Henry & Leo

by Pamela Zagarenski

Leo isn’t just a stuffed toy, he is Henry’s best friend and brother. He is as real as a tree, a cloud, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the wind. But when the two are accidentally separated, no one in Henry’s family believes Leo is real enough to find his way home.   
     With beautiful mixed-media paintings, the Caldecott Honor–winning artist Pamela Zagarenski explores the transcendent nature of friendship and love.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship, Family, Animals, Fantasy, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2016

About the author

Caldecott Honor Medalist Pamela Zagarenski is a brilliant painter of many worlds. As well as illustrating picture books, she creates sculptures and large paintings, which can be viewed at an art gallery in Mystic, Connecticut. She divides her time between Stonington, Connecticut, and her house on Prince Edward Island.

Reviews

[Mischenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautifully illustrated, I could just sit and stare at the pages. The story is magical and perfect for children. The story is about Henry the child, and his stuffed toy Leo who becomes lost. A great read! One to keep. 5*****

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I do much appreciate and even love the entire concept of Pamela Zagarenski's Henry and Leo (a sweet and tenderly evocative tale about a stuffed toy lion who is not only a young boy's constant companion, but is to the boy a living and breathing entity, and whose love for and belief in his toy lion actually make said lion become real and animated), I have to admit that I really do tend to enjoy the featured narrative considerably more than the majority of the accompanying illustrations (Pamela Zagarenski is both author and illustrator here). Now the wordless part of Henry and Leo when poor lost in the woods Leo is comforted by the fauna of the forest (and shows the diverse animals how they can guide him back to his home, or rather to where his Henry and family reside) is truly visually (and emotionally) outstanding and spectacular (especially the imaginative but always gloriously realistic manner in which the woodland animals are depicted, are illustrated). However, I personally find the mode and style in which the human figures are drawn and conceptualised rather (and even majorly) unnatural (and their ghostly white faces and slenderly long shapeless and equally white hands and fingers even a bit strangely uncanny, potentially eerie).

Furthermore, I really do NOT even remotely get and understand the depicted crowns. I find them distracting and really more than a bit out of place (for as Henry and Leo really in no way either describes or even depicts royalty, the crowns gracing the heads of especially Leo's family just leave me cold and basically scratching my proverbial head in and with consternation). And really and quite frankly, if author/illustrator Pamela Zagarenski has some specific, legitimate and perhaps esoteric reasons for using crowns in her illustrations for Henry and Leo, she should include a supplemental explanatory note (because for me, as it stands, the crowns do nothing to add to the illustrations and the text, they just seem rather unnecessary and strangely mystifying). Still Henry and Leo is to be recommended, as the account of how Henry believes in his lion's reality and how said firm and unshaking belief makes Leo come alive and able to return to Henry's loving arms is sweet and poignant, my personal issues with some of Pamela Zagarenski's illustrations absolutely notwithstanding (and I do much appreciate that she has taken the time to not only send me a GR friendship request but also to in and with detail explain her illustrations and rspecially the meanings and significances of the crowns).

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the wordless part in the middle. I loved the lion when he was the hero, and the paintings of the forest and the wildlife. However, I did not like the paintings of the people, or even the house, or the text. I wish the whole book was wordless and focused on Leo.

Or, at least, it could have been framed more like Where the Wild Things Are, with less text and fewer, smaller, quieter paintings at the beginning and end. I suppose the author had to be careful not to plagiarize, but I think she could have learned from, and paid homage to, Sendak. And that would have been a better book, imo.

Well, the part where the mother says 'imagine Leo tucked into a safe place' could have worked, if the author had let it. But not much more than that was actually needed on Henry's family's side of the story.

[Michele Knott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is going to resonate with many young readers who have toys that mean the world to them.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisitely illustrated, beautifully told tale that gracefully blends the real and the imaginary.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Henry and his family go for a walk in Nearby Wood, and the young boy loses his stuffed lion Leo, no one seems to understand how serious of a situation it is. His well-intentioned family try to comfort Henry by telling him that Leo isn't real, but the boy thinks of Leo as his best friend, and knows that he is as real as anyone else. As Henry goes to bed worried, the lost Leo enlists the aid of various woodland creatures in getting himself home, leading to a happy reunion the following day.

