KELLY CANBY’s book A Leaf Called Greaf is a moving picture book about love and loss.
Good Reading for Kids asked Kelly about the importance of understanding grief and whether she had any advice for readers struggling like her character Bear. Plus we have an extract from this book and others below, so read on for some sneak peeks.
What sparked the idea for your story A Leaf Called Greaf?
An actual leaf and some spaghetti bolognaise! It was early Autumn and I went for a walk one evening. I live next to a big park where all the leaves had fallen off the trees so I picked one up. It was dry and crispy but there was something about it I loved and I took it home with me. The dry leaf was on my kitchen counter when I began cooking dinner (the spaghetti bolognaise) and the idea started coming to me as I cooked! By the time dinner was ready I had almost the whole story written in my head. Not all ideas come to me that easily, I got lucky with this one.
What can you tell us about Bear and why he is lonely?
One morning Bear wakes up and his brother and sisters are gone. I don’t know what happened to them, that book hasn’t been written (yet?!). And Bear had no clue what happened to them either. All he knew was that he was now alone; feeling sad and scared about having to face the long, cold winter ahead all by himself for the very first time.
Why do you think it’s important for children to understand loss and grief?
It’s important because losing things is hard. When we lose something we usually have very big, very heavy feelings about it and we need to understand and remember that those feelings are normal. One day, when enough time has passed, the big and heavy feelings start to feel a little lighter, but before then we need to know that for a while we will have to sit with them, acknowledge them and honour them, until it feels right for us to start moving again.
What do you hope readers takeaway from your story?
I hope the takeaway is that when you lose something you love, the love isn’t lost with it. That stays in your heart forever.
Where did you get your love of storytelling?
Up until I was 15 years old I was an only child so I spent a lot of time alone in my bedroom drawing pictures and making up stories (and songs and plays and dances!). I’d say with absolute certainty that that’s where, how and why, it all began.
Do you have any advice for readers who are struggling like Bear?
My advice would be that it’s okay to feel sad and out of sorts for a while after you lose something you love. Your world has changed and maybe you weren’t ready for that change so if you need a moment to stop and collect all your thoughts and your feelings before going back outside to play in the sunshine again, then you go right ahead and do that. That’s perfectly fine. Take all the time you need Xx
EXTRACTS
SNEAK A PEEK from A Leaf Called Greaf
SNEAK A PEEK FROM The Hole Story
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly Canby is an internationally published illustrator and author. Kelly was born in London, but has lived in Australia since the age of three, which is probably around the same age she started playing with pencils and crayons, and it was probably only a few years after that that she decided playing with pencils and crayons was something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
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