Review from the January/February 2008 issue of The Horn Book Magazine

The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson, illus. by Jonathan Bean
     40 pp. Simon
     Reviewed 1/08
This House-That-Jack-Built-style rhyme about the provenance of an apple pie begins with “these are the apples, juicy and red” then moves outward to include the tree, its roots, and the rain, finally reaching “the world, blooming with life.” Likewise, the illustrations start with close-ups of the tree, then pull back to show more and more of the landscape until we see an all-encompassing double-page spread of woods and farmland, the sun and the moon, wild and domestic animals. The art tells its own story, adding a character: Papa gets help from his young daughter with everything from picking the apples to eating the freshly baked pie beneath the apple tree and sharing it with the farmhouse animals (plus a fox from the woods) who have waited patiently all day. The use of only three colors (red, mustard brown, and black) and an illustrative style infused with touches of both Virginia Lee Burton and Wanda Gag give the art an old-fashioned sensibility — fitting for this cozy tale of a homemade pie, “warm and sweet,” told in a rhyme that gathers in the whole world, from a tiny apple to the big sky. J.M.B.

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