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  • The Apple Orchard Riddle by Margaret McNamara
  • Elizabeth Bush
McNamara, Margaret . The Apple Orchard Riddle; illus. by G. Brian Karas. Schwartz & Wade, 2013. [40p]. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-95744-4 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-84744-8 $15.99 Reviewed from galleys R 4-7 yrs.

When Mr. Tiffin takes his class to the apple orchard for a field trip, he throws a riddle out to his students to solve during the day: "Show me a little red house with no windows and no door, but with a star inside." The audience joins the class in learning about several varieties of apples and how the ripening schedule allows the orchard to yield a crop over two seasons; the correct way to pick an apple; how apples are pressed into cider; how apples are commercially sorted for eating fresh or processing into other foods. As the kids poke around the orchard, they continually test observations against Mr. Tiffin's riddle. Hmmm, the barn is red, has no windows, but has a door; the tractor is red, has no windows or doors, but has no star inside. It finally falls to Tara, a dilly-dallying daydreamer, whom the class smartypants describes as "The lights are on, but nobody's home," to solve the riddle. Tara notices that the apple she's been gnawing deep into the core has five little seeds, and she has the spatial sense to imagine cutting the apple horizontally to reveal the "star" shape inside. Thus McNamara pulls off the double trick of an informative book about commercial apple cultivation, and a sensitive lesson on learning differences. As always, Karas' paint and pencil smudge kiddie cast is diverse, adorable, and believable, and the focus on trees and machinery clarifies several apple-processing activities. With its solid storyline and additional "Apple Orchard Facts," this will make a wonderful prelude to autumn trips to the orchard. [End Page 37]

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