Sour Apple

May 15, 2024
A lonely apple is left behind at harvest time. All the apples have wide-open eyes, but our protagonist--green with a brown spot, in contrast to the bright red ones--has a questioning personality. In simple, rhymed text, the unpicked apple wants to know why it wasn't selected: "Am I not shiny enough to sell at the market? Or not tiny enough to be used as a target?" (The accompanying illustration for that last line depicts William Tell.) Other apple allusions appear: Newton's encounter with a falling apple; the evil stepmother, the poisoned apple, an unconscious Snow White, and the seven dwarfs. Our apple plaintively wonders: "Am I too ordinary to make or break your day?" Well-known apple adages are referenced as the apple adds, "Or not sweet enough to be the apple of your eye? Or not extraordinary enough to keep the doctor away?" While young children may need adult readers to explain some of these examples, they'll understand the little apple's unhappiness. They'll be upset when insects try to devour the apple and seemingly bury it but will cheer when the passage of time brings about an amazing transformation: The apple eventually becomes a tree. Bold colors and shapes reminiscent of Eric Carle's artwork will entice children; they'll be gratified to see this seemingly hopeless piece of fruit ultimately succeed. An uplifting tale of triumph. (Picture book. 4-6)

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Starred review from June 1, 2024

PreS-Gr 4-Whether it's third grade dodgeball teams or lining up to organize classroom celebrations or even just dance class, no one wants to be picked last. Readers will universally identify with the double-wide green apple who narrates: "I am an apple./ Today is the start of the season./ When every apple's life finds a reason./ It's the day when apples get picked from their tree .../ ... everyone EXCEPT ME." This is painful enough, but the narrator spells out the grief in bold letters: "Why did they not pick me?" Children will be hooked. This is the keening, this is the quest, the great why of childhood, and this apple spells it out. Liu's splendid Hidden Gem took on life's truths from a rockier angle, but this book, in autumnal shades that appear to be stained glass or perhaps torn tissue paper layered to heady textures, takes on Snow White and Sir Isaac Newton, adages ("bad seed," "keep the doctor away," "apple of your eye"), recipes, and-nihilism. Educators are free to elucidate every single spread or gloss over what they will, but the creator of this book has taken everything to its essential, ultimate ending. In fact, this bad seed: Not shiny enough? Not tiny enough? The list of why and why not goes on, but the delivery nibbled on, stomped on, finishing last, falls into the deep dark ground and becomes a tree. This book is a showstopper. Every line is a philosophical question or a plunge into science or popular culture. VERDICT For libraries without shelves about late bloomers, start here. A tremendous homage to self-esteem, individuality, thoughtfulness, surrender, and hope.-Ginnie Abbott

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