Ruby’s Leaf Prints

Ruby brings fallen leaves to the table. One is broad and one is long. “I want their shapes on my paper,” she says.

Dad puts a little paint in a tray. Ruby dips the broad leaf and presses it down. She lifts it. A thick green blob appears.

“I cannot see my leaf,” says Ruby. Dad brings another sheet. They look at the paint left on the leaf.

Ruby wipes a little paint onto scrap paper. Then she presses the leaf gently on the new sheet. She keeps it still.

Up comes the leaf. This print has a clear edge and little lines inside. Ruby traces the shape in the air.

She tries the long leaf beside it. Its print points across the paper. Ruby turns it and makes another pointing up.

Dad asks where the next print will go. Ruby chooses an empty space. She adds one more broad leaf shape there.

Ruby sets the real leaves beside her picture. “These made those,” she says. The prints have different shapes, just like her leaves.