The Year Goes Round: The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons

IT IS SPRING.

Arnold's apple tree is his secret place. It is warm and he sees that there are buds on all the twigs. And soon the buds open to reveal sweet-smelling apple blossoms. He picks a few branches to take home for a bouquet arrangement. Arnold puts up a swing on one of his tree's strongest branches and swings as high as the blossoms. And then...

IT IS SUMMER.

Arnold builds a tree house among the branches, partly hidden among the green leaves that grow thick under the warm sun. Some of the blossom begin to turn into small green apples which grow bigger every day. Arnold juggles some of them. And then their color begins to change. And all too soon...

IT IS FALL.

The hard green apples begin to turn red, and the green leaves turn golden and fall for Arnold to rake, and when he shakes the tree, ripe red apples drop all around him. Arnold collect the apples in baskets and takes them home, where he his parents make apple pies and cider in their cider press. Arnold decorates a few apples for Halloween. And finally...

IT IS WINTER.

The apple tree's branches are bare again, so Arnold makes popcorn strings to decorate it and to feed the birds. When it snows, he builds a snowman under the tree and a snow fort to surround his tree. But one day the snow begins to melt and soon...

IT'S SPRING AGAIN.

Arnold's own apple tree is a literary evergreen, taking youngsters through a study of the seasons for decades, in Gail Gibbons' classic, The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Highly reviewed and enduring, this study of a year in the person of one child and one tree is perfect for preschool and primary students just beginning their study of science as evidenced in the science of the annual cycle of the seasons, illustrated by the author in charming illustrations and a sturdy boy who grows through the year as well. Embedded in the story are a recipe for apple pie and a diagram of how a cider press works. Share this one with Gibbons' companion book, Apples.

Bushel of Fun! Bad Apple--Perfect Day by Edward Hemingway

MAC COULDN'T WAIT TO GET TO THE WATER HOLE.
ON A SUNNY DAY THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE TO BE.

MAC SAID, "TODAY I WILL SHOW YOU--"

--"YOUR FAMOUS SOMERSAULT DIVE?" WILL GUESSED.

Mac's and Will's friendship had a downright disturbing start. Will is a kind of worm, not an "earworm," one of those songs that keeps playing in your head, but an actual green worm, who took up residence inside Mac's head, in their first book, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship. At first, all his other apple friends picked on Mac, calling him "Bad Apple" and shunning his company, jeering that he would spoil their whole barrel. Lonely Mac soon discovered, however, that Will was a worm with more a-peel than any of the Sour Apple gang, and, making the best of a bad situation, the two became, er, close friends.

Now the besties decide to celebrate with a perfect day's fun, having a duo dip in the ol' swimming hole. But alas, when they arrive, they find the watering hole had been mostly evaporating in the summer sun, leaving nothing but its muddy bottom in sight. But Mac has a way of looking on the bright side of every scene.

WHO SAYS MUD CAN'T BE FUN?

SPLAT!

Mac and Will jump right into building a mud city, complete with skyscrapers and an apartment complex Will names Casa de Worms. By the time the Sour Apples come by and pause to jeer, the mud city is a magnificent thing, and they can't resist joining in the fun. Granny Smith gets into the game, and when the little Crab Apple gang parachutes into Mud City, it's a fruit basket turnover!

But just as everybody is getting down and dirty, a sudden rainstorm comes along and re-fills the watering hole with fresh water. Mud City submerges like Atlantis, but Mac's buoyant spirits never sink.

For Mac and Will, at last it's time to make a splash on the scene.

"GERONIMO!"

And all the apple dive in and float in the pond together along with Mac and Will.

It's bobbing for all the apples in Edward Hemingway's Bad Apple's Perfect Day (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014).  Hemingway's upbeat story line and retro-styled comic illustrations seem to have considerable ap-peel, despite the the story's rather unusual premise.  For a bushel and a peck of apple fun,  pare, er, pair this one with its predecessor, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship.

Like Magic! Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matthewson

THERE'S MAGIC IN THIS BARE BROWN TREE.

TAP IT ONCE.

TURN THE PAGE TO SEE.

The book is not magic, but that bare, brown wintry tree is, because spring is coming. And with one page turn, the tree spouts four soft, green leaves.

A warming rub from the readers' fingers brings the tree to full leaf, and just a touch on the next page shows seven pink buds which turn into a tree filled with full-blown blooms.

GIVE THE TREE A LITTLE JIGGLE.

The tree drops its petals all over the ground, and the reader is asked to brush them away and to blow the tree a tiny kiss.

Voila'! Nice red apples appear on the tree, and a knock-knock on the trunk brings down six beauties. Kerplop!

A gentle pat on the leaves help turn them yellow, and orange and brown leaves appear only to drop to the ground, too.

The tree is bare and brown again, but with a little help from its friends (blowing a wish), beautiful sparkling snowflakes fall to adorn the tree through its winter sleep.

Are the readers out of a job then?

DON'T GO!!

With a little help, dear readers, it's time for bluebirds to return to work their magic, so that the cycle can begin all over again, as green leaves begin to bud, in Christie Matthewson's Tap the Magic Tree (Atheneum Press, 2014).  Author-illustrator Matthewson's art is sparklingly styled to reveal the essence of the iconic tree, lovely and inventive. Using the currently popular device of the faux interactive book to involve readers in this narrative of the changing seasons. Matthewson's text plays with the idea of the reader's magical touch setting off the changes of the season rather than the more technical explanation of the lengthening and shortening of the sun's rays, making this book a just-for-fun look (no battery recharging required) at the life of a tree through the seasons.

