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APPLE - APPLES - JOHNNY APPLESEED Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts INDEX Scroll down or click on your choice below • Children's and Adult Books - Apples • Kindle Edition Books - Apples • Audio Resources - Apples • Toys and Games for Children - Apples • Online Links about Apples • SOS: Searching Out Stories - Apples |
CHILDREN'S AND ADULT BOOKS - APPLES
Book titles are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if material is not in the public domain.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories by Neil/McCurdy Phillip (comiler, editor) with Taylor Mali (narrator). (1996) (contains The Apple of Contentment by Howard Pyle)
Includes works and discussion of Washington Irving, Horace E. Scudder, M.S.B., Frank Stockton, Howard Pyle, Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum, Laura E. Richards, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Will Bradley, Carl Sandburg, and Neil Philip.
Apple Pie Tree, The by Zoe Hall (1996 - Ages 4-8)
From bud to fruit, two children follow the cycle of an apple tree as it is nurtured through the seasons. The book incorporates the role of bees and the weather in the production of the fruit. Another use of the tree is shown, as a pair of robins build their nest and begin a family. The story ends with a nice, warm apple pie being taken from the oven.
Apples from Heaven: Multicultural Folk Tales about Stories and Storytellers by Naomi Baltuck
A selection of traditional tales about stories and storytellers. Identification of the country of origin follows the title of each tale, which opens with a quote or proverb. There are stories from Iraq, Romania, and Melanesia, to name only a few. The extensive source notes provide easy access to tale variants.
Atalanta's Race : A Greek Myth by Shirley Climo with Alexander Koshkin (illus). (2000 - Ages 4-8)
In ancient Greece, the gods control every life. When newborn Princess Atalanta is left to die on a mountainside, the gods send a bear to care for her. Adopted by a woodsman, she grows into a great hunter and athlete. But Atalanta has no use for the gods. When she must run the most important race of her life, the gods intercede—and Atalanta learns they will not be ignored.
Cider Apples by Sandy Nightingale
Holly is visiting her grandparents on New Year's Eve and overhears them sadly discussing their dying apple orchard. At the first stroke of midnight, the child and her grandmother are startled when the cat speaks to them urgently, telling them to hurry to the barn to talk with Shadow, the horse, about summoning a mysterious old apple-tree man to help them.
Down the Road by Alice Schertle. (2000 - Ages 4-8)
Mama and Papa agree that eggs for breakfast would be nice, but they’re too busy to go to the store. So they decide that Hetty is old enough to go by herself. Although she practices walking smoothly up the hill so she won’t break the precious eggs, she can’t help running all the way down. Shows the power of love and supports a young girl's independence.
Easy-To-Tell Stories for Young Children by Annette Harrison. (1992) (Contains "The Little Red House")
Enchanted Apple Tree, The by Robert S. Baker.
Family Storytelling Handbook, The by Anne Pellowski. (1987 - Baby-Preschool)
Discusses storytelling as a form of family entertainment, offers suggestions on how and when to tell stories, and includes examples of stories for family members to tell.
From Atalanta to Zeus: Readers Theatre from Greek Mythology (Readers Theatre) by Suzanne I. Barchers. (2001)
Greek mythology serves as an exciting source of creative inspiration. Through these 26 scripts, you will not only introduce students to a fascinating body of literature, but also build their oral reading and presentation skills. Each script introduces a character from Greek mythology and chronicles some of the important mythical events surrounding the figure.
From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs by Amy Cohn (editor) and Molly Bang (illustrator). (1993 - Ages 4-8)
Anthology of cultural heritages: Native American, African American, Hispanic, Pennsylvania Dutch, Cajun, Jewish, Shaker, Scandinavian, Vietnamese, Haitian and Cuban. Features folk songs, folklore, prose and poetry and 15 Caldecott artists. Creation stories, pourquoi tales and a Navajo song conjure up early America.
Giant Encyclopedia of Circle Time and Group Activities, The: For Children 3 to 6 by Kathy Charner (editor) with Rebecca Jones (illus). (1996)
Teachers from all over the country share their experience and knowledge—over 600 activities covering 48 themes. Many activities include suggestions for extending the circle time or group activity into other areas of the curriculum such as math, science, snack, language, or field trips.
Golden Apples of Hesperides, The: Three New Plays in the Style of Greek Drama by William Knight and Audrey Knight. (2000)
Three plays written in the style of Greek drama. "Seek the New Helen" takes place in Troy 20 years after Paris seized Helen. "The Usurpers in Tiryns" where Tisamenes is the first male ruler in a land where queens always held power. "Tongues of Angels" is a contemporary story of a marital breakdown.
Helen of Troy by Margaret George. (2007)
The story of the woman whose face “launched a thousand ships.” Laden with doom, yet surprising in its moments of innocence and beauty, this is a beautifully told story of a legendary woman and her times. Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen and Paris themselves all come alive on these pages.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books) by Marjorie Priceman. (1996 - Ages 4-8)
A baker thinks of how to proceed if the market is closed—how to gather wheat in Italy, a chicken in France, bark from the kurundu tree in Sri Lanka, a cow in England, and apples in Vermont. Using these ingredients, a pie is baked and friends are invited to share. A recipe for apple pie appears on the last page.
