Mia Posada - Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves Hidden Colors

Thank you to Dr. Dana A. Dudle, Winona H. Welch Professor of Biology at DePauw University, for reviewing the text and illustrations for accuracy

Copyright 2019 by Mia Posada

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Millbrook Press

An imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

First Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com .

Designed by Emily Harris.

Main body text set in HandySans.

Typeface provided by MADType.

The illustrations in this book were created using cut paper collage with watercolor.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Posada, Mia, author, illustrator.

Title: Summer green to autumn gold : uncovering leaves hidden colors / by Mia Posada.

Description: Minneapolis : Millbrook Press, [2020] | Audience: Age | Audience: K to Grade

Identifiers: LCCN 2018047652 (print) | LCCN 2018048344 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541560994 (eb pdf) | ISBN 9781541528994 (lb : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: LeavesColorJuvenile literature. | Fall foliageJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC QK649 (ebook) | LCC QK649 .P67 2020 (print) | DDC 581.4/8dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047652

Manufactured in the United States of America

1-44766-35703-1/22/2019

To Raul

J Millbrook Press/Minneapolis

What kinds of leaves do you see in the summer?

bur oak

paper birch

silver maple

cottonwood

From emerald to jade and every shade in between, summer leaves fill the world with green !

The secret to their green color is found deep inside each leaf.

Tiny parts in the leaf called cells hold even tinier parts called chloroplasts. And inside the chloroplasts is something called chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll is a green pigment, or color.

It is what makes leaves green .

cell

chloroplast with chlorophyll

Besides making plants green, chlorophyll has a job to do. It helps make food for trees and other green plants.

When the sun shines on a plants leaves, chlorophyll collects some of its energy. The energy combines with water from the ground and gas from the air to make food. The food helps the plant grow .

The green chlorophyll is also hiding something.

It is covering up other colors inside the leaf.

Orange and y ellow pigments hide beneath the bright green .

All through the warm summer, they wait.

Slowly, summer creeps toward fall.

The air cools, and the nights grow longer.

These changes tell trees it is time to get ready for winter.