Apple of My Pie

June 1, 2021
Grades 1-3 Squirrels Norma and Belly are back for another snack-driven adventure, this time joined by their peanut-sized pal, Little Bee. What begins as a normal trip to the farmer's market by Little Bee and Gramps goes unexpectedly awry when a tumbling pile of apples knocks Gramps into a crate destined for Crunchy Acres Apple Farm. Gramps, who has been contemplating a move to the country, is quite pleased with the situation, but Little Bee panics and races to see Norma and Belly in order to stage a rescue. Song's breezy artwork is a perfect match for this adventure's short chapters and fast pace. Lightly applied watercolors brighten scenes loosely lined in sumi ink and pencil, and the pages, divided between two and four panels, should be easily managed by new and emergent readers. At first glance, what appears to be a quaint farm turns out to be a highly mechanized operation, equipped with conveyor belts, chutes, sharp objects, and pie assembly, all of which form a hilarious (and tasty) obstacle course for the city squirrels.

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Starred review from May 15, 2021
Four brown squirrels have an accidental adventure at an apple farm. When wiry, glasses-wearing Gramps is accidentally transported to the Crunchy Acres Apple-Processing Plant due to a snafu at the farmers market, it's up to triangular Norma, thimble-shaped Belly, and peanut-shaped Little Bee to save the day. The trio is nothing if not resourceful, recruiting a friendly pigeon and the unnamed donut-truck operator from series opener Donut Feed the Squirrels (2020) to find them information about the apple farm and hitching a ride on a school bus that is taking kids to a field trip there. Arriving at Crunchy Acres, they must dodge apple-corers and outsmart factory line workers to find Gramps. Once reunited, the quartet makes it safely out of the apple factory intact only to realize they have landed in a pie at a pie-eating contest! Luckily they are rescued by Helen, an Asian-presenting student from the field trip, and all is well. Song's quiet illustration style is consistently engaging but never overstimulating, featuring a natural watercolor palette, soft lines, and plenty of white space. Human characters, all secondary or background, come in a range of racial presentations and body shapes. Fans of these sweet squirrels will devour this highly a-peel-ing volume. (Graphic fiction. 5-8)

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