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.

The Very Last Leaf is a children’s book written by Stef Wade, and illustrated by Jennifer Davison.
Summary: Lance Cottonwood is a very bright leaf. He does well in all his leaf classes-even in Pigment Changing. But when it comes to Falling-Lance isn’t so sure. What if something goes wrong?
My Thoughts: This is a cute book with a good message. It is perfect for nervous or anxious children, special needs children that struggle with change, and would be especially great for a teacher to read to students at the beginning of a school year, or before a big test.
The illustrations are beautiful, the story is humorous (I thought the Progress Report at the end was an especially nice touch), and the book does a wonderful job of helping children learn that it is OK to face their fears. I would definitely recommend this book.
Thank you to Capstone for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!

This is such a cute book filled with beautiful illustrations. Basically, it is set during Autumn follows the journey of a leaf until it is time to fall in Autumn. This process for the particular leaf (the main character of this story) are all lessons, and tests.

I enjoyed reading it, and it has some interesting facts in the last page about leaves formatted as if it was the leaf's report card.

This is a good way to teach children about trees and leaves!

A lovely story of a leaf who is afraid to fall. Kids will identify with the leaf's anxiety in leaving its comfortable and familiar surroundings and finding the confidence to do something new. Children will see how the leaf grew and evolved by achieving its goal. The life cycle of a leaf is described which adds another educational dimension to the book.

4/5 Stars

This is a really adorable children’s book. Providing kids with the underlining lesson of overcoming your fears. The illustrations are stunning and my favorite part of this book. I would most certainly like to purchase this for my kids to read. I really enjoyed the report card as well with information about the cycle of leaves. It would be interesting if you have a cleaver kid, when they eventually comment on how that’s the end of the leaf’s life.

Overall, very cute read.

The illustrations were a bit repetitive. I wish the characters didn’t all look so similar. Even if they’re leaves from the same tree there could have been some improvement in the character design. The message felt too simplistic for the language level used and I was a bit bothered by the fact that when leaves fall, they die and yet the message seemed to e that it’s okay to “fall”. The whole death metaphor seemed strange.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This cute book is a great book to help teach young children about how some things in life can be a challenge or be scary or daunting to them but with courage and support they can achieve anything.
This book is also a great book to teach children about science as it has scientific words relating to trees and seasons.
A fabulous book to share with all children!

I loved this story! First of all, the artwork was beautiful, really nice autumnal colours for most of the story. The little jokes were funny. All in all, this was a lovely story of triumph as well as being educational in teaching children how the seasons work for trees.

Received an e-ARC of this book through NetGalley.

This is a cute little book about a leaf that struggles to overcome his fears. I just fell in love with the story and with the illustrations. I think this is a perfect story for children to learn how everyone, even "perfect" students have fear and that it is possible to overcome it.

Completely recommended.

The art in this was beautiful and I appreciated the overall story, but the pacing felt off. The best friend was used at odd intervals and it felt almost jarring when they would pop in a picture of the never speaking evergreen.

The Very Last Leaf by Stef Wade is a stunning picture book about facing your fears. Lance Cottonwood aces the various tests that leaves need to pass, however, when it comes time to fall, he gets a little stuck. Stef Wade's writing is informative and engaging for Stage 2 (Australian Primary School) and older. I can't wait to introduce this book during our science lessons and in the library for students to explore.

Cute Autumn-themed picture book about one leaf and how it's grows. I'm not always a huge fan of personifying things like leaves but this was done in an interesting way. We see Lance go through all the stages of a leaf so the reader, or listener, learns about leaves. The text is a bit longer so more appropriate for 4-6 y/o. The back matter included more information about the changes trees go through in Autumn. The illustrations are cute.