The Science Behind The Splendor

It's as if there is a contest unknown to humans.  It happens annually.  This year the champion resides in my neighborhood.  More than a month ago, it burst into brilliance, nearly overnight.  You could almost hear it shouting---"I won! I won!" Even today it stands out in a sea of green here and in contrast to the rolling hills behind it.

Predictions are in place for when the rest of the trees will be releasing their vivid colors.  Time will tell if they will ring true.



 Summer Green To Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors (Millbrook Press, August 8, 2019) written and illustrated by Mia Posada explains with careful clarity the science behind the shift of hues in our trees from season to season.

What kinds of leaves do you see in the summer?

In summer the leaves on trees are variations on an array of green.  These tints are formed in the cells of leaves.  We are told chloroplasts inside cells hold chlorophyll, a green color.   Chlorophyll not only colors the leaves but contributes to the creation of food by helping to blend gas from the air, water and energy from the sun.

Did you know there is something hiding behind the chlorophyll?  It's other pigments.  These pigments remain concealed until summer slowly switches to autumn.  The cooler temperatures halt the production of food.  For now, chlorophyll's task is complete.  It vanishes.  Now the unseen hues appear.

We will see yellows, oranges, reds, browns and mixes of these colors.  The type of tree, the rainfall, temperature and sunlight can cause changes from year to year.  As the season progresses, the stems of the leaves begin to break away from the branches, fashioning a bright blanket on the ground.  Smaller creatures that live on and under the ground use the fallen leaves for their meals and homes.

By the first snowfall most of the trees will have lost their fall foliage.  Like the rest of the world, winter is a pause, a period of little or no activity.  Buds await the first signs of spring to bring back the green.  Chlorophyll is ready to work.


By beginning this book with a question, Mia Posada as author invites readers to participate in her exploration of leaves and their colors.  Concise, explicit sentences provide information.  Within these sentences certain words are enlarged, made bold or colored differently than the other words.  In this manner readers are better able to recognize words they know or enlarge their vocabulary with richer descriptive words.  Here is a passage.

Slowly, summer creeps toward fall.
The air cools, and the nights grow longer.
These changes tell trees it is time to get ready for winter.


As you look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, starting with the front, it's as if you are peering through a bunch of scooped-up leaves to read the title, some from summer and others from autumn.  It's a nice design technique to have the title font vary in color to match the leaves using purple (a complementary color to yellow) in the sub-title letters.  To the left, on the back, still on a crisp white canvas, we are given a panoramic view.  In the distance on the left are three trees colored in orange, red and yellow.  Much closer on the right is a single trees with leaves in oranges.  Falling leaves are very close to us.  The front and back flaps on the jacket contain a portion of an interior image.

A deep green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the initial title page, a similar gathering of leaves frames the text.  On the verso (dedication and publication information) page a landscape scene on the bottom right and a tree branch with a couple of lady bugs on the upper right direct our attention to the text.  Opposite, on the formal title page, less leaves in greens and reds, yellows and oranges border the words.

Each page turn supplies us with a double-page picture with the illustration rendered

using cut-paper collage with watercolor.

On the first image we see all kinds of green leaves, sixteen in number, spread from page edge to page edge and labeled.  On subsequent pages Mia Posada as illustrator presents pictorial scenes or moves us close to the leaves or branches. Twice she magnifies a spot on a leaf to supply a more precise explanation.  As she takes us through the seasons, we return to a dock on a shore for continuity.  Other animal life is included in many of the images.

One of my many favorite illustrations is in the fall.  Close to readers on the right is the dock with the red canoe tied to it.  Several trees on the right and one to the left of the gutter in yellows, reds and oranges are close to us.  Spread in a curve around the shoreline is a collection of breathtaking colors courtesy of the trees.  Five birds fly in the curve of water and sky.  This is a beautiful presentation.


For curious readers, budding biologists, a unit on seasons, autumn, leaves or plants, Summer Green To Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors written and illustrated by Mia Posada is an excellent choice.  The gorgeous illustrations ask us to stop and appreciate the beauty nature offers us but they also furnish us with a pleasing background for learning the given information.  At the close of the book Mia Posada includes paragraphs titled Different Kinds Of Leaves, Pigments In Nature, Fall Colors Around The World and From Fall To Fall, Colors Can Change.  There is also a glossary and Hands-on Experiments with Leaves and Pigments.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional libraries.  I am grateful to author and scientist Melissa Stewart for recommending this book.

To learn more about Mia Posada and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images at the opening page and by clicking on Read Excerpt.  On the publisher's blog Mia Posada answers questions about this book.

Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 by other participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.