What do you think?
An Apple Pie for Dinner
Granny Smith wants to bake an apple pie, but she doesn't have any apples. So off she goes with a basketful of plums in hopes that she can make a trade. Granny swaps plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, flowers for a gold coin, a gold coin for a puppy, and a puppy for what she hoped to find in the first place?apples! Then she bakes a delicious apple pie for everyone she has met along the way. Based on an English folktale, each spread is meticulously illustrated in bas-relief made from baked clay, hand-sewn clothing, and mixed media. Author and Illustrator notes and an apple pie recipe are also included.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 4, 2025
(Read with my first grader) Granny needed apples.. it was fun watching the trading process to get what she needed!
October 14, 2016
Read this book to my preschool kiddos today. They loved the idea of trading until you get apples. And who doesn't like apple pie?
January 4, 2018
Very interesting short story with a great moral in it!
I like the story and illustrations they were very interesting.
But the font was so tiny and the tapping on each area on quite a number of pages were getting very frustrating for the reader as one could not always bring up the printed sentences very easily or quickly and quite often when one would try to do this the pages usually turned back in the opposite way that one was reading it or and message just would not pop up easily for one to read it. So, I am rating this for the positive side of this message of my review. I would not recommend this for a kid with a short fuse or not so good coordination even if they are in the age level or older with these types of problems. I received this ebook for free using KU, and in return, here is my honest review. Great job otherwise Susan! By Sunny.
I like the story and illustrations they were very interesting.
But the font was so tiny and the tapping on each area on quite a number of pages were getting very frustrating for the reader as one could not always bring up the printed sentences very easily or quickly and quite often when one would try to do this the pages usually turned back in the opposite way that one was reading it or and message just would not pop up easily for one to read it. So, I am rating this for the positive side of this message of my review. I would not recommend this for a kid with a short fuse or not so good coordination even if they are in the age level or older with these types of problems. I received this ebook for free using KU, and in return, here is my honest review. Great job otherwise Susan! By Sunny.
November 30, 2018
Granny Smith wants an apple pie for dinner and she's got everything she needs except apples. She picks plums from her plum tree to trade for some apples and off she goes. Over the course of her journey she trades and trades until she finds someone with apples. On her way back home she invites everyone she encountered back to her house for pie.
Apple Pie recipe included in the end pages.
I like the story and LOVE the concept. But just something about this book makes me shirk it as a storytime read. Maybe because the art is amazingly made from found objects but the scenes are very static.
Apple Pie recipe included in the end pages.
I like the story and LOVE the concept. But just something about this book makes me shirk it as a storytime read. Maybe because the art is amazingly made from found objects but the scenes are very static.
December 14, 2018
Story of woman who has plums but no apples for pie. She trades the plums for feathers, for flowers, for a coin - always filling a need, and finally gets the apples and bakes a pie to which everyone is invited. beautifully done clay pictures.
July 16, 2026
Granny Smith heads out to trade her plums for apples and makes plenty of friends by helping others along the way. In the end she invites them all to make and eat apple pie for dinner.
A trade up story with fun clay pictures.
A trade up story with fun clay pictures.
February 20, 2020
Loved the writing and story. Illustrations are lacking.
November 29, 2020
Loved the created illustrations
August 21, 2021
Cute enough but I found the claymation type illustrations super distracting.
January 5, 2022
Wonderful folktale retelling with amazing art.
March 11, 2022
Sweet story about sharing what you have and meeting friends along the way.
March 23, 2017
Mixed media images create a vibrant scene. The story was cute. Granny walked from place to place trading her wares for others until she acquires what she set out for. Apple pie dinner for all.
October 16, 2016
Cute picture book. Basically your standard bartering journey story looking for apples. But really well done and with oddly different but good art. The old lady gets to be the hero and everyone wins. With good enough writing.
May 7, 2011
This month, for Barrie Summy's Book Review Club, I'm writing about An Apple Pie for Dinner retold by Susan Vanhecke and illustrated by Carol Baicker-McKee.
This is my first "sponsored" review, by which I mean that the publisher sent me a copy of the book to review. At first I was excited! Then I was worried. What if I didn't like the book? Worse, what if my kids didn't like it?
