story).

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really funny and enjoyable book. It shows the a chain of events that happen because of one leaf that blew into the barn. I think that is book ties in with my theme, because it shows the kids that they need to laugh in life. Sometimes when things happen, instead of getting upset just laugh about it.

This book is great for teaching cause and effect, details, and sequencing. I also think that it would be great for creating mental images.

[Katie Plumley · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Great sequencing book because each line is repeated to give a hint for the next line.

* Audience give and take: This book can be used for a music and movement segment where students can act out the movements that the words imply.

* The use of onomatopoeia moves this book along.

* K-2 appropriate

[Christy Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The leaf blows in and sets a domino effect on a chain of events to occur. The repetitive lines (...The owl swooped out of the barn! When the owl swooped out of the barn...) help in retelling the story and sequence. Cause-and-effect is also a great lesson to introduce while reading this story- the leaf blows in and causes the cow to sneeze, which causes the spider to fly, etc.