As expected, given Pamela Zagarenski's previous work, Henry & Leo is an astonishingly beautiful book, one that rewards a slow reading, and then a reading again, to allow oneself to fully appreciate the engrossing visual landscape that it presents. The tale itself is a sweet one, emphasizing the importance of 'imaginary' (or are they?) friends and experiences in childhood, but the true pleasure lies in the artwork. This is a partially wordless book - Leo's journey home, chronicled in the middle portion of the book, is told entirely through the illustrations - allowing readers to fill in portions of the narrative themselves, just as Henry no doubt will, once reunited with Leo. Zagarenski's sylvan landscapes are as magical here as they were in her earlier The Whisper , and I was charmed to see a reappearance of her fox. Recommended to fans of the artist, and to anyone looking for children's stories addressing imaginary and/or toy friends.

[Aneesa]

Of course the forest animals are drinking coffee in the middle of the night.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I love this book. Henry loves his stuffed toy lion Leo. He loves it so much that he feels Leo is real. One day, Henry and Leo take a walk through the woods with Henry's family. When he gets home and climbs into bed, he realizes Leo is missing. He is worried for Leo but his family assures him that they will look for Leo in the morning and that Leo will be fine. Illustrations then convey what happens to Leo and a beautiful reunion occurs the next morning.

I love the illustrations. They are beautiful and definitely contribute to telling the story. I especially love the page where Henry and his sister enter the woods with their parents behind them a bit on the trail...the colors are beautiful and I can imagine entering the woods by their side, spotting an owl but perhaps not noticing the little fox peering out at me behind a tree and shrubs.

I love the childlike belief that Leo is real. I love the caring relationship between Henry and his parents and even his sister although all three try to explain to him that Leo isn't "real." I love the magical elements as Leo is in the forest at night. Love, love, love this book!

It reminds me a bit of one of my childhood favorite's The Velveteen Rabbit and a little bit of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (though I like this one better than Knuffle Bunny.)

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Henry loves his lion stuffed animal named Leo. In his mind, Leo is real. He and Leo have adventures and Leo listens to Henry. Dispite what his parents tell him, Henry holds fast to the knowledge that Leo is alive.

When the family goes on a trip into the woods, that night, Henry realizes Leo is still in the woods. Firm in his belief that Leo will find his way home, still, he is worried...deeply worried.

As the reader sees via the lovely illustrations. Leo finds his way home with the help of his woodland friends the bear and the fox.

The art work is colorful and lovely in appearance. As a child, I had a cartoon friend Bertie the Bunyip. I knew he was real. When my mother told me adamantly that he was not, through tears, when I phoned my beloved grandmother, she affirmed that if I knew Bertie was real, then he was indeed real.

This story brought back many found memories.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I like this illustrator's art and other times, it doesn't work for me. In this story, about the bond between a boy and his beloved stuffed animal, I mostly liked it (including the crowns hovering over the heads of all the characters that have so many Goodreads reviewers mystified). The "losing a stuffed animal" story has been told dozens of times, but there is something particularly sweet about this telling, and I liked its nod toward books like The Velveteen Rabbit that imagine that stuffed animals can come to life when loved enough by a child. My three-year-old took to the story right away and demanded multiple readings. She doesn't really have a special stuffed animal friend, but she does have a strong imagination so I am guessing that was the appeal.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this as interesting as The Whisper but the pictures were nice. She repeats a lot of the visual motifs (crowns, lions, the fox) which I'm now wondering about. Just her thing? They seemed to make sense in The Whisper because I took them as manifestations of the stories that the character was imagining, but I don't get what they meant in this context, if anything.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the illustration style, though I could do without her trademark little crowns. I also don't like the nonsense of how this kid and his stuffed animal "loved each other" - that's a bit much. But I very much like the flow of this book, particularly the wordless section - very well done.

[Sirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since he was two, when he first met Leo, Henry has loved his stuffed lion. One day, their family goes for a long hike, but Leo is left behind. Henry is terribly sad; he knows that Leo will be frightened. His family tries to reassure Henry that Leo isn't real and doesn't have feelings, but Henry and Leo know what it means to be truly real, so they don't listen.

Oh yes, more things happen in this book, but if you just stopped there, you'd be alright. This book is full of magical illustrations, just like every other Pamela Zagarenski book I've read, and I could absolutely get lost in the pictures alone. This one has such a sweet and magical message too, though. It made me smile.

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book. A little boy believes that his stuffed lion Leo is "alive." After an outside family excursion Henry loses Leo and is afraid he'll never see him again. This is the part of the book I liked. There are no words, but the book illustrates Leo finding his way home. I'm glad Leo was safe. I liked the illustrations, but I didn't get why everyone had a crown. Also, Leo didn't talk before he was lost, but he said he loved Henry once he returned home, I'm not sure if this means anything in particular.

[Agnė · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5

Pamela Zagarenski's mixed-media paintings are stunning:



Also, the sequence of five wordless doublespreads in the middle of the book adds multiple interpretations to a seemingly simple story told in words. Well done!

