This book is amazing, both the story and the art. It enables you to discuss two things at once. The changing of the leaves and accepting your fears and working beyond it. They writing is simple enough for students to understand, but also uses enough scientific language to enable you to discuss the true science of what happens when the seasons change. All while also discussing that it is ok to be afraid.

Picture book told in the form of a tree that is in school and learning how to photosynthesize and grow. Mostly the story is about this leaf that is afraid to fall off the branch as his final test. Could work well for using to show kids to face their fears.

An adorable and educational book for kids about deciduous trees. Told through the views of a cottonwood leaf named Lance who is afraid to fall. Lesson also learned are that it’s okay to be afraid.

This book was nice, but ultimately forgettable. The art was better than average. I'm sure kids will enjoy this, but it's not a stand-out title.

Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone Editions for providing me with a free copy of this book. The following is my honest opinion. This is a very good book. It is a book for young readers and one that takes them through the life cycle of a cottonwood leaf. Lance Cottonwood excels in all his leafly studies except the final one - falling to the ground at the end of the season. The book helps teach children how to overcome fear, bur the hidden message for me is to overcome the fear of death. Truly, what is falling to the ground for a leaf - it is its death and Lance Cottonwood is afraid of this. While it is never discussed, it still was a predominant theme for me in this book and certainly can be used by adults to teach a multitude of lessons (at the right time) about fear of life and death. I felt this was a marvelous book with the only drawback being the rather simplistic illustrations.

It is impossible not to fall for this sweet little leaf. The Very Last Leaf is an unexpected story of having the confidence to let go. Even though the leap can be scary, this story goes through being hesitant and showing that it's ok. Children are drawn to the Leaf's sweet little face, but the story is easily relatable. Even very young children can understand the fear of jumping and can empathize with the leaf.

What a lovely story about the "turning of the leaves". I adored THE VERY LAST LEAF by Stef Wade. As the season's change, lower grade teachers often look for books to read to their class to supplement their unit. I appreciated how Wade broke down the stages into easy to follow lessons with a final exam at the end. Every student could relate to that.. Jennifer Davidson's illustrations are stunning..

THE VERY LAST LEAF will be a welcome addition not only for students to check out, but for teachers as well.

Suitable for 4-5 years of age.

I loved the cover and the illustration! Illustrations are so important for such books an this one did not disappoint. It is so beautiful that I was actually bit distracted by the text which felt somehow disconnected and with not a good flow. It feels that the red thread was somehow lost. I did enjoy the school report at the end though which elevated the book for me in the last minute!.

Thank you #NetGalley for providing me an arc of #TheVeryLastLeaf.

This is an adorable book with a big message. My daughter and I enjoyed reading the story before bedtime. She found the artwork beautiful and the story relatable. The story discusses a leaf on a journey to face its fear and fall. The leaf tries to muster excuses as to why the time isn't right or why he will never fall, but he soon discovers the right time to jump. Although he is the last one to jump, he doesn't feel less than. He conquered his fear, he still completed his goal, and that's what truly matters after all. Not comparing his timeline to the other leaves but celebrating the leap he took. It's a great conversation starter with children about conquering our fears and reaching our goals without comparing ourselves to others. I look forward to reading more by this author.

The Very Last Leaf! what a beautiful little Book, in it's words of encouragement to Children about choices we all have to make in life. Lance Cottonwood will help many children not only understand the life cycle of a Deciduous Tree, It talks about other issues we face & that by asking for help & receiving that help we can overcome most if not all of our fears. The Illustrations are simple yet beautiful, & I am going to purchase a copy of this for my youngest grandchildren who both have different levels of Autism as I feel it will be a great help to them both .

LOVED IT! Great story with awesome illustrations! Recommended that as we make this purchase through Friends of the library.

I really enjoy books about encouraging one another and applying situations humans go through to inanimate objects, like going to school and taking tests. This book did not disappoint! The colors are vibrant and the scenarios that he is scared of are hilarious. I like the fact that Lance teaches kids to be brave and to take the leap, even when they are scared.

