One Leaf Fell

by Toby Speed, Minerva McIntyre (Illustrator)

Follows the day-to-day life of a fallen leaf as it provides transportation, housing, and other services to various animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

I'm the author of children's books, mysteries and other fun word formations. DEATH OVER EASY, my first murder mystery, is out in October 2013 from Five Star, and I am working on book #2 in the series.

My short story, "At the Corner of Night and Nowhere," is included in an anthology called MOON SHOT: MURDER AND MAYHEM ON THE EDGE OF SPACE, forthcoming from Untreed Reads. I also write poetry. I will be featured on The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly (poemsoncrime.blogspot.com) the week of 11/4/13 and have some poems soon in LIGHT magazine.

I live on Long Island, NY, but am moving soon to New England with my husband and office assistant, Kashi the Cat. And I have three fabulous daughters.

I need to get some books on my shelves!

Reviews

[Erika Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the story of the leaf. Four stars given for the story told from the perspective of a leaf's life. The ending and the art kind of wreck it but the story by itself is good. Here's the second half : A rabbit hit under it. The leaf cartwheeled passed corn stocks, and into some woods. It hopped from limb to limb to limb, just visiting. It chased other leaves and acorns. After that, the leaf was ready for a good rest, so it curled up beside a tree stump and stayed there all winter. When the snow melted, a sparrow snatched up the leaf and took it back to use for her nest. Three baby sparrows snuggled up to it. Warm rain and moonlight washed it. Cricket sang to it. Then one day… The sparrows were gone and everything was quiet. Summer was over. The tree shivered in the cool night air. One leaf fell.

The first third of the pages were ripped out of my book! So I only got to read the last part. I'm assuming that the first part of the story starts out with one leaf fell and rounds out at the end with the same phrase one leaf fell. I think the ending could have been better, but I can't think of one myself.

I hated the art and I'm pretty sure children would not enjoy it either. This could be a better book with better pictures and a better ending. I think it's a children's book for adults.

[Sem · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a remarkably durable leaf. One might almost say, miraculously so. I'm not at all sure about those sparrows.

[Laura Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a hybrid of fiction/nonfiction. Art doesn't always seem to support the text. Love the simplicity and beauty of the language.