Iduna and the Magic Apples by Marianna Mayer. (1988) (compiled by the D'Aulaires)
The Norse myth of how Iduna's apples kept Odin and the other gods from growing old, until Thiassi plotted to kidnap her and gain the power of the apples. After evil black insects sting Iduna, she becomes weak and is captured by Thiassi. The Everlasting Garden begins to die and the gods begin to age and decline, until they coerce Loki into rescuing Iduna.
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. (1992) (Apple Girl and Pome and Peel)
Chosen as one of the New York Times’s ten best books in the year of its original publication, this collection immediately won a cherished place among lovers of the tale and vaulted Calvino into the ranks of the great folklorists. Introduction by the Author; illustrations. Translated by George Martin. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.
Johnny Appleseed & the Bears by David Novak (1995)
Reader Review: I just finished reading this book to a 4th grade class @ Cape St Clair Elem. school in Annapolis. Md. It was "Guest Reader Day", and it was chosen by the Media Specialist for me to read. I had so much fun reading it, that I will now search for a copy to add to my child's library. It's alot of fun to animate, and the children laughed many times, especially as more and more bears kept showing up. An adorable book for all kids.
Judgment of the Trojan Prince Paris in Medieval Literature, The (Middle Ages Series) by Margaret J Erhhart. (1987)
Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain. (reprinted 2008)
If you're already familiar with Finn and Sawyer, perhaps this collection of fragments, short stories, and essays--assembled posthumously some few decades ago now, but still fresh--will enhance your sense of Twain's true range. A particular favorite: his essay The Damned Human Race, wherein he proves, rather convincingly, that an anaconda snake is a higher form of life than an English Earl.
Magic Apple: A Folktale from the Middle East, The (Story Cove: a World of Stories) by Rob Cleveland. (2006 - Ages 4-8 - August House)
Three brothers embark on separate journeys to fulfill their father's dying wish. In thier journey's they go to distant lands, find curious treasures, and learn the true meaning of giving.
Magic Orange Tree, The: and Other Haitian Folktales by Diane Wolkstein) (The Forbidden Apple)
File this under your folklore section and anticipate wide interest in a collection of Haitian folk stories, both from a literary and from a cultural perspective. Almost thirty stories gathered by Wolkstein provide strong literary pieces packed with diversity and varied themes.
Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics) by Ovid with Denis Feenery (introduction) and Ovid’s sensuous and witty poem interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy.
Mouse, The and The Apple by Stephen J. Butler. (1994 - Baby-Preschool)
A slight, simply told story about the virtue of patience. Mouse spies a shiny, perfect apple in a tree, and settles down to wait for it to fall. Along come Hen, Goose, Goat, and Cow, all of whom tire of sitting idly by; they try to knock it down, and then give up and leave. Ultimately, the lone small creature is rewarded with "the cruchiest, sweetest, most delicious apple Mouse ever tasted!"
Myths of the Sacred Tree by Moyra Caldecott. (1993) (Tales and commentary about the apple tree)
Essential to life on earth since the beginning of time, trees hold a special place in our collective consciousness: rooted in the earth, reaching skyward, nourished by the elements, and enlivened by the sap running through their veins, they provide a metaphor for what it means to be human.
Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner. (2008 - Young Adult)
She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Helen sets out to get what she wants. Helen makes a few enemies—such as the self-proclaimed "son of Zeus" Theseus—but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi.
Pepper and Salt & The Wonder Clock: Box Set (Foundations) by Howard Pyle. (reprint 2006 - Ages 9-12)
This handsome box set brings together The Wonder Clock, one of the Pyle siblings’ more delightful combined efforts, and Pepper and Salt, a collection of Pyle’s wonderfully imaginative fairy tales and fables. A perfect Christmas gift, it will help a new generation rediscover the immense gifts of one of America’s best children’s storytellers.
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer with Marvin Bileck (illus). (1964 - Ages 4-8)
This book consists of very strange and nonsensical sentences. Examples of these are "Salmon slide down a Hippo's hide, and rain makes applesauce," and "Monkeys mumble in a jelly bean jungle, and rain makes applesauce." These silly words cover two pages in a scroll type script, across and through some of the most interesting illustrations ever seen in a children's book....
Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables by David Scofield Wilson and Angus K. Gillespie (editors). (1999)
Each chapter looks at the history of a fruit or vegetable that is a common part of American foodways. Discussions of the social and cultural norms that are associated with 9 different foods/tobacco use. Includes Johnny Appleseed and explains why two cities that straddle the border of Kentucky and Tennessee host a banana festival.
Second Storyteller's Choice, A by Eileen Colwell) (The Golden Phoenix)
Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis, and Inspiration, The by Fred Hageneder. (2002) (Chapter on apple trees)
Reader: This author wove the symbiotic relationship we have with the growing world around us into a clear, well researched and understandable read. He covered both the scientific and spiritual aspects of trees seamlessly. He took technology, science and Gaia, and gave us a tapestry.
Storytelling Activities Kit: Ready-To-Use Techniques by Annette Harrison (1992) (Hamburger on a Bun)
This resource provides a detailed teacher's manual with 2 45-minute audio cassettes presenting step-by-step techniques, lessons, and activities, plus 12 recorded stories to assist preK-2 teachers and librarians in telling stories and integrating storytelling into the basic curriculum. Included are 12 additional stories based on early childhood themes such as family and animals.