I enjoyed reading this book with my 4 year old and 7 year old sons. It was a sweet tale with an uplifting message and gave us plenty to talk about. The story was packed with details about trees and full of interesting vocabulary to learn - like photosynthesis and pigmentation. It would be a great book to use in the classroom as part of a science and nature topic or during autumn. The idea of overcoming fears and anxieties was dealt with tenderly and I think it would be helpful for children worrying about things to read. My only little reservation was the concept of being “top of the class” and placing emphasis on tests and scores. This may be a cultural thing, however. Here in Scotland we do not talk about children’s achievements in relation to other children or rank them in the classroom. That being said, both my boys loved listening to the story and didn’t seem phased by this concept.

<i>A huge thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for providing me with a free eARC in return for an honest review</i>

Let's just start off with the most obvious:

The art of this book is absolutely <b>stunning</b>. There is no way around it. I hate the color orange, but when it's in these tones with an autumn-y feel, I just love the warmth of it. The only thing slightly bothering me about the art is that the female leaf's nerfs seemed to be more flow-y. I'm not sure why the leaves had to have genders at all, but that's the only thing I can find fault in.

The story itself is also very cute, and teaches some very important and valuable lessons to kids about fear, anxiety, and fear of failure, of always wanting to be perfect. The problem in the execution is that leaves die when they fall from the tree, which just implicates a lot of not-so-good things, especially about the teacher, Mrs. Timber. However, in this book the fallen leaves are shown to be happy and celebrating their graduation, so perhaps that's the one scientific thing Wade has changed.

Because that's another thing: without you realizing it (or well, the kids), you are learning about the cycle of trees and their leaves. It becomes very apparent in Lance's report card, and I really like that touch! Educational in all aspects!

All in all I really like this book (and I can't stop staring at the art!) but the implications need to be known before reading this with your kid, so you can be prepared for questions!

Lance Cottonwood is the brightest leaf in class. He's aced all of his classes, but when faced with his final exam of falling, he's too scared to take the leap. He watches his friends do it, and even though he'd rather stay on the limb, with some encouragement from his teacher and a little bit of courage, maybe he'll be able to pass his final.

This book was super cute, and super informative. Not only does it teach kids about finding themselves and learning to work through and face their fears, but there's some quality information about trees and plant life in here as well, including two types of trees and some helpful information about the life cycle of plants. There are some big words and concepts that, presented in this fun way, will help kids understand even more about the world around them.

This one's out in September, and I am looking forward to more books by Stef Wade, and those illustrated by Jennifer Davison

Adorable illustrations but the message behind the book was just all about encouragement of death. That's not a message for a children's book at all.

Cute book. Will be a great fall title. Nice autumn palette for the illustrations. Nice message. Really, though. These leaves die. Could open up some questions.

This is an adorable book to get children ready for school. It teaches that while something may be scary, it is okay to take a leap. It also doe a great job to give a basic reasoning as to why some trees get to keep their leaves while others loose their leaves.

This book is about a little leaf named Lance Cottonwood, a very smart leaf who is worried about taking a final exam at school (falling from the tree). While the book did touch on topics that are important to kids, including general anxieties regarding life, test taking, comparing themselves to others and facing their fears, I found the book fell a bit flat. I felt that the story was a bit rushed, there wasn't enough of a back story to fully understand what was happening, it was a bit confusing from the get go. Further, there were some bigger, more challenging words that I believe the students who are best suited to this book (age wise and skill level, subject matter, etc.) would not understand. I was confused about whether the book was primarily discussing facing your fears or the life cycle of a leaf. The illustrations were amazing- I loved them! I would consider reading this book to students perhaps include it in a life cycle lesson or a lesson regarding facing your fears.

The illustrations are engaging. The storyline is also good, but definitely introduces some words that’ll have to be explained to younger readers.