That Apple Is Mine!

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Three animals vie for a crunchy snack in a folktale that Arnold (The Adventures of Snowwoman) illustrates in a modernist blend of drawings and cut-paper collage. Each character has a reason to make the title's claim: "That apple is mine!" Hare insists, "I saw it first!", but Crow "pick[s] the apple off the tree" and Hedgehog snags the heavy fruit when Crow accidentally drops it. Their noisy tussle awakens Bear, who judiciously reviews the case and tells the trio to divide the prize. Hedgehog chops the apple into four sections and gives the last chunk to Bear, "because you stopped us from fighting." Problem solved--almost. Observant readers will notice Worm, who exits her home during the commotion and can only whimper, "But that apple was mine!" Arnold bases this fable on an original story by Russian storyteller Vladimir Suteev, and she lets oversize type emphasize the animals' cries of "Hey, wait!" and "I want it!" She sketches the characters in a bold, discontinuous black line that looks like litho crayon, then layers the figurative images over abstract shapes of pale blue, yellow, tart green and apple red. The resulting spreads suggest black-and-white slides projected on a randomly colored movie screen. Arnold casts a contemporary artist's eye on a century-old story and refreshes the familiar theme of sharing. Ages 3-6. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

That Apple Is Mine is a story about a rabbit, a crow and a hedgehog that all want the same apple. The rabbit sees the apple first and asks the crow to pick it for her. The crow picks the apple and decides to keep it for himself, but the apple is too heavy for him to carry, so he drops it onto the hedgehog's back. The hedgehog wants to keep the apple, so he runs away with rabbit and crow chasing him. They yell so loudly that they wake bear, who wants to know what is going on. When he finds out, he tells the animals that the only fair way to resolve this situation is to divide the apple three ways. Hedgehog cuts the apple and divides it among the three of them, with one piece left for bear. The book is illustrated with descriptive line drawings and splashes of color. 2000, Holiday House, $15.95. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Danielle Williams

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-This well-paced retelling of a Russian folktale begs to be told. Hare spots the last apple of the season and enlists crow to grab it for him. She does so but then wants it herself. She accidentally drops it onto Hedgehog, and he gladly makes off with it. They all chase each other crying, "That apple is mine!" until they wake up Bear, who shows them how to resolve the conflict by sharing. Undeterred by the pandemonium is worm, who quietly insists that the apple is hers as she crawls off in search of a new home. Dialogue is enlarged and made bold to distinguish it from the narrative. Black line drawings on collage occupy the double-page spreads. The palette of lilac, pale yellow, lime, baby blue, and sienna on geometric backgrounds is reminiscent of 1950s modernism. The characters are nonthreatening and smile even when arguing over the apple. Preschoolers will enjoy the antics and school-aged children can engage in a discussion on sharing. Use this book with Robert Munsch's We Share Everything (Scholastic, 1999) and Leo Lionni's It's Mine (Knopf, 1986).-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In this version of a tale by early—20th-century Russian author Vladimir Suteev, Hare, Crow, and Hedgehog squabble so noisily over ownership of a fallen apple that they wake Bear, who suggests that they cut it into equal portions. Hedgehog gratefully gives Bear the fourth quarter as the peacemaker's share—leaving a disconsolate worm to crawl away muttering that the apple was actually hers. Robbing the argument of rancor by having all of the animals (except Worm) smiling throughout, Arnold places her heavy-lined figures over simple collages constructed from large, irregular pieces of painted paper; the effect is loud, brash, kaleidoscopic. Political subtext aside, this makes an enlightened alternative to such trickster tales as Mirra Ginsburg's Two Greedy Bears (1976), in which the sly arbitrator gets the lion's share of the treat. (Picture book. 5-7)