Talking Tree and Other Stories, The by Augusta Baker (The Magic Apple) (1955)
Too Many Apples by Dorothy Hilliard Moffatt. (1995)
Treasury of Australian folk tales and traditions, A (Australiana classic) by Bill Beatty. (1974) (Story of Granny Smith)
Tree Wisdom: The Definitive Guidebook to the Myth, Folklore, and Healing Power of Treesby Jacqueline M. Paterson. (1996) (Chapter on apple trees)
Tree Wisdom explores the world of trees through the eyes of the ancients and our eyes of today.
What's So Terrible About Swallowing an Appleseed by Harriet Golden Lerner. (1996 - Ages 4-8)
When Rosie accidentally swallows an apple seed, her big sister Katie tells her that before long apple tree branches will bloom right out of her ears. Soon Rosie is imagining both the hazards and delights of having branches growing from her ears, and Katie is learning how fast a little white lie can grow.
William Tell and Other Stories (Oxford Dominoes Series, Starter Level) by John Escott with Adam Stower (illus) and Bill Bowler and Sue Parminter (series editors). (2002 - Ages 9-12)
The men and the woman in this book - William Tell, Tom Blood, Lord Bao, King Matthias, Johnny Appleseed, and Lady Godiva - are all real people from history. But every time someone tells an old story, they change things in it, to make them bigger, better, and more exciting. So what is true in this book and what is not? Read all six of the stories, and see what you think.
Wisdom of Trees, The by Jane Gifford. (2006) (Chapter on apple trees)
From the silvery birch, associated with fertility and springtime, to the beech, symbol of the written word and ancient learning, the magnificence and wonder of trees burst forth in this dazzling collection of photographs. Following the Celtic tree alphabet, these evocative portraits go through the seasons and offer close-up studies of foliage, bark, blossoms, and fruit.
Wonder Clock, The (Starscape) by Howard Pyle. (reprint 2003 - Ages 9-12)
A delightful, magical collection of whimsical stories: 24 stories for 24 hours. Peopled with jolly kings and queens, lovely princesses and evil witches, sly foxes and mischievous ravens, ogres and giants, dashing princes and nasty dragons, these are old fashioned fairly tales in the best and most beautiful sense.
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KINDLE EDITION BOOKS ABOUT APPLES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if material is not in the public domain.
Book titles are in blue and underlined.
Click on them to learn more about the books and how to buy them.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
The Three Golden Apples by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (reprint 2004)
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CDs AND AUDIO RESOURCES ABOUT APPLE / APPLES
Product titles are in blue and underlined.
Click on them to learn more about the products and how to buy them.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
The Magic Apple: A Folktale from the Middle East (Story Cove: a World of Stories) by Rob Cleveland. (2006 - Ages 4-8 - August House) (Audio Download)
Three brothers embark on separate journeys to fulfill their father's dying wish. In thier journey's they go to distant lands, find curious treasures, and learn the true meaning of giving.
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Page last modified: May 18, 2009
Page first created: 2005
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• American Fairy Tales: From Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories by Neil/McCurdy Phillip (comiler, editor) with Taylor Mali (narrator). (1996) (contains The Apple of Contentment by Howard Pyle)
Includes works and discussion of Washington Irving, Horace E. Scudder, M.S.B., Frank Stockton, Howard Pyle, Louisa May Alcott, L. Frank Baum, Laura E. Richards, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Will Bradley, Carl Sandburg, and Neil Philip.
• Apple Pie Tree, The by Zoe Hall. (1996 - Ages 4-8)
Book Description from School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-From bud to fruit, two children follow the cycle of an apple tree as it is nurtured through the seasons. The book incorporates the role of bees and the weather in the production of the fruit. Another use of the tree is shown, as a pair of robins build their nest and begin a family. The story ends with a nice, warm apple pie being taken from the oven. The large pictures and text are suitable for young children. The colorful, clear-cut illustrations use a paint and paper collage technique. An end note shows how bees pollinate the tree's flowers and offers a recipe for apple pie. Great for sharing with a group or one-on-one.
Kathy Mitchell, Gadsden Co. Public Library, Quincy, FL
• Apples from Heaven: Multicultural Folk Tales about Stories and Storytellers
Book Description
An experienced storyteller herself, Baltuck has put together a fine selection of traditional tales about stories and storytellers. She practices restraint in her retellings, using a refreshingly straightforward approach and staying close to a traditional form that promotes reading and telling aloud. Identification of the country of origin follows the title of each tale, which opens with a quote or proverb. A quick glance at the table of contents shows great diversity--there are stories from Iraq, Romania, and Melanesia, to name only a few of the places of origin. The extensive source notes provide easy access to tale variants, and it is apparent from Baltuck's introduction that this book was a labor of love. It is also a strong anthology that will be very useful in comparative folktale collections as well as to librarians and storytellers.
