The Life Of A Leaf

In its essence, science is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. In The Life of a Leaf, Steven Vogel illuminates this approach, using the humble leaf as a model. Whether plant or person, every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving fascinating ways of challenging those limits. Here, Vogel explains these interactions, examining through the example of the leaf the extraordinary designs that enable life to adapt to its physical world. In Vogel’s account, the leaf serves as a biological everyman, an ordinary and ubiquitous living thing that nonetheless speaks volumes about our environment as well as its own. Thus in exploring the leaf’s world, Vogel simultaneously explores our own. A companion website with demonstrations and teaching tools can be found here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/sites/vogel/index.html

As her grandmother’s health declines, a young girl begins to lovingly take the lead in their cozy shared autumn traditions. Poetic prose paired with evocative illustrations by Mexican illustrator Claudia Navarro make for a beautiful celebration of life and a gentle introduction to the death of a loved one.

A simple introduction to the life cycle and functions of a leaf

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows. With illustrations made from actual fall leaves and die-cut pages on every spread that reveal gorgeous landscape vistas, here is a playful, whimsical, and evocative book that celebrates the natural world and the rich imaginative life of children. Includes an author's note and leaf-identifying labels.

Born in Melbourne in 1943, Adrian Feldmann was one of the first Westerners to become a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. On the eve of a three-year, solitary meditation retreat, he recounts the inner and outer journeys that lead him to Nepal where, in the early 1970's, he met two Tibetan lamas, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. They were among the first lamas to teach Buddhism to Westerners. In the 1970's, Adrian Feldmann was a young doctor wrapped up in the hippie counter-culture, experimenting with mind-altering drugs and studying Eastern mysticism. Seeking a greater purpose to his life, he began to travel. Following his friends on the hippie trail, he travelled through Afghanistan where he was impressed by the spiritual power of Islam. Inspired by his reading of Taoist philosophy, he and some friends bought a converted rowing boat and sailed down the Indus River, searching for freedom and a more authentic way of living. What he found launched him on the spiritual path to Buddhism. This personal account of one man's search for happiness is often humorous and sometimes shocking. Adrian Feldmann doesn't shirk revealing the mistakes and failings which help to highlight his personal message of hope. He wants us to know that the ego undermines our happiness and fortifies our habitual, destructive emotions. His spiritual path is a quest to "slay the ego," and his life story is a parable for modern times. This title was first published in 2005 by Lothian Books as a paperback book. This updated ebook version is published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive and includes a postscript from the author recounting the continuing saga of his spiritual path. The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive is a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as digital and printed books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the LYWA website. Thank you!

A guide to the invertebrate animals in urban park woodlands.

Three friends go on a hike searching for fall leaves.

Lance Cottonwood is the best and brightest of the leaves, but even the top students on the tree have worries. Can Lance conquer his fear of falling and just let go when the time comes for his final exam, or will he let his worries take over? In this funny and encouraging picture book, best-selling author Stef Wade (A Place for Pluto) tells an engaging story and deftly addresses social and emotional struggles many kids encounter each day...feeling anxious, wanting to be perfect, facing fears, etc. These themes combined with illustrator Jennifer Davison's delightful characters and rich autumnal colors make The Very Last Leaf a perfect book for the start of a new school year, the arrival of autumn, or any period of transition in life.

The brilliant colors of fall foliage take center stage in this picture book perfect for fans of the classic Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. With her trademark bold, graphic style Monica Wellington has created a picture book about autumn, trees, and leaves. When the seasons change, a young girl visits the arboretum to collect fallen leaves and make a book with them. Brilliant illustrations show each variety of tree the girl encounters, from the common oak to the lesser known gingko. Spreads silhouetting leaves up-close help young children learn to identify them. Like the girl in the book, young readers will be eager to make their very own leaf books.

Of all our childhood memories, few are quite as thrilling, or as tactile, as those of climbing trees. Scampering up the rough trunk, spying on the world from the cool green shelter of the canopy, lying on a limb and looking up through the leaves at the summer sun almost made it seem as if we were made for trees, and trees for us.Even in adulthood, trees retain their power, from the refreshing way their waves of green break the monotony of a cityscape to the way their autumn transformations take our breath away. In this lavishly illustrated volume, the trees that have enriched our lives finally get their full due, through a focus on the humble leaves that serve, in a sense, as their public face. The Book of Leaves offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most impressive and beautiful leaves from around the world. Each leaf is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the range, distribution, abundance, and habitat of the tree on which it’s found. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each tree and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. The Henry’s Maple, for instance, found in China and named for an Irish doctor who collected leaves there, bears little initial resemblance to the statuesque maples of North America, from its diminutive stature to its unusual trifoliolate leaves. Or the Mediterranean Olive, which has been known to live for more than 1,500 years and whose short, narrow leaves only fall after two or three years, pushed out in stages by the emergence of younger leaves. From the familiar friends of our backyards to the giants of deep woods, The Book of Leaves brings the forest to life—and to our living rooms—as never before.