A Bushel of Books for the Apple Season
RSSJoy Fleishhacker, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 10/06/2009
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Listen to an audio excerpt of Deborah Hopkinson's Apples to Oregon
Autumn brings brisk blue-sky mornings, leafscapes infused with fiery hues, and bushels brimming with just-picked apples in an assortment of sun-warmed colors and mouthwatering flavors. As diverse and appealing as the array of apple varieties displayed in the produce section, the books highlighted here blend dynamic text with luscious artwork to explore this familiar fruit from seed to skin. In addition to providing a closer look at how apples are grown, harvested, and consumed, these titles also dish up apples as the main ingredient in an enticing menu of palate-pleasing stories. Serve these books—along with apple slices—as part of an apple-themed unit, or incorporate these curriculum-crossing offerings into studies of the changing seasons, nature appreciation, agriculture and farming, cooking and food preparation, family traditions, folklore, and American history.
Apple Basics
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One Red Apple (Ziefert) |
Jacqueline Farmer’s Apples (Charlesbridge, 2007) provides a more detailed look at a fruit that is “pretty to look at and a treat to eat.” The text gets to the core of the subject, delving into such topics as grafting and cross-pollination, nutritional value, cultivation history, and even some apple lore. Easy-to-understand explanations written in a conversational tone and warm watercolor paintings keep this packed-with-facts treatment accessible to young readers (Gr 1-4).
Gail Gibbons presents a child’s-eye view of nature as a young boy observes the almost magical transformations that occur throughout The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree (Harcourt, 1984). Depicting plenty of branch-climbing adventures, the vivid artwork shimmers as brightly as the child’s enthusiasm. Görel Kristina Näslund’s enchanting picture book provides another eyewitness perspective, mingling fact with a touch of fantasy to introduce two spritely, small-size children who live in the branches of Our Apple Tree (Roaring Brook, 2005). Kristina Digman’s delicate brushed-with-color artwork brings the frolicsome pair to life while portraying the changing seasons and developing fruit. Have your students compare these fancifully illustrated offerings with the crisply reproduced photographs that appear in Ruth Thomson’s The Life Cycle of an Apple (Rosen, 2009). Clear images and a large print text offer a month-by-month look at a tree’s growth process from buds, to flowers, to pollination, to fruit. (K-Gr 2)
Visit an Orchard
Use these books to prepare students for an upcoming field trip or to engage in an armchair apple-picking adventure. In Tucker’s Apple-Dandy Day (HarperCollins, 2006), a young rabbit and his classmates take a field trip to an orchard where he keeps busy exploring his surroundings and lending a helping hand to others. At day’s end, Tucker realizes that his bag is empty (how will he make apple pie with his mother?), but his generous companions come to the rescue. Susan Winget’s upbeat tale of friendship is sweetly illustrated in soft autumn shades and peopled by cozy animal characters (PreS-Gr 1).
Brimming with enthusiasm about their journey to Applebee Farms, Mr. Yee’s students launch into a spirited Apple Countdown (Albert Whitman, 2009) that begins with 20 (apple-shaped) nametags and ends with 1 lost tooth (courtesy of a crunchy red delicious). Joan Holub’s rapid-fire, rhyming text is fun to read aloud and Jan Smith’s packed-with-personality paintings keep the energy level high. Children will pore over the pages as they keep track of Mr. Yee’s students and count the featured objects. Information about apples is scattered throughout the book and fun facts are highlighted on the endpapers (PreS-Gr 2).
Minna and the rest of the Rabbit family visit Long Hill Orchard where they learn how to harvest Apples, Apples, Apples (Winslow, 2000) while discovering bushels of interesting facts about this tasty fruit. Nancy Elizabeth Wallace weaves basic information into an inviting storyline, supplementing the colorful collage artwork with clearly presented charts and diagrams. Also included are a recipe for cooking applesauce, directions for making apple prints, a list of apple sayings, and even a song (PreS-Gr 3).
Cook Up a Tasty Treat
Apples—along with the warmth and affection found in families and friendships—are the essential ingredient in these delectable food-themed picture books. Share them with your students for a satisfying read-aloud, to inspire the concocting of a delicious classroom dessert, or to encourage youngsters to examine the role that special foods play in flavoring their own family traditions.
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| Applesauce Season (Lispon) ©2009 by Mordicai Gerstein |
In a “This Is the House that Jack Built”-style tale, Lauren Thompson lyrically and lovingly describes The Apple Pie that Papa Baked (S & S, 2007) for his daughter. The cumulative text begins with “apples, juicy and red,” and then telescopes out to include the apple tree, its roots, the rain, and eventually the world (“blooming with life”), underscoring nature’s role in the food-making process. Set against buff-colored pages and employing a simple palette, Jonathan Bean’s handsome illustrations delineate the down-home farm setting (and a crew of hungry and hopeful barnyard animals) and express the love shared by father and child. (PreS-Gr 2)
Granny Smith wants to bake An Apple Pie for Dinner (Marshall Cavendish, 2009), but is missing the main ingredient. Filling her basket with plums from her tree to trade, she sets off in search of the desired fruit. Though it takes several transactions (plums are exchanged for feathers, feathers for wild flowers, flowers for a gold coin, etc.), the kindly old woman eventually ends up with her apples—as well as a passel of new friends (satisfied swappers all) who help to bake the pie (easy-to-follow recipe appended). Based on an English folktale, Susan VanHecke’s warm-hearted narrative resonates with pleasing rhythms, lively repetition, and an upbeat happy-ever-after ending. Rendered in bas-reliefs from baked clay and found objects, Carol Baicker-McKee’s beautifully composed illustrations are amazingly detailed and lifelike. A dedicated web site provides a lesson plan and activities that support the book as well as links to other apple-related sites.
Whisking together whimsical artwork and spirited storytelling, Marjorie Priceman introduces a young protagonist who learns How to Make Apple Pie and See the World (Knopf, 1994). Finding the market closed, the determined cook travels the globe (via steamship, plane, elephant, and other means) to acquire the necessary ingredients (semolina wheat from Italy, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, apples from Vermont, etc.), ultimately making plenty of new friends who are happy to share the hard-earned dessert (recipe appended). Use this ebullient escapade to launch a discussion about the origins of different foods or to slip in a bit of geography (Gr 1-4).
Apple Americana
With his soup-pot hat and outlandish way of life, John Chapman, best known as Johnny Appleseed, has become a true American folk hero and the star of many a tall tale. However, his story also provides opportunity for discussing American history, particularly frontier life and the westward spread of settlers and agriculture. In Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth (HarperCollins, 2008), Jane Yolen presents rhyming verses about this colorful character paired with true facts about his life. The tongue-tingling narrative makes a good read-aloud and Jim Burke’s realistic-looking deep-hued paintings sparkle with whimsical touches (Gr 2-4). Other books about Johnny Appleseed include Steven Kellogg’s vibrantly illustrated tall-tale-style version (HarperCollins, 1988; Gr 1-4); Patricia Demuth and Michael Montgomery’s easy-reader (Penguin, 1996; K-Gr 2); and Margaret Hodges’s lithesome and lyrical rendition (Holiday, 1997; K-Gr 4), gracefully illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root. Aglow with lovely folk-art paintings, Will Moses’s more lengthy account (Philomel, 2001; Gr 3-6) presents biographical facts with a storyteller’s flair.
Deborah Hopkinson tells another tall tale of frontiers and fruit, as a girl and her family “pull up roots” and leave Iowa to head west in the mid 1800s. Determined to bring Apples to Oregon (S&S, 2004), Daddy nestles his fruit trees in two enormous boxes and loads them on a wagon, but it’s up to his spunky and quick-thinking daughter (fittingly named Delicious) to save the plants from dangers along the way including a perilous river crossing, a hail storm, and that “most ornery varmint of all: Jack Frost.” Filled with brilliant hues and lots of pizzazz, Nancy Carpenter’s engaging paintings perfectly match the narrative’s colorful, tongue-twanging language. An author’s note provides factual background about the westward journey that inspired the story. (K-Gr 4)
In Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story (Albert Whitman, 2008), Anna Egan Smucker reveals the true tale of how a tree laden with this particularly scrumptious variety was discovered on Anderson Mullins’s West Virginia farm in 1905, purchased and cultivated by the owners of the Stark Bro’s Nursery in Missouri, and went on to quickly become a taste-bud-pleasing favorite. Kathleen Kemly’s watercolor illustrations add a strong sense of time and place to this interesting historical yarn (Gr 1-4).
A Couple of Real Pips
Expand the apple theme with these stories featuring two very different heroines. Lizzy adores her backyard apple tree and often plays in its branches. On the first day of school, the introverted girl fashions a fresh-picked fruit and several twigs into The Apple Doll (Farrar, 2007) and takes it along so that she won’t be lonely. When “Susanna” begins to look a bit ripe, Mama shows Lizzy how to dry the apple. With a new face, bendable pipe cleaner body, and fresh-made clothing, the doll is transformed into an improved and longer-lasting companion. Lizzie proudly displays Susanna on sharing day, inspiring an art project that captivates her classmates and helps her to overcome her shyness. Elisa Kleven’s tenderly told text is winsomely illustrated with delicate, mixed-media collages. Extend this story with a hands-on activity by following the author’s directions for making an apple doll. (K-Gr 2)
In Jane Ray’s The Apple-Pip Princess (Candlewick, 2007), the youngest daughter of a king saves her barren homeland by planting and caring for the seeds that had been left behind by her now-deceased mother. Unlike her more materialistic and self-centered sisters, Serenity, akin to Johnny Appleseed, is a likable and deep-thinking protagonist who feels a sense of responsibility to her community and for the environment. Ray’s richly detailed artwork in lush jewel tones echoes and enhances the sense of wonder and magic in this original fairy tale (Gr 1-4).
Listen to an audio excerpt of Deborah Hopkinson's Apples to Oregon