Janice del Negro
• Cider Apples
Book Description from School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-In this modern fairy tale, Holly is visiting her grandparents on New Year's Eve and overhears them sadly discussing their dying apple orchard. At the first stroke of midnight, the child and her grandmother are startled when the cat speaks to them urgently, telling them to hurry to the barn to talk with Shadow, the horse. From Shadow they learn that they can summon a mysterious old apple-tree man with a special rite using the last of their cider. He emerges amid a cloud of gorgeous fairies from the roots of the oldest tree and promises to heal the orchard. In the morning, the tree is laden with beautiful, ripe apples. Framed, full-page paintings face pages of text embellished by branches and tendrils and vignettes from the story. The idealized realism of the figures, particularly the utterly charming, frolicking fairies, as well as the soft, rich palette and meticulous detailing of each scene, are just right for evoking the magic of a New Year's miracle.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
• Easy-To-Tell Stories for Young Children
Also found at
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=harrison&sts=t&tn=easy+to+tell+stories&x=0&y=0
• Enchanted Apple Tree, The by Robert S. Baker. (check out the price here)
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=enchanted+apple+tree&x=0&y=0 (available here for $1 up.)
• Family Storytelling Handbook, The
Discusses storytelling as a form of family entertainment, offers suggestions on how and when to tell stories, and includes examples of stories for family members to tell.
• From Atalanta to Zeus: Readers Theatre from Greek Mythology (Readers Theatre)
Greek mythology, an important part of the curriculum for middle and high school students, serves as an exciting source of creative inspiration. Through these 26 scripts, you will not only introduce students to a fascinating body of literature, but also build their oral reading and presentation skills. Each script introduces a character from Greek mythology and chronicles some of the important mythical events surrounding the figure. Students get to know heroes, such as Heracles and Athena, in addition to lesser known but equally fascinating figures, such as Chiron and Asclepius. A pronunciation guide for more than 300 Greek names and a detailed index make this a user-friendly resource.
Also:
• Atalanta's Race : A Greek Myth
In ancient Greece, the gods control every life, from peasant to King. When newborn Princess Atalanta is left to die on a mountainside because her father wanted a son, the gods send a bear to care for her. Adopted by a woodsman, she grows into a great hunter and athlete, and is eventually reunited with her father, the King. But as she gets older, Atalanta has no use for the gods and gives them no credit. When she must run the most important race of her life, on which her future happiness rides, the gods intercede once more--and Atalanta learns they will not be ignored forever.
• Down the Road
Book Description from Booklist
Mama and Papa agree that eggs for breakfast would be nice, but they’re too busy to go to the store. So they decide that Hetty is old enough to go by herself. Although she practices walking smoothly up the hill so she won’t break the precious eggs, she can’t help running all the way down. Young readers will hold their breath as Hetty tries her very best to get those eggs home safely. “The story is remarkable for its evocative imagery, and the loving interchange between the characters sets a charming tone. The words are perfectly complemented by Lewis’s dazzling, impressionistic watercolors that show the joyous power of love and depict a warmly supportive world in which Hetty ventures forth toward independence. A fine book that speaks straight to the heart.”
• From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs
Publishers Weekly review
This sumptuous anthology gathers into its generous embrace a rich mix of cultural heritages, from Native American and African American to Hispanic, Pennsylvania Dutch, Cajun, Jewish, Shaker, Scandinavian and others. The resulting medley of folk songs, folklore, prose and poetry is as lovely as an Appalachian patchwork quilt, with each piece a unique but integral part of the whole. Each of 15 Caldecott artists--including Chris Van Allsburg, Barbara Cooney, Donald Crews, Molly Bang and Ed Young--provides stylish illustrations for an entire unit of the book, which is divided chronologically and thematically. Creation stories, pourquoi tales and a Navajo song conjure up America "In the Beginning" (Leo and Diane Dillon illustrate this section); the American revolution, the immigrant experience, slavery, westward expansion, tall tales, ghost stories and baseball all receive their due. The final section, "In Our Time," features numerous 20th-century landmarks (including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech) as well as folklore from such latter-day immigrant cultures as Vietnamese, Haitian and Cuban. What better way for children to get acquainted with their country's wealth of diversity than through an all-star collaboration like this? All ages.
• Giant Encyclopedia of Circle Time and Group Activities, The: For Children 3 to 6
This book has many apple-related activities.
We invited teachers from all over the country to share their experience and knowledge for the creation of this giant resource. Open to any page in this book and you will find an activity for circle or group time written by an experienced teacher-over 600 activities covering 48 themes. This book is jam-packed with ideas that were tested by teachers in the classroom.
These are ideas that work, and there are enough to keep children learning and happy for days, weeks and months. Many activities include suggestions for extending the circle time or group activity into other areas of the curriculum such as math, science, snack, language, or field trips. Books and songs related to the activity as well as original songs and poems are included.
"Consider this resource as a gift for a new teacher or for someone always looking for new proven ideas."-Reviews from Parent Council
"Teachers will find this an important reference as it charts practical circle time activities which have been tried and tested in the classroom: from dinosaur bone hunt to holiday celebrations, this is an excellent collection."-Children's Bookwatch
". . . open this book anywhere and find something fun to do. . . . Even teachers with years of experience should find great new suggestions here, while beginners will find it invaluable."-Notes from the Window Sill
• Golden Apples of Hesperides, The: Three New Plays in the Style of Greek Drama
This is a compilation of three plays written in the style of Greek drama. Seek the New Helen takes place in Troy 20 years after Paris seized Helen. A fresh group of Greek soldiers discover Menelaus' daughter, a new beauty with the strength and application to be Helen's successor. The Usurpers takes place in Tiryns, where Tisamenes is the first male ruler in a land where a queen previously always held power. Desperate to find a conflict to prove his claim to the throne, he neglects those in his court who plot to return a woman to power. Tongues of Angels is a contemporary story of a marital breakdown written in the blank verse style typical of Greek dramas.
