The Apple Pie That Papa Baked
By Patricia Tauzer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Folksy artwork enlivens tasty web-of-life tale.
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Based on 1 parent review
Cute book to read with Papa
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What's the Story?
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.
Is It Any Good?
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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the simple idea of apple pie grows into the more complicated story of how the apple came to be. And they will love talking about the different creatures who appear as the story grows, and how all nature seems to work together. Also, why was it important that the girl shared the pie in the end?
Book Details
- Author: Lauren Thompson
- Illustrator: Jonathan Bean
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Cooking and Baking
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication date: July 24, 2007
- Number of pages: 32
- Last updated: March 11, 2020
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