September 1, 2004
PreS-Gr 2-This simple story of an apple farmer has been translated into unadorned Spanish. From the harvest, through the processes involved in making cider, applesauce, and pastries, which she sells along with "las [manzanas] m s hermosas" at a farmer's market, Ana's round of continual work is represented as vocational and deeply satisfying. The translation is simple and loses some of the adjectival embellishment of the original, but is true in sensibility. The large-type Spanish text is on top of each verso with a smaller font, English translation on the bottom. The facing illustrations are clean and bright cartoons, with the shapes outlined in black or red. They have a busy, primitive charm, a cross between the work of Lois Lenski and Grandma Moses. Words in the illustrations have been left in English, but they are translated on an appended page. Two Spanish-language recipes, one for applesauce and one for apple muffins, are included. Use this title with Pat Hutchins's Ten Red Apples (Greenwillow, 2000) for a primary look at apples and apple farming.
Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2005
Annie grows apples in her orchard and makes applesauce, cider, and more to sell at a farmer's market. The simple, straightforward Spanish text is given prominence, printed in a large font, above the smaller English text. Wellington's bold red and orange illustrations make the apples look deliciously edible. Spanish translations of English words in the art and two recipes are appended.
(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)