• Helen of Troy
With her amazing ability to summon the voices of historical characters, Margaret George in Helen of Troy tells the story of the woman whose face “launched a thousand ships.” Laden with doom, yet surprising in its moments of innocence and beauty, this is a beautifully told story of a legendary woman and her times. An exquisite page-turner with a cast of irresistible characters— Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen and Paris themselves—and a wealth of material that reproduces the Age of Bronze in all its glory, Helen of Troy brings to life a war that we have all learned about but never before experienced.
• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books)
Book Description from School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-In this whimsical, geographical shopping journey, a young baker thinks of how to proceed if the market is closed. She directs readers, via various modes of transportation, to gather seminola wheat in Italy, a chicken (for its egg) in France, bark from the kurundu (cinnamon) tree in Sri Lanka, a cow (for butter) in England, salt water and sugar cane in Jamaica, and apples in Vermont. Processing the worldly ingredients is quickly handled, a pie is baked, and friends are invited to share. A look around the table reveals children from all of the countries in which the foods have been found. A recipe for apple pie appears on the last page. The brightly colored pictures are fanciful, revealing cheerful, busy people working in towns, fields, and forests of the various countries. The purposeful girl in a green pinafore collects her ingredients with enthusiasm and good cheer. A lighthearted, pleasurable selection. Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
• Iduna and the Magic Apples by Marianna Mayer. (1988) (Norse Gods and Giants, compiled by the D'Aulaires)
Book Description
Grade 3-6-- A stirring picture-book rendition of the Norse myth of how Iduna's apples kept Odin and the other gods from growing old, until Thiassi, a monstrous giant in hideous bird shape, plotted to kidnap her and gain the power of the apples. After evil black insects, evolved from Thiassi's cast-off feathers, sting Iduna with their poisonous venom, she becomes alarmingly weak. This provides the opportunity for the god Loki, succumbing to treachery as a condition for saving his own life, to deliver her to Thiassi. The Everlasting Garden begins to die as winds, rain, and snow battle it. The gods themselves begin to age and decline, until they coerce Loki to rescue Iduna. The text is a delight. Mayer's poetic style of writing echoes the beauty and tranquility of the Everlasting Garden. Lyrical descriptive passages will evoke vivid scenes in readers' imaginations. Superbly crafted, the retelling is made more compelling by Mayer's astute use of engrossing dialogue as well as embedded phrases and short sentences and implied pauses. Gal's sweeping compositions dramatically evoke the myth's ever-changing mood. Strikingly framed by identical side panels (albeit in the same muted sepia tones), the double-page spreads offer a visual interpretation in a majestic classical style. Gal uses a resin-color wash with egg tempera on paper technique highlighted by cross hatchings and colored pencil to add detail and texture. The action is perceived as frozen-in-time vignettes, each poignant moment enhancing the narrative. This book will be a valuable addition to mythology collections. --Ronald Jobe, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Italian Folktales
Chosen as one of the New York Times’s ten best books in the year of its original publication, this collection immediately won a cherished place among lovers of the tale and vaulted Calvino into the ranks of the great folklorists. Introduction by the Author; illustrations. Translated by George Martin. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.
• Johnny Appleseed & the Bears
Book Description from a reader
I just finished reading this book to a 4th grade class @ Cape St Clair Elem. school in Annapolis. Md. It was "Guest Reader Day", and it was chosen by the Media Specialist for me to read. I had so much fun reading it, that I will now search for a copy to add to my child's library. It's alot of fun to annimate, and the children laughed many times, especially as more, and MORE bears kept showing up. An adorable book for ALL kids.
• Judgment of the Trojan Prince Paris in Medieval Literature, The (Middle Ages Series)
• Letters From The Earth
If you're already familiar with Finn and Sawyer, perhaps this collection of fragments, short stories, and essays--assembled posthumously some few decades ago now, but still fresh--will enhance your sense of Twain's true range. A particular favorite: his essay The Damned Human Race, wherein he proves, rather convincingly, that an anaconda snake is a higher form of life than an English Earl.
• Magic Apple: A Folktale from the Middle East, The (Story Cove: a World of Stories)
Three brothers embark on separate journeys to fulfill their father's dying wish. In thier journey's they go to distant lands, find curious treasures, and learn the true meaning of giving.
• Magic Orange Tree, The: and Other Haitian Folktales
Book Description
File this under your folklore section and anticipate wide interest in a collection of Haitian folk stories, both from a literary and from a cultural perspective. Almost thirty stories gathered by Wolkstein provide strong literary pieces packed with diversity and varied themes. -- Midwest Book Review
• Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics)
Ovid’s sensuous and witty poem brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, the Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.
• Mouse, The and The Apple
Book Description from School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-A slight, simply told story about the virtue of patience. Mouse spies a shiny, perfect apple in a tree, and settles down to wait for it to fall. Along come Hen, Goose, Goat, and Cow, all of whom tire of sitting idly by; they try to knock it down, and then give up and leave. Ultimately, the lone small creature is rewarded with "the cruchiest, sweetest, most delicious apple Mouse ever tasted!" The colored-pencil illustrations and slightly goggle-eyed animals will appeal to children, as will the sight of Mouse sitting and smiling knowingly. Not an essential purchase, but a nice additional selection for story time.
