Leaf Town Forever

by Beth Rooney, Kathleen Rooney, Betsy Bowen (Illustrator)

Leaf Town suddenly springs up. One day the clearing outside the school is empty, and the next it’s a bustling town complete with a hotel, shop, and mayor. Children gather and find treasures everywhere: feathers, acorns, lost rings, an old medal, and plenty of leaves and pine needles. They even uncover a silver skeleton key in the muddy banks of a nearby creek and proclaim it the heart of Leaf Town. As the town grows, it attracts the attention of the kids up the street, and a colossal fight threatens to destroy everything that was built. But the heart of Leaf Town is saved, and the kids rally to rebuild their city together, expanding to welcome the neighboring kids as well as all sorts of birds and animals. They hang a sign, Leaf Town Forever, and pass the key to the next generation of children who will look after their beloved town.

Based on a true story, Leaf Town Forever is the gentle tale of a town created by children with vivid imaginations. The timeless and universal saga, written in haiku, reminds both kids and adults that some dreams are worth protecting. Unfurling over the cycle of seasons, this is the story of an enchanting place full of tenacity and hope, creativity and fun—a connection to the natural world within reach for us all if we unite to make and maintain it.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Caroline Macon Fleischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My almost-8-year-old son and I adore LEAF TOWN FOREVER! This book deserves that prime spot on the bedside table for the fun cadence of the Rooney sisters’ punchy language and the artwork of the accomplished Betsy Bowen. This book is a collaboration where you see individual strengths of the creators pop in synchrony. Also, as an urban nature space lover, the book touches me. I love to see what can happen when children (or adults for that matter) come upon areas of sticks and rocks and find universes. In a world of dopamine, surrendering to that feeling of play in the natural & mundane takes practice, a willingness to be frustrated and bored in the process. The society of Leaf Town is paved with patience and hands-on learning which all ages can reconnect with. Makes the world feel less small. The sense of imagination and risk are big in scope like Carle’s PAPA PLEASE GET THE MOON FOR ME, dryly humorous like Plath’s THE BED BOOK, and fodder for outdoor ideas like Joanna Gaines’s WE ARE THE GARDENERS. The quippy language makes for easy memorization for parents and children to quote the book with time—the mark of a classic! plenty of room for young minds to wander in here. Thank you to the authors and the publisher for an early review copy. 🖤

[Rachel Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If pumpkin spice and raked leaves could talk...

All parents know that they'll be reading the same book to their children endlessly on repeat. That's why we brace at the bookstore when they pick up yet another iteration of a kooky television show rendered into a picture book. It's rare to come across a story that is as delightful the one-hundredth time through as on the first pass. Leaf Town Forever, perhaps because it was inspired by real children, has that unusual staying power. Its titular longevity is apt. I foresee my daughter reading and re-reading it as she grows into bigger clothes and a deeper comprehension. As a parent, it's rare to find a book that you hope they'll keep reading "forever."

[Eileen Colwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pre-ordered a copy for my daughters, and I can't wait to share it with them! I am so thrilled that this book was written by sisters--what a cool thing!

[Book Nerds In MN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written haiku style children's book by two sisters based on a real leaf town created at a Montessori school during the 2020 pandemic. Beautiful illustrations, just a great story, glad it wound up in my lap today!

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Playful hours outside let imagination take flight in this inspiring read about a town of leaves.

This is the story of a bunch of kids, who decided to use all the leaves on the ground to form a town. They do this by clearing off smaller circles and piling the leaves along the edges to create 'buildings' or spaces. The kids claim their space and make stores, libraries, or anything else a town would hold. They even head out to collect things to decorate their spaces. The town grows and the kids are having a great time until the leaves are blown away. But this isn't the end of the game by any means.

Everything about these pages celebrates Autumn and children playing outside together. The hues in the illustrations lean toward the browns and oranges to keep the atmosphere in the right season the entire way through. The reader follows the kids as they form their buildings and hunt for decoration, and it inspires kids to head outside and try this on their own. Even when the leaves blow away, there isn't much time spent on the disappointment. Rather, the kids go with the flow. It reminds of neighborhood kids meeting after school or on weekend...or even of recess outside. It works well as an idea for a project as well.

The tale flows nicely and draws in as the text fits well to the intended age group. This makes for a smooth read-aloud for group settings or for cozier sessions at home.

[Dylan Teut · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in a small town, much what I imagine the children in this story are experiencing. In the middle of farmland in Iowa, we did not have much, but we had our friends and we had whatever nature delivered. Sometimes nature delivered leaves; sometimes nature delivered lucky nuts which we peeled apart and tried to sell to neighbors; sometimes it dumped piles of snow.

There was something I longed for not long after school started each year, and that was the familiarity of Autumn. Though life changed with each passing day and we grew older, there were those very things from nature that we could count on. In the autumn, some of those things included fall leaves.

The notion that these childhood friends found a commonality and solace among leaves and other gifts of nature is an experience that is near and dear to my own heart, because me and the children in my neighborhood did the same sort of thing. A treasure here; a treasure there- this will serve this purpose; that will serve that purpose- and now, we've got a village.

Were it not for the calls of our parents and families to come in, because it was getting dark and a bit cold and we needed dinner and baths and to do our reading for the night- we would have likely tried to preserve our own little leaf town in one way or another. While winter's blast would have pushed it all away, we had the spring and the summer and the following autumn to deliver the things which would always disappear.

And so this book delivers a sense of comfort to those of us who have known or know places like our own Leaf Town. Simultaneously, it delivers an invitation and lure of curiosity to those who may be familiar with nothing but cement sidewalks and only small playground areas. It celebrates the imagination which is buried deep within us all, at all ages- and it elevates the excitement of the changes of life while also acknowledging that as life changes, paths differ, and we may lose some of those fleeting things that we try to grip onto as we face the future.

Children will no doubt see themselves in some part of this book and the experience it describes; older readers are bound to identify with the book's end, a peaceful good-bye to the familiarity of childhood- peaceful because while things will never be the same, we have the things like the memories of Leaf Town to nestle into our hearts and minds as we navigate the unfamiliar.

With a touch of the spirit of the classic book Roxaboxen, this ode to autumn, to friends, to community, to the familiar- and to the sense of familiarity, I hope that some day I have children who will be able to create, enjoy- and then, remember- their own Leaf Town.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember being very moved by the NYT article about Leaf Town, a children's imaginary society whose troubles and triumphs reflected both a microcosm of our world and a kind of utopian vision. What a delight that the authors turned it into a children's book! Leaf Town endures in many forms, and we love them all.

[Beth Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic tale based on a true story, Leaf Town Forever is the gentle tale of a town created by children with vivid imaginations, a timeless saga written in haiku. Timeless and beautifully illustrated.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timeless tale destined to be a classic, of course.