Book Love: Leo the Late Bloomer

"Are you sure Leo’s a bloomer?”

asked Leo’s father.

“Patience,” said Leo’s mother.

“A watched bloomer doesn’t bloom.”

One of my favorite things to do is spend time at the children’s section of Fully Booked, looking for new stories to develop for our storytelling sessions with Make Believe. We are always on the lookout for stories that bring us vibrant and dynamic worlds, with incredible spirit and heart, and with memorable lessons to teach both children and adults alike. (We are so all-out in our storytelling sessions that even adults companions become a very invested audience, oftentimes watching us in sheer amusement, as if asking, what are these grown, crazy people doing?) We consider the books we adapt as our partners and our jump off points in the creative process – they define and paint their worlds so richly that it becomes a joy for us to explore these, and then bring these to life to our audiences.

Imagine my sheer delight then, when I saw a copy of Leo the Late Bloomer sitting on the shelves, waiting for me to notice it! Written by Robert Klaus and beautifully illustrated by Jose Aruego, Leo the Late Bloomer was the story I had adapted into a play for the very first children’s workshop I had ever handled, some twelve (yes, twelve!) years ago when I was still a preschool teacher in the wonderful school Create. This was pre-Make Believe days, and I had loved this story even then, for its lovely, delicate telling of the story of a late bloomer set in a colorful, vivid jungle. I saw in it so many possibilities for staging, and loved the lesson at the heart of it. 

Leo the Late Bloomer tells the story of Leo, a little tiger who “couldn’t do anything right.” His peers such as Owl, Elephant, and Plover are all able to accomplish certain tasks that he can only attempt clumsily, much to the distress of his father. His mother, however, with the wisdom of mothers has earmarked him as a late bloomer, and encourages the father to be patient and wait. Beautiful seasons of winter and spring pass in the jungle and one day, things just fall into place. The late bloomer blooms.

This story is dear to me for so many reasons. One is that I myself am a late bloomer, once a terribly shy little girl who did not come out of her shell until late high school and early college. Secondly, when I had staged this twelve years ago, we had chosen as Leo a young, special boy who was a bit of a late bloomer with so much to share. He delivered an amazing, confident performance and I remember his mother approaching me after the show with tears in her eyes, expressing how happy she was and how she felt that Leo’s story was her son’s story too. Lastly, this story reminds me of my own Sophie, who dealt with speech and attention difficulties during her preschool years but because of love, early intervention, and the incredible support from the teachers from Create, bloomed and is still blooming.

Leo the Late Bloomer teaches children to have confidence and faith in their ability to grow and bloom in their own time, and for parents to have this same faith in them -  and I cannot wait, I just can’t wait, to share this incredible story with more and more families in the years to come J