JoAnn Rees, Sunnyvale Public Library, CA
• Myths of the Sacred Tree
Essential to life on earth since the beginning of time, trees hold a special place in our collective consciousness: rooted in the earth, reaching skyward, nourished by the elements, and enlivened by the sap running through their veins, they provide a metaphor for what it means to be human.
• Nobody's Princess
She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Not one to count on the gods—or her looks—to take care of her, Helen sets out to get what she wants with steely determination and a sassy attitude. That same attitude makes Helen a few enemies—such as the self-proclaimed "son of Zeus" Theseus—but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi. Author Esther Friesner deftly weaves together history and myth as she takes a new look at the girl who will become Helen of Troy. The resulting story offers up adventure, humor, and a fresh and engaging heroine you cannot help but root for.
• Pepper and Salt & The Wonder Clock: Box Set (Foundations)
This handsome box set brings together The Wonder Clock, one of the Pyle siblings’ more delightful combined efforts, and Pepper and Salt, a collection of Pyle’s wonderfully imaginative fairy tales and fables. A perfect Christmas gift, it will help a new generation rediscover the immense gifts of one of America’s best children’s storytellers.
• Rain Makes Applesauce
Book review by a reader
This strange, weird and fascinating work, Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer and Marvin Bileck dates back to 1964. Fortunately it is still with us today, but is getting more difficult to find. This work consists of very strange and nonsensical sentences. Examples of these are "Salmon slide down a Hippo's hide, and rain makes applesauce," and "Monkeys mumble in a jelly bean jungle, and rain makes applesauce." These silly words cover two pages in a scroll type script, across and through some of the most interesting illustrations I have ever seen in a children's book....
• Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables
Review by reader
This book is a fascinating study of the historical and cultural contexts for everyday foods. Each chapter looks at the history of a fruit or vegetable that is a common part of American foodways. The writers fill out the historical background with intriguing discussions of the social and cultural norms that are associated with nine different foods and also with tobacco use. Readers can find out the real scoop on Johnny Appleseed and also discover why the cities of Fulton and South Fulton host a banana festival in two towns that straddle the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. The book is an excellent resource for information about common foods in Americans' diets, but it also provides a model for writing a social history of significant aspects of everyday life. You'll never eat an orange or a slice of watermelon in quite the same way after reading this interesting and well-written book that presents solid folklife scholarship in a digestible format.
• Second Storyteller's Choice, A 
• Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis, and Inspiration, The 
Review by reader
This author wove the symbiotic relationship we have with the growing world around us into a clear, well researched and understandable read. He covered both the scientific and spiritual aspects of trees seamlessly. He took technology, science and Gaia, and gave us a tapestry. It is one of the best books I have ever read on the subject, and it is clear that the author loved what he was writing about. I cannot stress enough how impressed I was with the details and research and heart that went into this book. It is a book I will re-read and back reference to often.
• Storytelling Activities Kit: Ready-To-Use Techniques by Annette Harrison (1992) (Hamburger on a Bun)
Book Description
This unique resource provides a detailed teacher's manual with 2 45-minute audiocassettes presenting step-by-step techniques, lessons, and activities, plus 12 recorded stories to assist preK-2 teachers and librarians in telling stories and integrating storytelling into the basic curriculum. Also included are 12 additional stories based on early childhood themes, such as family and animals, the teacher or librarian can tell on his/her own plus recommended popular stories that are good candidates for storytelling.
• Talking Tree and Other Stories, The 
• Too Many Apples
• Treasury of Australian folk tales and traditions, A(Australiana classic)
• Tree Wisdom: The Definitive Guidebook to the Myth, Folklore, and Healing Power of Trees
Tree Wisdom explores the world of trees through the eyes of the ancients and our eyes of today.
• What's So Terrible About Swallowing an Appleseed
Book Description
When Rosie accidentally swallows an apple seed, her big sister Katie tells her that before long apple tree branches will bloom right out of her ears. Soon Rosie is imagining both the hazards and delights of having branches growing from her ears, and Katie is learning how fast a little white lie can grow. Written by bestselling author and psychologist, Harriet Lerner, and her big sister, Susan Goldhor, with delightfully funny illustrations by Catharine O'Neill, this is a special story about straying from the truth, forgiveness, and the boundless powers of a child's imagination.
1996 ‘Pick of the Lists' (ABA)
• William Tell and Other Stories (Oxford Dominoes Series, Starter Level)
The men and the woman in this book - William Tell, Tom Blood, Lord Bao, King Matthias, Johnny Appleseed, and Lady Godiva - are all real people from history. But every time someone tells an old story, they change things in it, to make them bigger, better, and more exciting. So what is true in this book and what is not? Read all six of the stories, and see what you think.
• Wisdom of Trees, The by Jane Gifford. (2006) (Chapter on apple trees)
From the silvery birch, associated with fertility and springtime, to the beech, symbol of the written word and ancient learning, the magnificence and wonder of trees burst forth in this dazzling collection of photographs. Following the Celtic tree alphabet, these evocative portraits go through the seasons and offer close-up studies of foliage, bark, blossoms, and fruit. But this goes beyond other guides that merely identify species: it delves into the magic of each tree. Every entry includes a discussion of traditional meanings, healing properties, flower remedies, related writings, folklore, culinary uses, and more. A visual feast that's as imaginative and rich as the trees themselves.