Kids less fascinated with trees and more turned on by the fantasy of interacting with a book will love Herve' Tullet's innovative Press Here and Bill Cotter's similarly premised Don't Push the Button! (read reviews here).

Can't Getcha Out of My Head! Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway

MAC WAS A GOOD APPLE.

Mac is a solid guy. His shape is perfect; his color is rosy red, But something is missing. He's just a little lonely, even with all those other apples to "hang" with all around him. Then one day something is different.

WHEN MAC WOKE UP, HE WAS COVERED WITH RAINDROPS AND HE WASN'T ALONE.

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE DREAM HE JUST HAD.

"A FUNNY LITTLE WORM WAS TICKLING ME RIGHT HERE....

AND NOW I CAN'T SEEM TO GET HIM....

... OUT OF MY HEAD."

Will the Worm seems to have taken up residence in Mac's head. But it's a good thing. They are instant friends. Will seems to finish Mac's sentences for him, and they are totally compatible. It's nice to have a friend who's always with you. Until....

"LOOK AT MAC!" SHOUT THE OTHER APPLES.

"HE'S GOT WORMS! MAC'S A ROTTEN APPLE!"

Granny Smith is sour on the whole thing. The crabapples are especially bitter about Mac's new friend, and Mac is persona non grata around the other apples.

Mac has a decision to make. The other apples shun him. They think he must have a hole in his head to hang out with a worm! But Mac knows he's still a good apple!

Edward Hemingway's strange little tale of an odd couple of friends, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship (G.P.Putnam's Sons, 2012) uses bright 1930s-style cartoon characters with stick arms and legs to illustrate this unusual story of a friendship which may be a bit mind-bending for some readers. A wormy apple may be an off-beat metaphor for a close friendship, but this tale certainly gets the attention of the reader as it looks at all sides of the friendship story. "Tender interactions between Mac and Will (they read books together, and Will finishes Mac’s sentences) make it clear that Mac’s conclusion that he’d rather be “a Bad Apple with Will than a sad apple without him” is the right one," says Publishers Weekly.

Pastry Practice: Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Paish

IT WAS A GLORIOUS AUTUMN AFTERNOON--THE PERFECT DAY TO RAKE LEAVES INTO PILE AND RUN AROUND THE YARD.

"FALL IS IN THE AIR!" SAID GRANDDAD.

"SO ARE THE BIRDS," SAID AMELIA BEDELIA.

Little Amelia points upward at the bright blue fall sky, where two flights of geese are soaring overhead, one in the classic V shape and a larger one in a double V.

"V.... W....? WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO SPELL?" SHE ASKED.

But before Granddad can begin to deal with this typical Ameliaism, Grandma sends the two on a mission to pick just the right fruit for one of her fresh apple pies. It's time for little Amelia to help make her first apple pie. "Be sure to pick up Granny Smith," she adds.

Amelia is happy to comply. She races off to beat Granddad to the car and trips and lands on one of their leaf piles.

"HOW WAS YOUR TRIP?" JOKES HER GRANDFATHER.

"FUN!" SAID AMELIA."FALL IS IN THE AIR AND ON THE GROUND!"

Amelia Bedelia is a little disappointed that they are not stopping for the mysterious Granny Smith on the way, but delighted when she finds herself, not at the supermarket, but at the farmer's market, surrounded by many varieties of apples--Royal Galas, Golden Nuggets, Pink Pearls, and Delicious--although Amelia insists that they all taste Delicious to her.

Back at home, Grandma and Little Amelia get busy, paring apples, sprinkling on flour, sugar, and spices, and rolling out the dough, and soon a large, juicy pie goes into the oven. While it bakes, Grandma takes a break in the parlor, but little Amelia decides to make her own pie. With the leftover dough, she rolls two small circles just like Grandma showed her and fits the crust into Grandma's intriguing miniature pastry dish. In go the apples and seasonings, and Amelia slips her secret creation into the back of the oven so that it will be a surprise when her mom and dad arrive for dinner.

Soon Grandma bustles in, takes her golden brown creation out of the oven, and sits it on the outside picnic table to cool while she puts the finishing touches on dinner. Amelia Bedelia sets the table.

"IT SOUNDS LIKE THE BIRDS ARE HAVING A PARTY, TOO!" SAID AMELIA BEDELIA.

"MY PIE!" EXCLAIMED GRANDMA.

IT WAS TOO LATE. "GONE!" SAID GRANDMA.

"I THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN SWALLOWS!" JOKED GRANDDAD.

As always, Amelia Bedelia comes through to save the day. Her little pie is doubly welcome when it comes out of the oven, and soon there is another empty pie plate in the kitchen.

Herman Parish's latest Amelia adventure, Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie (Greenwillow, 2010), joins the earlier books in the young Amelia series, Amelia Bedelia's First Valentine and Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School, as useful introductions to Peggy Parish's mistaken mistress of the homonym and homophone. Those wonderful peculiarities of the English language are a bit over the heads of Herman Parish's intended audience here, so he carefully sticks to puns like "trip" and "fall" that preschoolers and first graders will understand. As a read-aloud runup to a classroom unit on that staple of the autumn curriculum, apple trees and apple picking, this book adds to the many tasty apple books already out there. Pair this one with any of those, particularly The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, reviewed here.