Dean’s Who Colored the Leaves is a picture book told from the perspective of a grandfather, trying to get his granddaughters to sleep. Interestingly, pieces of this story are told in the second person point of view, as Grandpa is speaking directly to the reader. I enjoyed the innocence of this story, where the children seem to believe what they can’t see, even if it is out of the ordinary. The tale personifies trees and wind, accepting a bargain for the autumn seasons to come. Despite this being made up, the granddaughters are pleased with their final bedtime story. Grandpa isn’t quite sure they believed him, but ultimately, he decides that the magic of storytelling is what mattered most of all. Many children can relate to a relationship such as this one and likely have enjoyed hearing stories passed down from family members.

I found this story to have an ample level of rich vocabulary, using words such as muster, persnickety, and conspired. This makes the book a great adult-child read aloud and provides opportunities for discussion. Conversely, I also felt many of the sentences used higher levels of sentence structure and length, making it difficult for some readers to follow. 

Personally, I found the tale within the story a bit anticlimactic and would have expected to see something more magical as opposed to a conversation between the trees and Mighty Wind. Additionally, it would’ve been nice to have more direct interaction between the grandfather and children, as opposed to primarily narrative before and after the tale is told. 

Surya Nanda’s illustrations beautifully captured the essence of the story, with full page spreads and thoughtful details. Particularly, the emotions of the children were well depicted, and Grandpa’s imaginative story was, indeed, brought to life.