Creature Features and Fall Leaves | Toronto Teacher Mom

Creature Features and Fall Leaves

Sunday, November 30, 2014


Being a visual/spatial learner, I have always veered towards books with pictures that are captivating and beautiful. There is something to be said about well-written books that are accompanied by artistic and creative illustrations. Even in my adult years, I find it hard to resist a good picture book. Recently, I happened across a couple of books that instantly caught my eye. 


The first picture book is Creature Features by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. This book is jam packed with many cool facts and visuals on 25 different animals; where they live, what they eat and why they look the way they do. Humorous and accurate explanations coupled with torn- and cut-paper collage artwork make this a great addition to any home or classroom library. An educator guide is also available to accompany this book. This list price is around $23 but you can purchase Creature Features on Indigo.ca at a current price of $16.60. There is also a Kobo eBook version available as well.


The second picture book I would recommend is Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland. A native of North Carolina, Holland has spent much of her time roaming through hills and valleys, paying particular attention to the change in seasons. In this book, she focuses on autumn and captures the spirit of change in a style that is part poem, part silent stage. It is illustrated by the talented Elly MacKay, a paper artist and children's book illustrator who painstakingly creates her illustrations piece by piece, forming a miniature theatre. Currently residing in Owen Sound, MacKay's inspiration for this book stems from her memories of growing up in Big Bay, Ontario. Her illustrations in Fall Leaves using ink, yupo paper, light and photography have resulted in a remarkable work of art.




Combined with the descriptive imagery in Holland's words, MacKay's stunning illustrations bring this picture book to life. This will definitely become a timeless classic to be treasured. The list price is around $22 but you can purchase Fall Leaves on Indigo.ca for $15.87.

Disclosure: I received copies of these books to help facilitate this review. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. What gorgeous books! Thank you for the heads up! I think I'd love Fall Leaves a ton!

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  2. Nice. I'm ready for grandkids to buy these sorts of things for.

    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2014/12/ww-chairs.html

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  3. Such a neat book! I love that there are cool facts in the book!

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  4. wow really stunning illustrations

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  5. These sound like great books and I love the pictures! Thanks for the review! 9Judy Cowan)

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  6. What beautiful books! I love reading to my grandkids!

    Anne Taylor

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  7. lovely books! Like you, I can not resist all those lovely pictorial books...Bo et Obi will certainly love them...

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  8. My boys are such fans of books and I know they would love these ones.

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  9. I read Creature Features to my children and it inspired them to ask questions about animals and plants and suitability to various environments. I loved the questions.

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  10. What gorgeous books! My son would love them

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  11. Beautifully illustrated books, I also have wonder why a certain creature looks that way

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  12. I love books that are visually orientated. These are wonderfully illustrated, must get for a certain little book reader

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  13. Those books look beautiful! I would love to gift them to my niece!

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  14. I love the art work in all these childrens books. So great

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