Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann – How to use it in KS1 and KS2

What's included?

Two PDFs

Key Stage

KS1, KS2

Age

Years 1-6

Subjects

Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann is a book that appeals across a wide age range. It makes a compelling focus for creative projects in both KS1 and KS2 classrooms…

Resources for Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann

This download contains a three-page PDF of KS1 cross-curricular activity ideas based on Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann. These activities were created by Carey Fluker Hunt, creative projects manager at Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle upon Tyne.

There is also an eight-page PDF of KS2 cross-curricular activity ideas from education consultant and primary teacher Ian Eagleton.

What is Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann about?

Washed in by the tide, a polar bear arrives on the shores of a northern forest and settles in an abandoned cave.

The animals who live nearby are frightened of the stranger. They call him Leaf, because of his habit of collecting plants, but nobody is brave enough to speak to him – until the bear makes a pair of leafy wings and tries to fly.

He fails, of course, but at last the others listen to his tale of separation, misery and loneliness.

This beautiful picture book has plenty of heart – but there’s bite here, too, beneath the decorative surface. It’s an original story, not a retelling, but feels grounded in a way that adds genuine heft to Dieckmann’s rich and satisfying artwork.

Leaf has been informed and shaped by northern folk traditions. This is not only in Dieckmann’s use of colour and patterns, but also in the darker aspects of the story.