Apples to Oregon
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Overview
Apples, ho!
When Papa decides to pull up roots and move from Iowa to Oregon, he can't bear to leave his precious apple trees behind. Or his peaches, plums, grapes, cherries, and pears. Oh, and he takes his family along too. But the trail is cruel — first there's a river to cross that's wider than Texas...and then there are hailstones as big as plums...and there's even a drought, sure to crisp the cherries. Those poor pippins! Luckily Delicious (the nonedible apple of Daddy's eye) is strong — as young 'uns raised on apples are — and won't let anything stop her father's darling saps from tasting the sweet Oregon soil.
Here's a hilarious tall tale — from the team that brought you Fannie in the Kitchen — that's loosely based on the life of a real fruiting pioneer.
Apple Facts
More than 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
About 2,500 varieties grow in the United States.
The apple variety Delicious is the most widely grown in the United States.
Apples are part of the rose family.
The science of fruit growing is called pomology.
Fresh apples float. That's because 25 percent of their volume is air.
Cut an apple in half, across the core, and you'll see a star shape.
It takes apple trees four to five years to produce their first fruit.
It takes about thirty-six apples to make one gallon of apple cider.
Synopsis
Apples, ho!
When Papa decides to pull up roots and move from Iowa to Oregon, he can't bear to leave his precious apple trees behind. Or his peaches, plums, grapes, cherries, and pears. Oh, and he takes his family along too. But the trail is cruel — first there's a river to cross that's wider than Texas...and then there are hailstones as big as plums...and there's even a drought, sure to crisp the cherries. Those poor pippins! Luckily Delicious (the nonedible apple of Daddy's eye) is strong — as young 'uns raised on apples are — and won't let anything stop her father's darling saps from tasting the sweet Oregon soil.
Here's a hilarious tall tale — from the team that brought you Fannie in the Kitchen — that's loosely based on the life of a real fruiting pioneer.
Apple Facts
More than 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
About 2,500 varieties grow in the United States.
The apple variety Delicious is the most widely grown in the United States.
Apples are part of the rose family.
The science of fruit growing is called pomology.
Fresh apples float. That's because 25 percent of their volume is air.
Cut an apple in half, across the core, and you'll see a star shape.
It takes apple trees four to five years to produce their first fruit.
It takes about thirty-six apples to make one gallon of apple cider.
The New York Times - Stephanie Deutsch
In lively, image-rich language, Delicious tells of rafting the baby trees across a perilous river; protecting them from wind and hail with skirts, bonnets and petticoats; finding water for them in an old boot; and fanning away Jack Frost with smoke from a campfire. Nancy Carpenter's bright illustrations capture the exuberant spirit and the humor as well as many details.
Editorials
Stephanie Deutsch
In lively, image-rich language, Delicious tells of rafting the baby trees across a perilous river; protecting them from wind and hail with skirts, bonnets and petticoats; finding water for them in an old boot; and fanning away Jack Frost with smoke from a campfire. Nancy Carpenter's bright illustrations capture the exuberant spirit and the humor as well as many details.— The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
The creators of Fannie in the Kitchen present another satisfying slice of Americana in this capricious caper, loosely based on a true story. "My daddy loved growin' apples. And when he got ready to pull up roots and leave Iowa for Oregon, he couldn't bear to leave his apple trees behind," states the vivacious young narrator, with the fitting name of Delicious. Her father builds two large wooden boxes, fills them with "good, wormy dirt" and fruit trees, and loads them onto a wagon. "Oh, and by the way, he took us along too," she adds. As the girl's colloquial account follows the family of 10 across country, Carpenter's oil paintings provide effervescent particulars, such as Daddy bowed out at the front of the wagon, leading the team of oxen, while Delicious, addressing the audience full-on, nearly misses her ride West. Carpenter's brushstrokes, both delicate and broad, plus her rubbery characters add up to a more rugged style than her fine line renderings in Fannie, yet the artwork conveys just as much humor. Youngsters will revel in the fact that it is only through the efforts of inventive and indefatigable Delicious that the precious cargo survives its journey-through hail, drought and frost-to Oregon, where father and daughter plant a successful orchard. Daddy has the delectable last word: "Delicious, you'll always be the apple of my eye." This tallish tale is sweet to the core. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Hold onto your hats and prepare for the "slightly true" story about how a very determined man had the "most daring adventure in the history of fruit." It was quite simple really; the narrator's daddy loved his fruit trees (especially the apples) so much that when it was decided that the family should travel to Oregon from their home in Iowa, he made plans to take hundred of his beloved trees with him. Thus it was that this extraordinary man and his family set off across the country with two covered wagons, one of which was filled with fruit trees. For the children it was a grand adventure, living like pioneers and sleeping under the stars. Of course, there was more than the usual number of problems to overcome. How, for example, was one to get the "nursery wagon" across the great Platte River? Daddy found a way, but it was his brave and generous children who made the feat possible. In fact daddy's family go through a great deal for those trees and one cannot help admiring them for their dedication to daddy's cause. A tall tale that is based on a true story, this book is sure to entertain the whole family. Fast paced and full of spirited oil paintings, it is perfect for reading aloud. In the back of the book, the author describes the real man who brought seven hundred plants and young fruit trees from Salem, Iowa to a farm just south of Portland, Oregon. 2004, Atheneum, Ages 4 to 8.—Marya Jansen-Gruber