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations, like always, and a story that evokes both The Velveteen Rabbit and Calvin & Hobbes.

[Yolanda Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zagarenski is, hands down, one of my favorite contemporary children’s book illustrators.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

UGH:
A. I don't give a damn about Caldecott awards, and if you need to tout that on your cover, you're not that great.
B. I don't like angular, ugly people with clown red spots on their faces, and reddened noses.
C. What's with all the crowns?
D. The text is awkward, and the wordless pictures muddled.
E. The appeal is there for artsy-fartsy adults, particularly those who select books based on THEIR tastes. For kids? Not so much!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Henry loses his stuffed lion Leo while hiking in the woods, he struggles to make his family understand just how real Leo is to him and how special their bond.

In a wordless spread, Leo asks the forest animals for help getting back home to Henry and by morning the pair are reunited and their love for one another is reaffirmed.

I'm not usually one for stories about toys, but this book truly warmed my heart and captures a very important childhood bond in possibly the best way I've ever read.

Mixed media illustrations add a touch of magic to the real world and give readers much to discover during rereadings. PreK-2.

[SamZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an adorable tale that celebrates the way children believe that their toys are "real." While these illustrations aren't really my favorite style, I love the way they work in this particular story. When Leo is left in the Nearby Woods, Henry is devastated and hopes that Leo will find his way home. Of course, because of Henry's belief, Leo is a "real" toy and is able to communicate with the animals in the woods and they help him find his way home. A beautiful story!

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet story about the love and friendship that a young boy feels when he's with his beloved stuffed lion share. The narrative is short and somewhat predictable; its the mixed media illustrations that really bring the story to life.

This book was selected as one of the books for the December 2016- Toy Stories discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Julie Seifert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looooved this one. I definitely connected to Henry, who loves his stuffed animal, even though everyone tells him it isn't real. And I also lost my beloved stuffed animal as a kid and still remember how scary it was. Also, the illustrations were beautiful.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one. Perfect story for both kids and adults, and interesting, muted, layered illustrations.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read Henry & Leo because I adored The Whisper, and I was not disappointed. When I was a very small child, I had a much beloved monkey that sucked his own thumb. Thumby (yeah, yeah, I know) was accidentally left at a hotel and there was much weeping. The hotel staff shipped him to our house, bless their hearts, and the world went on revolving around the sun. This book is for everyone like me, who lost a favorite toy that wasn't just a toy, and was reunited. I just wanted to hug the book when I finished it.

The illustrations are amazing. I had wondered about the crowns and stumbled across this explanation in the Q&A section:

I have noticed many questions about the crowns in Henry and Leo.
There is in fact a method to my madness. I imagined "Henry and Leo" much like a dream. Our dreams are both "real" and "unreal" simultaneously.
What if the entire story from start to finish is Henry's dream? Or perhaps we assume just the middle lush woods section where Leo comes to life is Henry's dream. What is real? We make so many assumptions about what we know to be true. In dreams we unconsciously combine elements of our daily outer life experiences with our inner imagined life. If you look closely- everyone wears a different crown...The Bear has the same crown as the Father. (The Father carries Henry home on his shoulders and the Bear carries Leo home.) The mother and the fox have the same crown. The sister with her ponytails and the rabbit have the same crown. Henry has the same crown as Leo, but Leo only wears the crown in the woods alone - because Leo is in fact Henry. It is very subtle I understand that...but I want people to question and wonder. But for me it was all about bringing elements of family walking in the woods into Henry's dream. Henry's other toys also mirror the animals chosen in the woods. Leo's life comes from Henry's love. For me crowns represent the "spirit of things" - the higher power in things and so yes-I often use crowns. Hope this helps! Pamela Zagarenski

All in all, a completely satisfying picture book!

[Alicea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried explaining the Caldecott Honor to a group of pre-k children the other day. (It was pretty funny.) If you're unfamiliar, the Caldecott Medal and the Caldecott Honor are awarded to American illustrators whose work is singled out by the ALA as being "the most distinguished picture book for children". [Note: This does have a bearing on this post.]

