“The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages” by Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages by Leo Buscaglia is not a children’s book per se; rather the book is “an inspiring allegory [that] illustrates the delicate balance between life and death,” in a way that transcends the category of age. Nature becomes a metaphor for community, identity and the life cycle for Leo Buscaglia, who has crafted a story that looks past the need for any specific ideological comfort or message to answer end-of-life questions. Rather, Freddie the Leaf explores the possibility to address these questions through the universal motif of nature.

We first meet Freddie when he is a strong, robust, leaf; “he had first appeared in Spring as a small sprout on a rather large branch near the top of a tall tree,” but is excited to realize that he has now “grown large.”

Freddie is also surrounded by a community of “hundreds of other leaves,” with each leaf growing into a different identity on “the same tree.” We meet Alfred, Ben and Clare – all leaves that grew up with Freddie, who “learned to dance in the Spring breezes, bask lazily in the Summer sun and wash off in the cooling rains” together.

But it is Daniel the leaf who is Freddie’s best friend and his partner in posing existential questions such as, “What’s a purpose?” to which Daniel simply responds, “A reason for being. To make things more pleasant for others.”

But it is Daniel the leaf who is Freddie’s best friend and his partner in posing existential questions such as, “What’s a purpose?” to which Daniel simply responds, “A reason for being. To make things more pleasant for others.”

Photo credit: ciderandcinnamon.tumblr.com/

Freddie and Daniel take pleasure in providing shade and refuge for the people beneath them in the Summertime, a season of long days and laughter. But then October comes — the leaves begin to shiver from the biting, cold frost. And then, “almost at once, the whole tree [is] transformed into a blaze of color” with “hardly a green leaf left.”

Freddie wonders why all the leaves change into a different color – how is it possible, when they are all a part of the same tree? “Each of us is different,” says Daniel, “We have had different experiences. We have faced the sun differently. Why should we not have different colors?”

“We have had different experiences. We have faced the sun differently. Why should we not have different colors?”

As Fall comes and goes, so does Freddie’s dear friend Daniel. “It’s what happens in the Fall,” Daniel explains before he lets go of life, “It’s time for leaves to change their home. Some people call it to die.” Freddie is reluctant to embrace this new idea of dying, saying he simply won’t let himself fall to the ground like the others. But once his stubbornness and anger subside, Freddie opens up about his terrible fear of death and dying. “I’m afraid to die,” he tells Daniel, “I don’t know what’s down there.” “We all fear what we don’t know,” he responds, “It’s natural. Yet you were not afraid when Spring became Summer. Why should you be afraid of the season of death?”

Death, as we learn from Daniel, is “the great mystery” that exempts no one from its eventuality. It’s a place none of us understand, but a fate we all share. Even Daniel must eventually let himself go from the tree, falling “peacefully” to what he sees as an unexplored “season of death.” Freddie, too, gains courage from Daniel’s fall – and finally, come Winter, is able to let himself let go by falling into the fresh snow.

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• “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White