• Wonder Clock, The (Starscape)
Famous and influential as a preeminent illustrator, Howard Pyle was also a gifted writer beloved by millions — young and old — for his endearing and enchanting fairy tales. The Wonder Clock is a delightful, magical collection of whimsical stories: twenty-four stories for twenty-four hours. And each a timeless masterpiece. Peopled with jolly kings and queens, lovely princesses and evil witches, sly foxes and mischievous ravens, ogres and giants, dashing princes and nasty dragons, these are old fashioned fairly tales in the best and most beautiful sense that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. This edition also includes Pyle’s dazzling illustrations,
•••••
KINDLE EDITION BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS
• The Three Golden Apples
•••••
AUDIO RESOURCES
• The Magic Apple: A Folktale from the Middle East (Story Cove: a World of Stories)
Three brothers embark on separate journeys to fulfill their father's dying wish. In thier journey's they go to distant lands, find curious treasures, and learn the true meaning of giving.
Product titles are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time.
Apple Dress Deluxe Child (Infant 2T (24 mo)) from BuyCostumes.
The Apple Dress includes dress, hat and socks. Available in Infant/Toddler sizes 1T, 2T, and 4T and child sizes Small, Medium, Large and X-Large. Black buckle shoes are not included.
Apples Stickers from Teacher Creative Resource.
120 Self-Adhesive stickers per pack. Each sticker is approximately 1 inch square. Teacher Created Resources stickers are acid-free.
Apples to Apples Kids by Out of the Box.
The young version of the original game that's been hailed as a national competition winner by Mensa, the high-IQ society. Players are dealt five red apple cards and try to make the closest match possible to a word on the judge's green apple card. If the judge selects your card as the best match, you keep the green apple card; if you win four, you're king of the orchard.
Caramel Apple Tootsie Pops by Century Novelty.
A unique candy that everyone will want to try! The classic caramel apple taste without the sticky mess. 48 Caramel Apple Tootsie Pops per package. These unique candies are great for any party or event. You can't go wrong with a candy everyone can't wait to get their hands on.
Dazzle Stickers Apples 75-PK by Carson Dellosa.
(1 design) 3 sheets. Acid free and lignin free. Perforated sheets for easy distribution.
Finis Children's Fruit Basket Lane 4 Scented Swimming/Swim Goggles-Apple by Finis. (Apple Scent included)
Finis Fruit Basket Scented Swim Goggles Available in four fun scents Specifically designed for small children Ages 3 and up TPR Frame Silicone Strap Polycarbonaete lens with antifog UV Protection.
Foam Relaxable Squeeze Apples 1 pc from prettypartyplace.
Party Toys. Size: 2.5 inch.
Supershapes Stickers Tasty Apples from Trend Enterprises.
Tasty Apples SuperShapes Stickers. Little rewards for big successes! These chart-sized stickers are perfect for TREND's Incentive Pads. Kids love them for trading and collecting, too.
Webkinz Lip Gloss Set of 4 Flavors (Strawberry, Apple, Mango & Banana) by ganz.
• Apple Dress Deluxe Child (Infant 2T (24 mo))
The Apple Dress includes dress, hat and socks. Available in Infant/Toddler sizes 1T, 2T, and 4T and child sizes Small, Medium, Large and X-Large. Black buckle shoes are not included.
• APPLES STICKERS
120 Self-Adhesive stickers per pack. Each sticker is approximately 1 inch square. Teacher Created Resources stickers are acid-free.
• Apples to Apples Kids
Apples to Apples Junior is the young version of the Apples to Apples original game that's been hailed as a national competition winner by Mensa, the high-IQ society. In both versions, players are dealt five red apple cards and try to make the closest match possible to a word on the judge's green apple card. In Apples to Apples Junior, if you're holding a quintet consisting of, for example, Winnie the Pooh, Farms, Swimming, Bumble Bees, and The First Day of School, you play one of the five to match Loud. If the judge selects your card as the best match, you keep the green apple card; if you win four you're king of the orchard. Apples to Apples Junior includes rules for a couple of tasty variations, too. Crabapple play awards the card to the player with the worst match, while Quick Picked Apples rewards speedy card selection by eliminating from consideration the last card played to a green apple card. Fast and easy to learn, Apples to Apples Junior is a bushel and a peck of fun. --Tony Mason
• Caramel Apple Pops Tootsie
Super Sweet Candies Caramel Apple Tootsie Pops are a unique candy that everyone will want to try! The classic caramel apple taste without the sticky mess. 48 Caramel Apple Tootsie Pops per package. 38 ounce box. Made in the USA. These unique candies are great for any party or event. You can't go wrong with a candy everyone can't wait to get their hands on. Whether it's a party favor, prize, or give-a-way these candies can soothe any sweet tooth!
• DAZZLE STICKERS APPLES 75-PK
(1 design) 3 sheets. Acid free and lignin free. Perforated sheets for easy distribution.
