Up in the Leaves by Shira Boss and Jamey Christoph

Up in the Leaves 
by Shira Boss
Illustrated by Jamey Christoph
Published March, 2018
Sterling Children's Books
40 pages
Fiction
Hardcover

Goodreads Summary
“Bob lived in the big city. The city was very crowded .”
A true story about Bob Redman, a New York City boy who built a series of intricate treehouses hidden in Central Park.
This picture book tells the true story of Bob Redman, a child growing up in New York City. Tired of the noise, the people, and the rushing around, Bob took shelter in the natural beauty of Central Park—where he covertly built a series of treehouses, starting with a simple platform and growing more and more elaborate over time. He played cat-and-mouse with the park workers, who kept tearing down his houses, until he was finally caught. But his story ends with a happy surprise . . .

My Thoughts

I was captivated by this story. My family have recently visited NYC for the first time and Central Park was naturally one of the places we wanted to visit. Being from Maine which has lots of space, trees, and relatively few people, we found the spacious park surrounded by huge buildings looming over it to be quite fascinating. 

As a child, I loved to climb trees. It was fun to imagine this young boy finding an escape from the busy, crowded city up in the trees. He built and rebuilt tress houses for twelve years after each one was torn down. Now that is dedication. 
Kids will love this story based on the true story of Bob Redman who is now an arborist for the city. The story itself is wonderful, but it is brought to life with wonderful illustrations from Jamey Christoph. Each page is filled with beautiful colors and interesting textures. There is an epilogue that introduces readers to the real Bob Redman. 
I would highly recommend this book for all elementary school ages. 

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