They're sort of "off" new things, lately. And they each definitely have favorite books they like to read. Over. And over. And over. We have three bookcases, each with 3-4 shelves, stuffed full of children's picture books and board books. Additional children's books are stashed on bedside tables, busy bags in the car, and beside nearly every chair in the house. (Adult books are largely confined to the floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the basement and one small bookcase in Paul's and my bedroom.) We are readers. But we are very opinionated readers.
So I introduced An Apple Pie for Dinner with some trepidation.
Our first time through the new book, Ada (age 2-1/2) and Ellie (age 6) listened quietly then requested Where the Wild Things Are.
The second day, I included An Apple Pie for Dinner in my stack of suggested books for naptime (Ada) and bedtime (Ellie). They both picked it first. And we've read it at least once a day all week.
This is a rousing endorsement, indeed! But what do they actually like about the book? Is it the illustrations? The story itself? The idea of the quest? I asked Ellie, who walked away shaking her head.
I asked Ada, who also looked at me like I was crazy. "Apple pie. For dinner."
Oh, that.
So let me tell you why I like the book, instead.
The illustrations caught me first. "This is a fabulous graphics program," I thought. "I had no idea you could make this sort of thing with computers. I wonder how it's done. It looks so real! But no way did the illustrator create textured diorama/mural art pieces for every single page." Oh, but she did. From the endpages:
Carol Baiker-McKee created three-dimensional, mixed-media bas-reliefs to illustrate this book. Carol explains: "Mixed media is just a fancy way of saying that I created the artwork from lots of things, including fabric scraps sewn into clothing, embroidery, baked polymer clay, pipe cleaners, pieces of wood, and interesting things rescued from the trash and bought at rummage sales."
The art makes the book worthwhile, all by itself.
But the story is great, too. It's based on an old English folktale (The Apple Dumpling) which might be why the plot seemed slightly familiar to me. But I'd never heard the story told quite this way.
Granny Smith wanted to make apple pie, and she had everything she needed, except apples. She did, however, have plums. So she packed a basket full of plums and set off to find someone who wanted plums and had apples. Instead, she found a woman who wanted plums but had feathers. And so it went until Granny finally found a man with an apple orchard who just happened to need what she had in her basket at the time.
I don't want to spoil the ending, but the story winds up with every character in the story eating apple pie for dinner at old Granny Smith's house.
Click on over to the author's website to see some of the artwork and decide if a journey through the book isn't worthwhile, even knowing that there's a Happily Ever After ending.
I'm still having fun after twice daily readings for a week. Our current challenge is to find all the hidden ladybugs. Because a good children's book entertains the reader as well as the listener and this one does that.
This is my first "sponsored" review, by which I mean that the publisher sent me a copy of the book to review. At first I was excited! Then I was worried. What if I didn't like the book? Worse, what if my kids didn't like it?
They're sort of "off" new things, lately. And they each definitely have favorite books they like to read. Over. And over. And over. We have three bookcases, each with 3-4 shelves, stuffed full of children's picture books and board books. Additional children's books are stashed on bedside tables, busy bags in the car, and beside nearly every chair in the house. (Adult books are largely confined to the floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the basement and one small bookcase in Paul's and my bedroom.) We are readers. But we are very opinionated readers.
So I introduced An Apple Pie for Dinner with some trepidation.
Our first time through the new book, Ada (age 2-1/2) and Ellie (age 6) listened quietly then requested Where the Wild Things Are.
The second day, I included An Apple Pie for Dinner in my stack of suggested books for naptime (Ada) and bedtime (Ellie). They both picked it first. And we've read it at least once a day all week.
This is a rousing endorsement, indeed! But what do they actually like about the book? Is it the illustrations? The story itself? The idea of the quest? I asked Ellie, who walked away shaking her head.
I asked Ada, who also looked at me like I was crazy. "Apple pie. For dinner."
Oh, that.
So let me tell you why I like the book, instead.
The illustrations caught me first. "This is a fabulous graphics program," I thought. "I had no idea you could make this sort of thing with computers. I wonder how it's done. It looks so real! But no way did the illustrator create textured diorama/mural art pieces for every single page." Oh, but she did. From the endpages:
Carol Baiker-McKee created three-dimensional, mixed-media bas-reliefs to illustrate this book. Carol explains: "Mixed media is just a fancy way of saying that I created the artwork from lots of things, including fabric scraps sewn into clothing, embroidery, baked polymer clay, pipe cleaners, pieces of wood, and interesting things rescued from the trash and bought at rummage sales."
The art makes the book worthwhile, all by itself.
