MISS LEOPARDA

Natural beauty is sacrificed in the name of more space.

Miss Leoparda sleeps in a tree and drives a bus that takes her fellow animals wherever they need to go. One day, she and her passengers see a “little black car coughing up smoke.” As the days pass, more and more cars fill the road, and bus ridership declines. Miss Leoparda stops driving her bus; soon, her tree is cut down to make room for more roads. As the paths get more crowded and the cars continue “huffing and puffing clouds of smoke, stuck in an endless traffic jam,” much to the frustration of the beastly drivers, Miss Leoparda patiently regrows her tree. She also takes to the road on a bicycle, prompting the other citizens to abandon their cars in favor of the greener option. This humorous fable, translated from Russian, explores how our obsession with so-called progress leads to gentrification and the destruction of our communities and the environment. The acrylic and crayon illustrations capture the beauty of untouched land and the dark, crowded vistas of clogged roadways. The expressive, Jon Klassen–like visages of the wildlife perfectly encapsulate the emotions felt by those in similar situations, from the disassociation required by riders on crowded public transit to the exasperation of being stuck in endless traffic.

A truly amazing look at how to cherish nature and build a greener community.