Lucky Leaf

by Kevin O'Malley

PbFor any kid who has heard #8220;Get outside and play,#8221; and for any parent who has said it./bPiI can#8217;t believe Mom made me stop my video game to get some fresh air. Stupid outside. pAt least the guys are here. Their moms made them come outside, too. pThat shouldn#8217;t be too hard. Maybe I#8217;ll finally get lucky. It#8217;ll fall any second./iP- Like O#8217;Malley#8217;s acclaimed iStraight to the Pole/i, this book is pithy and funny, perfect for readers of all levels and ages.p- The topic#8212;playing video games versus playing outdoors#8212; is explored in a way that is satisfying to both parents and children.p- Once again, O#8217;Malley showcases his knack for relating to modern kids, and his new illustration style will win over more readers to his fan club.p- With an intuitive understanding of young boys#8217; psyches, O#8217;Malley has created an ideal book for dads and sons to enjoy together

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic Novels

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads.

Kevin O'Malley is the co-author and illustrator of the popular Miss Malarkey series as well as the award-winning Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude and the national bestseller Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
He also has visited hundreds and hundreds of schools.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art and a cute, delightful story. A great combination for any children's book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very modern picture book. A kid wants to stay inside because he's trying to get to the next level of his video game but his mom makes him go outside and enjoy the beauty of the season. Told in comic/graphic novel format. I substituted a few of the words (dumb and stupid for silly) and kept out the comment about stepping on dog poop for my preschool story time. Love the artwork and format.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forced to play outside by their parents, three video game-loving boys make a game of waiting for that one last leaf to fall. Clever attempt to get kids to "look up."

[Sam]

A boy's mom makes him stop playing his video games so that he can go outside and play. Luckily his friends are also stuck playing outside. Eventually the group comes across the last leaf hanging on a tree which is said to be lucky if you catch it as it falls and slowly the boys friends leave but he stays to catch it.

This book is really fun to read. It is pretty quick and easy to get through and understand. I really liked how there is one page that does not have any words on it making the reader think about what is going on.

I would connect this book with We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger as this book is about a group of friends that are going out looking for leaves.

"I think it knows we're here. Let's hide." At this point in the book none of the boys friends are around and he is talking to his dog who cannot understand him. This can be used to talk about why the author would have the boy talk to his dog who can't understand him.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Okay, Mister. Turn it off. Get outside and play."

A boy must leave his video game and head outside, but what is he going to do? He meets to friends who have also been kicked outside. They notice just one leaf left on the tree. Isn't it lucky to catch the last leaf as it falls from the tree? The other two wait around for awhile, but finally take off. The remaining boy makes waiting a little more interesting ... wait, is he having fun?

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I liked the format. I felt like I was reading a Sunday newspaper comic strip the whole time. The story is great too. I can relate to the characters - my mom used to kick us outside too but I never caught a lucky leaf :-p

I really enjoyed the illustrations and the overall look and feel of this book. I might have to get it for my own personal collection.

[Jane Jergensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 3rd -6th grade students thought it was funny. The K-2nd let out a gasp when I said the bad "s" word.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audience for this book is clear, the narrator and his friend.

They prefer video games to playing outside. How common is that today? And what a loss for these children!

To this day, some of my most cherished memories involve hanging out in the neighborhood, playing with friends, feeling the freedom.

How convincing will this book be to those kids who parents allow them to live their lives mostly onscreen? (Apparently.)

I fear these kids will need more support and guidance than can be contained, even, in this colorful picture book. But just in case it can help, sure, I'll give it FIVE STARS.

[Kifflie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very odd idea for a picture book. A boy gets told to stop playing his video game and go outside, where he meets two friends who had the same thing happen to them. It's obviously late fall, because they come across a tree that has only one leaf let on it. Supposedly, if you catch that last leaf, it brings you good luck. What proceeds after this discovery is rather silly, but it sort of works.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a young boy is told to stop playing video games and go outside, he and his friends find a tree with just one leaf left. They've heard that whoever catches the last leaf from a tree gets good luck. When his friends get bored, the boy sticks around and tries to trick the leaf in to falling. Eventually he and his dog have a fun ending. My only gripe with this book is how it ended - what he used the lucky leaf for.

[melhara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute picture book about a boy who was forced to go outside to play rather than playing video games all day. I was a bit disappointed that the book ended with the boy back inside with his video game though...

[Aneesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can I call this a very short graphic novel?

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fall book for 3rd graders!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book about video games, which I connected to a Mister Rogers episode on video games.

[amanda_coffee_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my sons it was okay teach your kids to play outside more. They enjoyed reading it.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book has been around for several years, but it's still one of my favorite fall books for kindergarten. My current little class (mostly boys) had to pay close attention to the pictures to understand the story, but they laughed and laughed at the end.