I had decided to use a different style of picture book for my storytime and I chose to use Henry & Leo by Pamela Zagarenski. Two of the books that Zagarenski illustrated have been awarded the Caldecott Honor (Sleep Like a Tiger and Red Sings From Treetops: A Year in Colors). You might have guessed that because she was both author and illustrator that Henry & Leo is most likely a visually stunning book...and you'd be correct. However, the kids weren't overly impressed with the storyline. :-/ I don't think this was so much the fault of the author but more a mistake on my part for trying this out with a group of pre-k aged children (solo reading for this age would most likely work fine though). It's a bit too introspective for such a large age of young children. The story centers on Henry who has a best friend named Leo...who is a stuffed lion. To Henry, Leo is absolutely 100% alive and he can't understand why his sister and parents fail to see this simple fact. Through a series of adventures, the reader learns just how much Leo and Henry mean to each other. I encouraged the kids to point out the crowns and other little treats that Zagarenski uses in all of her illustrations (without any explanation I might add). This was everyone's favorite thing to do but none of them could tell me much about the story after we'd finished so it wasn't as successful as I would have ultimately liked. Personally, I felt it lacked the heart that I had expected based on the premise and the beautiful artwork. I recommend that you check it out for yourself because I (and the children) might be overly harsh in our judgment. :-) For the record, this doesn't mean that I won't be checking out more of Zagarenski's work just that this one wasn't my all-time favorite. 3/5

[Bonnie Lambourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am becoming a big fan of Pamela Zagarenski. Her artwork is definitely stylized with personal symbols and animals she must love either from childhood or ideas of their meaning to her [common in nature settings, spirit animals?] - which I've seen repeated in both this book and her book The Whisper. It is also beautifully drawn with tender characters, muted colors of overlaid shapes, and spots of color attracting attention to the important characters in each scene, definite influences of Chagall, especially in The Whisper. Lots of details to explore and movement, and mystical feelings.

Henry & Leo is a quiet story that definitely speaks to almost every child. Who has not had their relationship with a special toy misunderstood by others? Or lost their favorite toy? Or both? While this family seem unable to fully comprehend what Henry does, they do still value family time in nature, and the walk they take through the woods together is quietly magical. When Leo is lost, they take great efforts to look for him. Henry's words are perfectly plaintive, worrying about his friend. It is only after the pages of wordless story, where viewers see what happens to Leo that the rest of the family questions their own stuck beliefs. Brilliant.

Note, when I opened the book, I was surprised to see so many word at first, but this entire book has few words, with pages of wordless scenes, the kind that are not easily rushed through.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldecott #2
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Primary
Text to Text: Toy story, just because when no one is watching the toys walk and they found their way home.
Text to Self: When I was little I used to tell people that I could communicate with my animals through mental telepathy, which to a certain extent, I still kind of believe. I do feel a close connection to my pets and I feel like I know what they are thinking and especially with my dog Jupiter, when she looks me in the eye I know what she wants or needs. I know it sounds kind of weird and no one but my sister ever believed me when I was younger and I don't talk about it now, but other people not believing doesn't make me stop.
Text to world: If you truly believe in something it is true to you and even if other people don't believe you won't let them persuade you.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This evocative read-aloud story about friendship and love is accompanied by enchanting mixed-media illustrations. Henry has loved Leo, his stuffed lion and his best friend, since he got him on his second birthday. For Henry, Leo is real. After Henry and his family return home from a walk in the Nearby Woods, Henry realizes that Leo is no longer with him. He tells his mother, “Leo will be scared.” She replies, “He is real only in your imagination,” and promises that they will search for Leo in the morning. That night, Henry dreams (shown in exquisite wordless double-page spreads) that other stuffed animals—a bear, a fox, and a hare—from his bedroom come alive and search for Leo in the woods. They leave Leo by the front door, where Henry is reunited with him in the morning. There is more for children to discover and to think about with each rereading of Henry & Leo.

[Stephanie Croaning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Henry, a boy who has a special relationship with his stuffed lion, Leo. To Henry, Leo is more than a toy.

To Henry, Leo was as real as his mother, his father, and his sister. As real as a tree, a cloud, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the wind.

After a walk with his family one evening, Henry gets home and discovers that Leo was lost somewhere in the woods. In magical, wordless scenes that occur during the night, the reader sees how the animals of the forest care for Leo and return him to Henry's home.

Pamela Zagarenski's style of illustrating matches the magical tone of the story perfectly. This reads like a fairy tale and will be a story that holds extra meaning to children who have a special stuffed animal friend.

[Christine Turner]

Leo isn't just a stuffed toy, he is Henry's best friend and brother. He is as real as a tree, a cloud, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the wind. But when the two are accidentally separated, no one in Henry's family believes Leo is real enough to find his way home. With beautiful mixed-media paintings, the Caldecott Honor-winning artist Pamela Zagarenski explores the transcendent nature of friendship and love.

Notes
Pamela Zagarenski is the winner of two Caldecott Honors, and her books have been translated into many languages. As well as illustrating picture books, she creates sculptures and has a gift card line. She lives in Connecticut. Visit her website at www.pzagarenski.com .


Subject: Toys -- Juvenile fiction.
Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.