But the story is great, too. It's based on an old English folktale (The Apple Dumpling) which might be why the plot seemed slightly familiar to me. But I'd never heard the story told quite this way.
Granny Smith wanted to make apple pie, and she had everything she needed, except apples. She did, however, have plums. So she packed a basket full of plums and set off to find someone who wanted plums and had apples. Instead, she found a woman who wanted plums but had feathers. And so it went until Granny finally found a man with an apple orchard who just happened to need what she had in her basket at the time.
I don't want to spoil the ending, but the story winds up with every character in the story eating apple pie for dinner at old Granny Smith's house.
Click on over to the author's website to see some of the artwork and decide if a journey through the book isn't worthwhile, even knowing that there's a Happily Ever After ending.
I'm still having fun after twice daily readings for a week. Our current challenge is to find all the hidden ladybugs. Because a good children's book entertains the reader as well as the listener and this one does that.
May 8, 2016
First sentence: One day, old Granny Smith wanted an apple pie for dinner. She looked around her cozy kitchen. She had flour and butter. She had sugar and spices. But there was one thing she didn't have.
Premise/plot: Granny Smith wants to make an apple pie but has no apples. What will she do? She'll take a good look at what she does have--plums, in this case, and make the most of it. She herself has no use for plums--at least not that day--but someone, somewhere will. So Granny Smith sets off to go trading...
My thoughts: I really LOVE this one. It's based on an English folktale. I'm not sure how familiar that original folk tale is today, but, it felt vaguely almost familiar to me. It was a relief to learn that it was inspired by a folk tale. I liked Granny Smith very much. I liked how she set about to do things and actually got things done. I liked all the people she met along the way. I liked how she included them in the ending and asked them to share the pie! The illustrations are very unique and handcrafted.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10
Premise/plot: Granny Smith wants to make an apple pie but has no apples. What will she do? She'll take a good look at what she does have--plums, in this case, and make the most of it. She herself has no use for plums--at least not that day--but someone, somewhere will. So Granny Smith sets off to go trading...
My thoughts: I really LOVE this one. It's based on an English folktale. I'm not sure how familiar that original folk tale is today, but, it felt vaguely almost familiar to me. It was a relief to learn that it was inspired by a folk tale. I liked Granny Smith very much. I liked how she set about to do things and actually got things done. I liked all the people she met along the way. I liked how she included them in the ending and asked them to share the pie! The illustrations are very unique and handcrafted.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10
February 21, 2011
The story is based on an old English folktale, "The Apple Dumpling" - Granny Smith wants to bake an apple pie but has no apples, so she sets out to trade her plums. She trades the plums for feathers, feathers for flowers and on and on. When she is ready to bake the pie, she invites all the people she has met along the way to share it with her.
The illustrations are what make the book. They are done in clay and mixed media. You can see the knitting on Granny Smith's shawl, the lace on the little girls' dresses, the "feathers on the trrry cloth geese, the stitching on the aprons. I wonder how long it took to create all of these pictures. Younger children would not appreciate them, so I would recommend the book for preschoolers and primary school aged children.
There is a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book (I ♥ books with recipes), and a bit about the illustrator's method of illustrating.
The illustrations are what make the book. They are done in clay and mixed media. You can see the knitting on Granny Smith's shawl, the lace on the little girls' dresses, the "feathers on the trrry cloth geese, the stitching on the aprons. I wonder how long it took to create all of these pictures. Younger children would not appreciate them, so I would recommend the book for preschoolers and primary school aged children.
There is a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book (I ♥ books with recipes), and a bit about the illustrator's method of illustrating.
Read
December 1, 2009My boys enjoyed the book It was wonderful to talk to them about trading and trying to help other people out to meet their needs. I picked it the first time and they picked it other times. I loved the book. Granny was a loving and giving character. She ALWAYS gave what she had before she learned what the other had to trade in return; and she accepted whatever she was given, trusting that, in the end, she might find her apples.
The artwork is phenomenal - it appears to be a collage-relief, using polymer clay and mixed media such as fabric, ribbon, trim, etc. It is very creative, colorful, and interesting in and of itself. Makes you want to take a closer look to investigate.
To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.
The artwork is phenomenal - it appears to be a collage-relief, using polymer clay and mixed media such as fabric, ribbon, trim, etc. It is very creative, colorful, and interesting in and of itself. Makes you want to take a closer look to investigate.
