Behind The Book: Oak, the Littlest Leaf Girl

Lucy Fleming’s latest book, Oak, the Littlest Leaf Girl (Walker Books), brings her signature charm to a new story about facing change and finding comfort in the familiar. We caught up with Lucy to discuss her inspiration, the creative process, and what she hopes readers will gain from Oak’s enchanting adventure. Read on to hear from Lucy about the making of the book.

Oak, the Littlest Leaf Girl is a story about a magical, tiny girl called Oak who lives amongst the leaves in an oak tree. The book celebrates her love of nature, family, and follows her struggle to embrace change and overcome difficulties.

Oak, the character, came about first when I was doodling. I was designing a little fairy-like character who had leaves for wings, and I was inspired by the idea of her life amongst the branches. What might it be like to have tea parties on toadstool tables and a bouncy squirrel for a best friend? It was very easy to write about Oak’s world. I mostly enjoyed designing and delighting in the tiny details, such as a conker shell fireplace and spider-web clothesline.

The process of making the book started with a rough manuscript where I plotted the main focus points of the story across the 32 pages. During this process, I thought about what each page might look like, so my illustrator brain is always chugging away in the background. Then I came up with a storyboard composed of very small and rough sketches for what the illustrations might look like. Here, I like to think about which pages will have full illustrations, and which are better suited to spots or vignettes. I also try to think about the variety of images, where there needs to be more action, and where things need to be more still and calm. In Oak, I had a lot of fun playing around with scale. As she is so tiny, it was great to zoom out sometimes and really show how small she felt in her changing environment. It was important to me to have a page where the reader can really zoom in on Oak during her emotional revelation so that her facial expression is front and centre.

My favourite part of creating this book has to be the colours. I absolutely love the abundance of vibrant green; it was a drop of sunshine to work on. Every time I went wandering amongst the trees, I was looking out for inspiration in the undergrowth. I would definitely like to revisit a forest theme again in the future!

Prior to writing and illustrating Oak, the Littlest Leaf Girl, I have written two previous books with Walker: Ella’s Night Lights and Lily, the Pond Mermaid. All three are very close to my heart and born from passion projects. The process of making books with Walker during this time has remained largely the same—they’re a very thoughtful team to work with and really put a lot of dedicated care into the book-making process, which is lovely to be a part of. They’ve also been very respectful of the vision that I bring and trusting in my artistic eye, which I think is crucial when an author-illustrator is seeking a publishing home for their project. My aim is always to create stories and worlds made with heart and a pinch of magic.

Oak is an important book for me as it is a reminder about life values. Embracing life with a sense of fun, seeking the positives, and exploring the concept of what home means. It’s a warm hug of a book to me.

I would love for readers to be filled with a sense of warmth and cosiness from this story, and a gentle reassurance through unsure times.

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Oak, the littlest leaf girl is out now! Get your copy here.

To work with Lucy, get in contact with Nicky Lander here.