Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall

"Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall" offers up exquisite collage illustrations by Leo Yerxa. These consist of tissue paper dyed with acrylics, inks, and watercolors and help tell the story of a parent and child who travel through forests, down rivers, over lakes and ponds as they experience the primordial beauty of the world through which they are passing. The pictures and lyrical text create a dreamlike voyage that captures the moment when fall turns into winter. As a child on the Little Eagle Reserve near Fort Frances in northern Ontario, Yerxa spent a lot of time hunting and fishing with his father; certainly these experiences have informed "Last Leaf First Snowflake to Fall." Readers of any age will be enthralled by these collages, but be warned that younger readers are going to want to try their hand at this particular art form. As someone who lives in a land where winter lasts from Halloween until Easter (i.e., half the year), this picture book does a wonderful job of capturing the period of transition from one season to the next.

This is a creation, years in the making. The story of a child and father in that soft moment as fall lets go to winter. One senses that the author has let go as well. Beautiful in it's tenderness.