Cartoon boy jumping into a fall leaf pile with a rake and swirling autumn leaves

Boy Leaping Into a Swirling Fall Leaf Pile

A laughing boy springs above a crunchy leaf pile while a garden rake waits and autumn leaves whirl in looping trails.

🎨 How to color it

Color the boy’s striped shirt pumpkin orange and cream, his sneakers navy blue, the rake handle warm brown, and the leaf pile in scarlet, gold, russet, and olive. Use sharp colored pencils for the many overlapping leaves, coloring the top leaves first so the pile keeps its layered, crunchy look. Add a soft golden swirl around the dashed wind lines, as if the jump has stirred up a tiny autumn cyclone.

The story behind this coloring page

The Whisper Under the Pile — All afternoon, Arlo made the leaves talk. Read the full story →

All afternoon, Arlo made the leaves talk. He dragged the rake through the yard with a shush-shush-shush, nudging maple stars and oval elm leaves into one great mound beside the fence. The air smelled like apples, damp bark, and the wool sleeves of his striped shirt. When the pile reached his knees, he backed up three steps, held his breath, and sprang.

Leaves burst around him in a coppery cloud. They tickled his ears and snapped softly against his cheeks. As he landed, the whole mound gave a gentle sigh—not a crunch, not a thump, but a tiny paper-bag whisper. “Again?” Arlo whispered back, and the wind answered by spinning one red leaf around his wrist like a bracelet.

On the next jump, something pale flashed where nobody ever thinks to look: under the deepest leaves, pressed flat against the ground. Arlo brushed carefully and found a round stone, painted with silver dots like a little moon. Beneath it, ants had built a curved road, carrying crumb-sized seeds to a door in the earth. Arlo set the moon-stone back as their roof and raked the leaves around it, leaving a warm tunnel of air. Next time you see a leaf pile puff up and whirl, listen for the shush-shush-shush underneath.