Community, Presence, Kindness True Treasures In 'Leaf Town Forever'

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — Leaf Town isn't just a place; Leaf Town is state of mind. It's a vibe that can't be confined to a map. In "Leaf Town Forever," sisters Beth and Kathleen Rooney draw inspiration from a fictional town brought to life by students of West Suburban Montessori school that included Beth's daughter, Rose, now 14, and her friends during the start of the pandemic. In this new picture book, the Rooneys hope kids of all ages will remember the magic of connection, whether its with nature, imagination or other human beings.

The authors will be at Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove for a meet-and-greet event on Oct. 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Evocative Images, Inventive Haiku

"Leaf Town Forever," illustrated by Betsy Bowen and edited by Erik Anderson, is set to be published by by University of Minnesota Press on Oct. 14. The book swirls with images of gingko and oak leaves, acorns, cardinals, skeleton keys and wooden signs illustrated by Bowen. Bowen uses rich vermillion, burnt sienna, evergreen and marigold hues to depict Leaf Town in a way that readers can almost smell and feel.

It's the original Leaf Town's tiny, but impactful, tangible moments that Kathleen and Beth Rooney bring into the story by way of the centuries-old poetic form of Japanese haiku. Each haiku has 17 syllables: five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the last. In total, the book has only 423 words.

Once Kathleen and Beth began workshopping the book in haiku form, the story began to fall into place more naturally.

“Although there’s debate about whether the 5-7-5 structure of haikus in English really captures that form, we liked going with that: 17 syllables total, a generous syllable count," Kathleen told Patch. "You could get a lot, but not too much in.

“Haiku forced us to be really judicious and intentional in what we included," she added.

Haiku is also known for its "seasonal signifiers," Kathleen said, which fit well with the storyline.

“It was fun to loosely think of ‘what’s the seasonal signifier’ in each one ,or what are we including in terms of an object to make sure that, even if we didn’t literally do it in every haiku, we weren’t straying from the haiku’s origin."

The following haiku from "Leaf Town Forever" illustrate this vividly.

"The treasure shop grows

from a pile of oak leaves. Now

to collect a trove."

"Searching for treasures

to be bought with gingko leaves:

Acorns. Lost Rings. Shells."

True-Story Treasures Come Alive

Through haiku, the Rooneys conjure images of the "treasures" that were collected by residents of Leaf Town as children built their community. The immediacy comes from how faithful the sisters stayed to the true story as possible.

As Leaf Town begins to thrive, its residents find Matchbox cars, a gymnastic medal, a broken pencil, all of which can be purchased with gingko leaves. Each of these treasures were found in the real-life Leaf Town.

Beth Rooney told Patch the gingko leaves "were kind of coveted."

“They’re just golden, they’re beautiful and they drop kind of suddenly. They would stash them in different places," she said.

With these little things, these small exchanges, Leaf Town began to burgeon into a lively community, with other children joining in to bring new retail or dining developments to the town.

Eventually, unscrupulous robbers, one of whom is named for Beth's son, Luka, now 11, began to target the town to get their hands on priceless gingko leaves. Then, children from a nearby school came to threaten Leaf Town's very existence.

These actual events are depicted in "Leaf Town Forever" through the Rooney sister's use of vivid, often playful imagery and Bowen's simple, yet evocative illustrations.

Leaf Town's denizens fortify their homes with pine needles and sap. They arm themselves with pine cones and sap, the latter of which will be used to smear on any invaders' jackets, should an invasion ensue.

The townspeople don't want to do anything mean or aggressive, they just want to defend their town. It serves as a timely nod to nonviolence. “How do you defend what you love without becoming what you’re trying to defend it from in the first place?” Kathleen said.

In the end, Leaf Town's residents suggest that the aggressors join them, a gesture of kindness in an all-too-unkind world.

This is the through-line of kindness, connection and presence that weaves through the story, but also echoes real life so powerfully.

“Part of why we wanted to write this story is to see how the kids built a civilization that was really idyllic and joyful, but as with any civilization, there were threats,” Kathleen told Patch.

You run into problems of control and basic politics when you “build something you love and something you believe in,” she added. “That was one of the things that was scary and inspiring.”

"You Can Do This Anywhere"

Leaf Town, like life, evolves through unity, struggle, acceptance and letting go, not unlike leaves spinning down from trees. Seasons always change.

But Leaf Town is forever. The heart of it, represented in the book by a found skeleton key, carries on through generations of new residents.

Beth Rooney said the passage of time was paralleled in the story and in the real-life evolution of "Leaf Town Forever."

Kathleen told Patch of when they learned about the original Leaf Town in 2020, “We knew back then, obviously, that it was special.” At the close of 2020, the sisters cowrote a piece about Leaf Town for The New York Times.

The journey from gingko leaves to leaves of paper took five years, they told Patch. Seventeen months of this were spent eagerly anticipating Bowen's illustrations.

It was “an amazing process seeing Betsy do the illustrations and the astonishing amount of work that goes into it," Beth said. "We were really grateful that she had the time to do it."

When the sisters finally received the images, Beth said, it was the "most beautiful surprise." She said she and Kathleen "cried because they were so pretty and so perfect for what we saw the story developing into."

They took a group of children's dream and realized their own dream of sharing the story to inspire others to embrace community, nature and living in the now. Instead of a traditional dedication, the book closes with a universal one:

"To people everywhere who protect their dreams."

And it may be easier than we think to recreate the uninhibited delight of Leaf Town.

“Community is simple. You just have to go out and be with people and have fun," Beth told Patch.

Kathleen added,“If you dream of doing something beautiful like writing a song, or writing an album or making a painting or making a book, don’t let anybody say you shouldn’t do that.”

Leaf Town isn't just always; it's everywhere too. As Beth Rooney said, "You can do this anywhere. You just need some leaves.”

Tickets to the author event at Anderson's Bookshop are $22 per child or $22 for one adult and one child and include a copy of "Leaf Town Forever." There will be a question and answer session with Kathleen Rooney and Beth Rooney, along with an opportunity to get your book signed.

Click the link to buy tickets.

What: Author Event with Kathleen Rooney and Beth Rooney/"Leaf Town Forever"

When: Oct. 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Anderson's Bookshop, 5112 Main St., Downers Grove