102. Apple

Apple. Nikki McClure. (Board Book) 2019/2012. 30 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Fall. Find. Sneak. Hide.

Premise/plot: Originally a picture book, Nikki McClure's Apple is now available in board book format. This simple book--illustrated in red, white, and black--tells the story of the apple's life cycle. Or should I say "story." This isn't so much a story as it is a sparse poem? Each spread has just one word accompanied by an illustration. To connect all the pages into a cohesive traditional story requires much work or effort. But essentially, a young child picks an apple, and then eventually many months later plants the seeds from that apple.

My thoughts: Books are so subjective. Apple illustrates that well. If you happen to love, love, love the illustrations--McClure is a cut-paper artist--then Apple may be appealing. The illustrations use just three colors--red, white, black. They are definitely striking. But just because I can recognize their artistic artiness doesn't mean I'm personally a fan of the art. And as I hinted at above, there just aren't enough words to piece together a "real" story. Again, for some readers the sparseness may be much of the appeal. 

Perhaps if the sparse text was paired with different illustrations--more expressive, capable of telling the story without relying on any text--OR if the illustrations were paired with more text? 

I wanted to enjoy this one. I did. I love, love, love, love eating apples. They are one of my favorite, favorite treats. But for me, this one was an almost.

 

© 2020 Becky Laney of Young Readers