From Amazon: Told entirely in the form of a cartoon (complete with speech bubbles) our young hero begins the book by coming within a hair's breath of beating the near impossible level 20 on his video game. His mother, hearing his joy, abruptly puts an end to it by telling him to go play outside (his reply that he is, in fact, playing goes ignored). With much grumbling he does so, meeting up with two other friends who have been similarly thrown from their own homes. While under a tree they see a single orange leaf poised to blow away at the top of a tree. As everyone knows, the last leaf on a tree is a lucky one. "But only if you can catch it". The rest of the book consists of our hero attempting to outsmart the stubborn foliage, whether by hiding behind a tree or under a pile of its fellows. By the end, the leaf is caught and our hero's luck is put to good kid-sized use.Read more ›

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The boy is this story is playing a computer game when his mom interrupts him to send him outside. As it happens, his two friends have been sent outside by their moms and all three are bored. Dramatic tension is introduced when one of the boys suggests it's good luck to see the last leaf fall.

Follow up this story with a full-body activity verse (sung to the tune "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")submitted by Christy Thomas of Louisville, KY to Mailbox Magazine.

Leaves, leaves, everywhere--
On my hands, my feet, my hair,
On my shoulders, on my toes,
One right here upon my nose--
Leaves, leaves, everywhere,
on the ground and in the air.

OR this verse (sung to the tune "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes)

Leaves, (wiggle fingers)
branches, (stretch arms)
trunk, (stand tall)
and roots, (touch toes)
trunk (stand tall)
and roots, (touch toes)
trunk (stand tall)
and roots. (touch toes)
Roots, (touch toes)
trunk (stand tall)
branches (stretch arms)
and leaves (wiggle fingers)
falling to the ground. (wiggle fingers down OR squat down)

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

O'Malley's artwork and text makes this picture book feel like a graphic novel. A video game-loving kid is sent outside to play by his mom. On a beautiful fall day, he meets up with also banished friends and they find the last leaf left on a tree. The kid and his dog decide to wait, patiently and then impatiently, for the last leaf to fall, hoping it will bring him luck.

Lovers of reading, the outdoors, and creative play will probably dislike the ending. A good story for far below grade-level elementary students and reluctant readers. Since there isn't a lot of dialog and no text at all, this is a good story for retelling and inferring.

[Teresa Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young boy is told to get outside and play by mom who is off the page kind of like the adults in the old Peanuts show. Boy does not want to go but eventually makes it outside which he promptly labels as stupid - this word upset my younger students. Some of the humor of the book is better suited to older students and even adults. Seeing his friends and realizing they are all outside for the same reason they see the last leaf in the tree and decide it is a lucky leaf but only if it is caught before it falls which it does not seem inclined to do.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was funny. The boy is forced from his video games and told to go outside, which he doesn't like. He and his friends stand under a tree with one leaf remaining, thinking that catching the leaf is lucky. His friends slowly give up and the boy eventually catches the leaf and decides to wear the leaf on his head for luck the next time he plays his video game. Simple story, but still amusing.

[Kayleigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm reviewing this because twice now now I've gotten it out of the library and both times I've been disappointed. We don't use the word stupid and both times I've stopped reading as soon as I got to that word. It has no place in a children's picture book and seeing kindergarten teachers on here rave about this book makes me want to homeschool even more. Do you not think of the language you are using and teaching children?

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vivid illustrations and a story told in comic book format about a leaf, a boy, and a video game.

I read it to my six-year-old daughter (who loves encouraging her brother in video games) and we enjoyed it but haven't revisited it.

Cute, simple, fall-themed. It felt like a retelling of a young boy's story to his parents of how he happened to beat a difficult level on his video game: all thanks to a lucky leaf.

[Bvlmc Buchanan Verplanck Elementary School · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story for any kid who says they are bored or gets sent out to play when they'd rather play their video game. In this comic style story, a boy is forced to leave his video game to go outside. His friends, in a similar situation, decide luck will befall anyone catching the last leaf when it falls from the tree. Kids will relate to being sent outside and enjoy the dog's antics as the kids all stand around bored waiting for the leaf to drop. Otherwise, not much else happening.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is cute but it didn't really hit home for Collin (age 4). The main character is playing video games and is forced (by his mom) to play outside where he finds a lucky leaf. He then thinks the leaf will help him win his video game. Collin doesn't play video games and he thinks playing outside is wonderful so it just didn't work for him. Maybe in a few years.

[Silence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audience: Grade School
Illustrations: Similar to a paneled style you’d see in a graphic novel
Plot / Review: All this kid wants is to catch a lucky leaf so he can beat the next level on his video game. I liked this because it’s a sneaky way of letting kids know that a) you should take breaks and b) go outside and play!
Read Aloud: Maybe

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoy the way a graphic novel / comic book approach has been applied in O'Malley's book to children's literature. And it's an entertaining story, though I wish it could stay focused on enjoying nature and open-ended play rather than video game play, but it's good fun.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book for kids who aren't strong readers. It has pictures that you can easily creat a story with and there is limited text.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story but colorful illustrations
After his mother tells him to stop playing video games and go outside, a young boy tries to catch the last leaf on a tree, thinking it will bring him luck.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

My storytime kids loved this one. I think because there were quite a few video game fanatics in the audience.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphic novel style picture book. Fun!