New Year Resolution: TOUCH GRASS (Leaf Town Forever)

 There are so many ways in which I'm "out of the loop" when it comes to social media and current lingo. Am I alone in STILL not understanding what six-seven means as it leaves center stage and something new takes the spotlight? But TOUCH GRASS is one phrase that I have understood from first hearing, and one that just might be the basis for a New Year Resolution that you won't regret. With digital lives and gaming and social media and texting and.... "all the things" filling our adult lives and those of our kids, TOUCH GRASS is that reminder to PUT DOWN the electronics and get outdoors. If you are in a climate that involves snow and ice, then seasonal rewording is welcome. Touch snow, touch buds, touch grass, touch blossoms, touch crispy fall leaves, touch evergreens. Whatever you do, the TOUCH part is what matters. It's more than just going outdoors and looking around. The premise of the prompt is to engage, to make yourself a part of the nature scene surrounding you. 

In the same way that petting a pup or listening to birdsong has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure, engaging with nature, mindfully and intentionally, can bring us back to ourselves. It can certainly return us to the pressures of digital demands with renewed and refreshed mental and physical health. That is even more true for young folks, and is one of the few strategies that allows young digital devotees to willingly opt out of electronics and into the real world. 

University of Minnesota Press, 2025

This brings me to belated attention to, and praise of, a fall release,  LEAF TOWN FOREVER, co-authored by Kathleen Rooney and Beth Rooney, with illustrations by Betsy Bowen. Inspired by a true story (actually a series of events spanning several seasons), and revealed through haiku and warm, child-like illustrations, the physical LEAF TOWN FOREVER occurred spontaneously during covid. Kathleen Rooney writes, teaches and publishes poetry, while her sister Beth Rooney is a journalism photographer. This story uses Haiku form in connected poems that describe the origins, threats, and success of LEAF TOWN. 

During Covid, playgrounds were closed, but the field behind their school was not. Three friends, girls, head out one fall day and recognized beauty and treasures everywhere. gathering, sorting, enjoying, they spontaneously imagined a treasure shop of lovely leaves, acorns, lost rings and other bits, and superb specimen leaves (oak, locust, ginkgo, and more). The leaves could build homes, pave paths, generate neighborhoods, and identify various roles (shopkeepers, worker/collectors, builders, and more). Their exercise in  imagination and action invited peers to join the fun, spanning weeks and unearthing wonders. 

Every heartwarming story such as this needs a line of tension, and this has one, also spawned by the actual events. Neighbor kids noted the daily dev developments and entered the scene with destruction and theft in mind. A fight ensues, but the once-discovered key that had been declared the heart of the town was preserved. The original builders set about restoring the town, building-back-better, as is sometimes said, and also preparing for possible attack (pine resin and needles at the ready). When neighbor kids returned it was made clear: join in or prepare to fight and lose, again and again. 

The expanded community grew and collaborated and was enjoyed through the seasons, with the opening refrain "Leaf Town Forever" produced on a sign that foretold years of life for the nature-village-imagination-socializing-source. The details are rich and revealing, including surrounding wildlife, and the relationships are understated but undeniable. Each year the current group presents the key, that "heart of the town", to the children of the next class. 

There are many things stated as if "rules" for writing successful picture books in "these days". They include featuring very young children, not spanning weeks or months or (NO!) years! Making the story strong on many hooks (appealing themes and topics that will help it sell) and comparable to other good-selling books. Well, this clearly shows that a good story, well-told and illustrated, one that stands apart from other current material can and will rise to the top. This table of school age kids, in a single setting, with poetic narrative and sufficient space for readers' own imaginations can, and will, find its footing and fans. Links to many of the praise-filled reviews about it can be found HERE, and its title has surfaced in discussions of year-end picture book awards.

My own praise for it relates to the appeal of the lyrical narrative (in actual poems that are readily accessible to all readers) combined with the leafy, lush illustrations that suggest natural; materials and outdoors. This delights me most in the unstated truth and enticement of time spent outdoors, in company of friends, with undirected and certainly unplugged play leading to a rich commitment to their joint effort. The solidarity of collaborators in the face of threat, their willingness to welcome the threateners into a wider circle of community, their sense that nature and all that it encompasses (including random detritus) has immeasurable value wrapped me in wisdom from the opening pages to the close. TOUCH GRASS has never been more clearly demonstrated than in this new picture book. I urge readers to give it your time and attention, to share it with kids of many ages, and to help spread this word for this small-press wonder. 

Thanks to University of Minnesota Press for a sample copy to be read with no promise of a review.