Customer Reviews

El Otono de Freddy la Hoja / The Fall of Freddy the Leaf

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Fall of Freddy the Leaf is an extraordinary book for anyone, especially children, to understand the beauty of life and the inevitability of death. The artful metaphor of a person's life being a leaf--whom we follow through his budding, existence, and finally, decay--gives word pictures to children who cannot yet comprehend what "death" means. The imagery creates a lasting comfort, not only for children, but also for adults who are having difficulty understanding "Why, God?" As for its basis on faith, the book is written so that any religion may adapt the metaphor to its own beliefs--after all, death is inevitable no matter what belief one embraces or denies.

I bought this book when my son was small, to explain the concept of death to him. The story is told gently and lovingly and children relate well to it. I still have this book and my son is now 25 years old! This shows how much I appreciated it then and now I read it to my grandchildren!

I just read this book at the funeral of a dear friend of mine who died in a house fire last week. This book offered the only crumb of comfort I have found in this tragic situation. The funeral attendees hung onto every word and many people thanked me for reading it. The overall theme is the cyclical nature of life and death, how each of us is an important part of the whole web of life, how there are things we simply will not understand in this lifetime. The book emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, the need for acceptance of both life and death as natural events and the importance of finding the purpose of one's own life. My friend's youth (aged 40), desire to live and the violent nature of her death have made this loss very difficult for us survivors to accept and understand; the usual religious answers (of any religion) simply don't cut it in this situation and her family asked me specifically to read this book. I intend to lay in a stock to give to grieving friends in the future. I cannot believe it is out of print. What a sad commentary on our death-phobic culture. By the way, I am fifty years old and there were no children at this funeral. I would read or give this book to anyone, of any age, who is struggling with grief and the loss of a loved one.

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf is a truly amazing book. It is written in such a simple yet sensitive way that people of all ages can understand and relate to it. After reading it I read it to all my children, ages 14, 11 and 8. My sister read it to her 4 year old daughter. We all found it very helpful while dealing with the imminent death of my mother. It makes it easier to talk about such difficult issues as death AND life.

As a counselor, I have been using this book for several years to help children and their families deal with death and other losses. It is a simple and positive way to help children (especially very young ones) open up when something sad happens in their lives. Parents who struggle with talking about death with their children can really benefit from using this as a tool to help explain loss and grief. Adults, as well, can be reassured with this very nice story about the end of physical existence. I strongly recommend it.

I read this book in a psychology class when we were talking about death and dying. It's an excellent book for children on the topic of death and dying which is easily understandable, not too sad, and with beautiful photographic illustrations. This book explains death as part of the life cycle with a wonderful analogy of leaves on a tree. Every parent should have this book on hand for the difficult time when it will be needed. I can't believe it's out of print!

"The Fall of Freddy the Leaf" is an excellent book to help children understand death and dying. My sister read this book to her son when she was dying of cancerand it helped him( and her ) tremendously. In today's world children seldom come in contact with a death in the family until the funeral of a grandparent and they may not have seen them recently.This book shows death as part of the natural cycle and should be read more widely.

Virginia's Fairfax County public schools use this book in their Family Life Education program. I reviewed it prior to the school using it with my 8-year son. It is suitable for children whose parents are atheists. It teaches the child that he and his parents are no more valuable than a leaf on a tree, or the dirt the leaf becomes. It is totally unsuitable for children whose parents believe that people were created by a God, such as the Islamic, Judaic, or Christian religions. The book does not teach the child that he is a special creation of God and that God created the Universe for his enjoyment. It does not teach the child that after leading a good life, God will take him to live with his parents and God forever. Instead, it teaches self concepts which are very depressing.