To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.
April 19, 2016
2/27/17 Read with Naomi & Julia. A lesson on sharing.
4/3/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.
7/16/17 Read with Julia.
8/15/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.
9/14/17 Read with Naomi & Julia
9/18/17 Read with Julia.
11/30/17 Naomi read to Julia & me.
2/24/2018 Read with Naomi & Julia - they like finding all the little details in the illustrations
7/10/18 Read with Julia & Simon
2/3/19 Read with Naomi & Julia. My 5 yr old can't get enough of this book!
3/15/19 Read with Julia - she almost has it memorized
6/11/19 Read with Julia and Skylar for Summer Book Club
11/20/19 Read with Julia
6/27/20 Read with Julia
1/26/21 Julia read to me
5/15/25 Read with Charlotte
4/3/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.
7/16/17 Read with Julia.
8/15/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.
9/14/17 Read with Naomi & Julia
9/18/17 Read with Julia.
11/30/17 Naomi read to Julia & me.
2/24/2018 Read with Naomi & Julia - they like finding all the little details in the illustrations
7/10/18 Read with Julia & Simon
2/3/19 Read with Naomi & Julia. My 5 yr old can't get enough of this book!
3/15/19 Read with Julia - she almost has it memorized
6/11/19 Read with Julia and Skylar for Summer Book Club
11/20/19 Read with Julia
6/27/20 Read with Julia
1/26/21 Julia read to me
5/15/25 Read with Charlotte
August 15, 2009
I really liked this simple tale of a little old woman (Granny Smith... get it?!) who wants an apple pie for dinner, but of course has no apples. So, she takes some plums from the tree outside and sets off, hoping to trade for some apples, but ends up making trade after trade, eventually finding an old man who has an apple tree. The artwork is pretty awesome - mixed media collage, with most of the work done with clay. The only problem I had with the illustrations is the fact that Granny Smith is kind of creepy looking.
September 25, 2009
Sweet folktale where Granny wants apples, but only has plums, so she trades the plums for feathers, the feathers for flowers, and on and on until she trades for apples and everyone helps to make an apple pie. Nice for early elementary "economics" classes, but gotta say, the clay faces sometimes looked creepy.
March 20, 2012
Joshua's (4 year's old) favorite part: "the part where she makes an apple pie and eats it"
We have read this book three times, just today. My 4 year old loves it (I'm sure he especially likes it now because we made an apply pie after reading it the first time). So that gives it 4 stars. The illustrations are great. I love introducing my kids to different art techniques.
We have read this book three times, just today. My 4 year old loves it (I'm sure he especially likes it now because we made an apply pie after reading it the first time). So that gives it 4 stars. The illustrations are great. I love introducing my kids to different art techniques.
March 18, 2013
The book is very cute! Granny Smith (pun intended) wants to bake an apple pie but she doesn't have any apples. All she has is a basket of plums and sets off in the hope that she can trade them. The illustrations are very fairy tale like and reminded me of the amazing shadow applique my grandma used to create.
May 19, 2015
This is such a cute book and a nice lesson in sharing and generosity. We found it randomly at the library and our kids loved it so much and were so sad that we had to give it back that we bought a copy for our family. We've had it for several months and it still gets read a couple times a week. I love that it includes a recipe at the end.
October 26, 2009
This style of story is one I don't generally enjoy--wanting something and making successive trades for other things until the character gets the item wanted--but it does it well. The real appeal of this book is its illustrations, created from clay and cloth. Great fun to look at.
May 6, 2013
I really enjoyed this simple book about economics. Someone needs something, and someone else has something that is needed, a trade is made and everyone is happy. Cute, fun, and made we want to make a pie.
November 15, 2016
While the clay figures creep me out a bit, I can't help but appreciate the artistry and the wonderful story about a woman who keeps trading goods and making the world a better place in her pursuit of making an apple pie.
September 17, 2009
The story is great and can be a stand alone or a launching off point for disucssions about sharing, helping others, and perserverance. The claymation illustrations, however, creep me out.
Read
October 11, 2009granny's exchanges goods along the way for apple pie - recipe in book
October 23, 2009
Nice story and the illustrations are a marvel. I'm also thinking of turning this story into one that I'd tell with 3D props of my own!
May 12, 2012
The mixed media was an interesting way to illustrate this book. It would have been nicer if the characters had been a bit more diverse.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews