Apple Pie for Breakfast: Down the Road by Alice Schertle

A book that begins with thoughts of eggs for breakfast and ends with apple pie instead, Alice Schertle's Down the Road shows the author's admirable ability to illuminate the human heart in gentle, softly humorous stories.

When Hetty's mama remarks that the local storekeeper's hens are laying, Papa admits to a hankering for fresh eggs for breakfast, and Hetty begs to be allowed to make her first solo shopping trip down the road to the nearby town. Equipped with a big wicker basket and coins in her pocket, she sets forth bravely, with plenty of advice from Mama and Papa:

"Twelve big beauties. No cracks," said Papa.

"Be sure to say thank you to Mr. Birdie." said Mama.

"Come straight home," said Papa.

"Don't dillydally," said Mama.

All goes well with Hetty's first trip until, nearly home, hot from the sun and getting tired, Hetty eyes a apple tree loaded with ripe fruit beside the road. She knew those apples. They have to be sweet, juicy and crackly crisp, and Hetty promises herself she'll only pick three and then go straight home. But when she reaches high for a Papa-sized apple, the basket tips and dumps its precious eggs, SPLAT!, on the ground, breaking them all.

Hetty can't bear the thought of telling Mama and Papa that she has failed her first mission. She climbs the tree as high as she can and hides there, giving in to sad feelings. Before long, however, a worried Papa comes along, looking for her, and soon knows the whole story. "There's no finer place than an apple tree to think things over," he says, and climbs up beside Hetty.

Before long, Mama comes down the road to see where everyone is, to find Hetty and Papa up the tree, sticky with juice from the apples they've eaten. Sizing up the situation, she climbs up into the tree beside them. "I'd almost forgotten how lovely the world looks from a tree," she says.

When the three continue down the road toward home, the basket, Mama's skirt, and Papa's pockets are full of apples, and the next morning, instead of fresh eggs, there is a fine apple pie for breakfast.

Schertle's sweet story of family life is perfectly matched with the wonderful paintings by E. B. Lewis which illustrate the story. Flooded with sunlight as Hetty walks down the hot dusty road, the illustrations of the cool darkness inside the small town store, the dappled shadows under the tree, and the cozy morning brightness of the family's kitchen all tell the story of parents who know well how to guide their child's feet down the road ahead.

Down the Road is a great family readaloud and a good story for the windup of an autumn unit or field trip in apple-picking time. It's a good reminder that sometimes an apple is more than an apple!