A touching, playful exploration of empathy and interdependency from an acclaimed author and illustrator.
I’m afraid, Said the leaf. / You’re not alone, Said the tree. But who will comfort a nervous bird, a lonely crab, a lost wolf? How can a horse find warmth, a snail some cheer, a child some rest? Through a series of amusing and soothing exchanges, this deceptively simple and profound picture book depicts different pairings to celebrate interconnectedness and underlines the importance of caring for every living organism to ensure a strong and healthy natural world. I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf invites young readers to understand that we all need each other for support and survival — and that we're all stronger together.
PRAISE FOR I'm Afraid, Said the Leaf:
"Every worry is addressed and every need is met in this eloquent portrait of the interconnectedness of the living world." —STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly
"[T]he art renders the tale truly universal." —Kirkus Reviews
"The perfect book for any young reader who'd rather read outside." —Booklist
"[A] good picture book about kindness and how all species are interconnected and depend on each other "to exist and thrive in harmony."" —Metroland
"I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf will offer new connections to the natural and human worlds each time you read it with a fortunate child." —Imaginary Elevators
“A great book to get children thinking about nature and perhaps experience it in a way they hadn’t before!” —The Southern Bookseller
DANIELLE DANIEL is an acclaimed author and illustrator whose journey in artmaking and book publishing has gone hand in hand with all she has learned — and continues to learn — about her Indigenous ancestry and her relationship with the land. Some of her picture books include I’m Afraid Said the Leaf, Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and selected as one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing), Sometimes I Feel Like a River and Once in a Blue Moon. Her debut Middle Grade novel, Forever Birchwood, was published in 2022, as well as her first adult novel, Daughters of the Deer. Her next middle-grade novel, Reasons to Look at the Night Sky, was published in 2024 by Tundra Books. She lives on Manitoulin Island among a large family of cedars, a husk of hares and a fifty-year-old Blanding’s turtle, who visits quite regularly.
View titles by Danielle Daniel
MATT JAMES has won many awards for his picture books such as the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children's Literature. The books he has written include Tadpoles; Nice Try, Charlie!; and his author-illustrator debut The Funeral, which was named a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book. He also illustrated When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge; The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson; and I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf by Danielle Daniel.
View titles by Matt James
A touching, playful exploration of empathy and interdependency from an acclaimed author and illustrator.
I’m afraid, Said the leaf. / You’re not alone, Said the tree. But who will comfort a nervous bird, a lonely crab, a lost wolf? How can a horse find warmth, a snail some cheer, a child some rest? Through a series of amusing and soothing exchanges, this deceptively simple and profound picture book depicts different pairings to celebrate interconnectedness and underlines the importance of caring for every living organism to ensure a strong and healthy natural world. I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf invites young readers to understand that we all need each other for support and survival — and that we're all stronger together.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR I'm Afraid, Said the Leaf:
"Every worry is addressed and every need is met in this eloquent portrait of the interconnectedness of the living world." —STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly
"[T]he art renders the tale truly universal." —Kirkus Reviews
"The perfect book for any young reader who'd rather read outside." —Booklist
"[A] good picture book about kindness and how all species are interconnected and depend on each other "to exist and thrive in harmony."" —Metroland
"I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf will offer new connections to the natural and human worlds each time you read it with a fortunate child." —Imaginary Elevators
“A great book to get children thinking about nature and perhaps experience it in a way they hadn’t before!” —The Southern Bookseller
DANIELLE DANIEL is an acclaimed author and illustrator whose journey in artmaking and book publishing has gone hand in hand with all she has learned — and continues to learn — about her Indigenous ancestry and her relationship with the land. Some of her picture books include I’m Afraid Said the Leaf, Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and selected as one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing), Sometimes I Feel Like a River and Once in a Blue Moon. Her debut Middle Grade novel, Forever Birchwood, was published in 2022, as well as her first adult novel, Daughters of the Deer. Her next middle-grade novel, Reasons to Look at the Night Sky, was published in 2024 by Tundra Books. She lives on Manitoulin Island among a large family of cedars, a husk of hares and a fifty-year-old Blanding’s turtle, who visits quite regularly.
View titles by Danielle Daniel
MATT JAMES has won many awards for his picture books such as the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Children's Literature. The books he has written include Tadpoles; Nice Try, Charlie!; and his author-illustrator debut The Funeral, which was named a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book. He also illustrated When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge; The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson; and I’m Afraid, Said the Leaf by Danielle Daniel.
View titles by Matt James
