Tree and Leaf is the 1964 J.R.R. Tolkien book that collected “On Fairy-Stories” alongside the story “Leaf by Niggle.” The volume presents Tolkien’s ideas about fantasy together with a literary example of those ideas.
“On Fairy-Stories” developed from a lecture Tolkien delivered at the University of St Andrews in 1939. In the essay, he discusses fantasy, recovery, escape, and consolation, while also explaining why he considered fairy stories serious literature rather than simple children’s entertainment.
The title is sometimes confused with later Tolkien collections. The Tolkien Reader was published in 1966, while Poems and Stories appeared in 1980. Tree and Leaf is the earlier, specifically focused pairing of the essay and “Leaf by Niggle.”