Review Detail

The Wishing Leaf

Kids Fiction 265

It's hard to wait

November 12, 2025 (Updated: June 15, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

A young bear, bundled up in a warm vest and hat, doesn't want to come inside until the last leaf falls, because he wants to make a wish on it. His mother reluctantly lets him go out and wait with his friends until the maple tree decides to let go. Along with his friends Hedgehog and Chipmunk, Bear sits and waits, watching for the leaf to finally tumble down. When they get cold, the friends chase each other around the tree, but one by one, Bear's friends leave. Snow falls, and even Porcupine gives up. Bear, however, finds things to occupy himself, playing in the snow. When it gets dark, his mother calls, but even though he is beginning to yawn, Bear really wants to wait. Just as he is about to leave, the golden leaf twists on the branch and Bear makes his wish... that his friends could see the leaf, too. As the leaf wafts through the autumn evening, it blows by the windows of Bear's friends. Bear and his mother return home to cuddle up in their cozy beds and go to sleep.

Good Points

It's hard to wait, especially as a child, so Bear's dedication to his purpose is a good example in patience. He does find it difficult, but comes up with coping strategies to help pass the time. He remains steadfast, even when his friends leave and his mother calls for him to come back to the warm house. I really enjoyed the quiet message that sometimes it is worth waiting for something to happen.

The pencil and watercolor pictures have a vintage quality to them that made me think about being a child in the fall. There is a different picture of Bear under the dust jacket, and the endpapers have beautiful golden maple leaves on them, which really added a nice surprise to the book. There is a feeling of cold as the sun goes down, although if the animals had pants on, they might have been a LITTLE warmer! Zakimi does a nice job portraying both the outside landscape as well as the different kinds of animals.

Fall is my favorite season, and there are lots of delightful books about autumn and leaves to read to chidlren. Rake this up into a pile with board books such as Kaplan's Pumpkin Spice and Trukhan's When Autumn Comes, or longer picture books like Macurova's We're Off to the Forest, Ryland's Haev You Seen My Acorn, Hemming and Slate's The Leaf Thief, and Henkes and Dronzek's In the Middle of Fall.