The Apple Pie That Papa Baked (by Lauren Thompson)

The story starts with a steaming, freshly baked apple pie. Then building backwards from apple to tree to roots, water, rain, clouds, and so on, an excited young girl shows how the "apple pie that Papa baked" came to be.

THE APPLE PIE THAT PAPA BAKED is as homey as Gramdma's kitchen, yet it's modern, rich, and even scientific. In simple language that is also poetic and true, Lauren Thompson tells the heartwarming story of how the apple pie comes to be, including a quick introduction to the whole ecological web of life. And, as a final loving touch, she adds that the true enjoyment comes in sharing the pie with all the creatures on the farm. With that, the circle is made complete.

Retro illustrations by Jonathan Bean add a folksy kind of wholeness to the story. The pigtailed girl's excitement as she wakes to follow her gangly farmer father to the field, the changing expressions of the farm animals that join them, the gnarled branching of the apple tree, the wide-eyed sun that hangs in the sky over-looking it all ... these, and other, detailed images are done wholly in yellowish-brown and black, with the dash of red for the apples highlighting each scene. Even Bean's artistic process, which he describes as the layering of three vellum pages each printed in a separate color, adds to the richness of this cumulative story.

Author: Lauren Thompson
Illustrator: Jonathan Bean
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: July 24, 2007
Number of pages: 32
Hardcover price: $15.99
Read Aloud: 5
Read Alone: 6