• Finis Children's Fruit Basket Lane 4 Scented Swimming/Swim Goggles-Apple by Finis. (Apple Scent included)
Finis Fruit Basket Scented Swim Goggles Available in four fun scents Specifically designed for small children Ages 3 and up TPR Frame Silicone Strap Polycarbonaete lens with antifog UV Protection.
• Foam Relaxable Squeeze Apples 1 pc
Party Toys. Size: 2.5 inch.
• Plastic Red Apple Containers 1 pc
Party Toys. Size: 4.75 inch x 4.75 inch.
• SUPERSHAPES STICKERS TASTY APPLES
Tasty Apples SuperShapes Stickers. Little rewards for big successes! These chart-sized stickers are perfect for TREND's Incentive Pads. Kids love them for trading and collecting, too.
• Webkinz Lip Gloss Set of 4 Flavors (Strawberry, Apple, Mango & Banana)
Online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them for more information.
Short descriptions included for your convenience and to save you research time.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
• http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Fruits/GoldDel.html
Information from Produce Oasis on Golden Delicious Apples.
• http://www.SpiritofTrees.org
Spirit of Trees offers an approach that highlights the symbolic and aesthetic dimensions of trees.
• http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm
"The Wisdom of the Apple Tree" by Glennie Kindred. Published Lughnasa 1997.
• http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/
A collection of Greek Mythology myths retold by Carlos Parada.
• http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm
"The Wisdom of the Apple Tree" by Glennie Kindred. Published Lughnasa 1997.
• http://www.last.fm/music/Raffi/_/Apples+And+Bananas
YouTube "Apples and Bananas" video track.
• http://tiny.cc/wuu2h
"Bad Apple" — A Native American Wonder / Magic Marvelous Transformation Folktale
• http://legends-folktales.blogspot.com/2007/06/betty-stoggs-baby.html
"Betty Stoggs' Baby" — legends and folktales.
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/sfs/sfs51.htm
"Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens, The" (Bulgaria).
• http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/books/portugual/pedroso/hindgoldenapple.html
"Hind of the Golden Apple, The" — Portuguese Folk-Tales by Consiglieri Pedroso with Henrietta Monteiro (translator)
INPUT AND DISCUSSION FROM STORYTELLERS, TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS
Courtesy of Department of Justice, Canada
Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
To retell stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
Listed in chronological order as they are received by Story Lovers World.
1) "The Apple Thieves" can be found in the The Storytelling Handbook: A Young People's Collection of Unusual Tales and Helpful Hints on How to Tell Them
Summary of story:
Person builds house, plants apple seed in front yard. It grows magically and immediately. (Cut tree and "grow" it.) Children climb tree and break limbs. Build fence (cut from folded paper) Apple tree blooms and apples grow rapidly and magically. Plans to pick apples. Needs ladder. (Cut ladder from rolled paper). Plans to pick apples in morning. In morning half of apples are gone. That night he watches. Falls asleep. Hears music, sees elves dancing under tree. Calls out. Elves flee. Falls back asleep. Was it a dream? Looks under apple tree. Sees fallen apples and lots of little elf hats. Here I show children a tiny acorn cap. Acorn trees are very common around here and children recognize the acorn cap. I tell them that now they can tell which trees the elves like to dance under!
I use the same paper cutting technique to make the tree to use with a French story, The Enchanted Apple Tree
This story is about an old woman named Misere who outwits Death. She has a magic apple tree that will hold anyone captive who takes an apple without her permission. When Death comes for Misere, he gets trapped in the apple tree and Misere won't release him until he promises that she doesn't have to go with him unless she wants. And she has never wanted, so that's why Misery is still in the world today!
Another version of this is "Tia Miseria's Pear Tree", a story from Puerto Rico. There's a nice version in From Sea To Shining Sea - A Treasury Of American Folklore And Folk Songs
Also, the Greek Myth about the very fast goddess who lost the race with her suitor because he kept rolling golden apples in her path? From Atalanta to Zeus: Readers Theatre from Greek Mythology
2) Rhymes:
Three apples fell from heaven
One was for the teller,
One was for the listener
One was for the one who.... (add your own ending)
(from Eastern Europe)
One little apple round and red,
Round and red, round and red
One little apple round and red
Fell on ____________'s head (insert name, repeat with different child)
"Two Little Apples" (to the tune of "This Old Man")
http://www.theholidayzone.com/autumn/songs.html#two
Way up high in a tree,
Two little apples smiled at me,
So I shook the tree as har-r-rd as I could
Down fell the apples -- Um-m-m-m, good!
"I Once Saw an Apple"
The GIANT Encyclopedia of Circle Time and Group Activities: For Children 3 to 6
3) I'm sure you've already remembered the myth of Paris, which begins with Eris and the golden apple. I tell the first part of the myth, tongue-in-cheek, as "Eris Crashes the Party."
• Helen of Troy
• Nobody's Princess (Princesses of Myth)
4) "The Apple Tree Man"
I got at tip about Taffy Thomas telling the story, and on his site I could understand that he does a wassail - a kind of toast. And that was something new that I put into the story.
Briefly the story is about two sons, eldest is kind, youngest mean. Youngest inherits everything, but lets his brother rent an old house. It's a wreck of a house, with only three old apple trees, and an old donkey and an ox. But he takes care of the house, the animals, and the trees, and gets a good crop of apples, that he brews into cider. On Christmas Eve his younger brother wants to listen to the animals in his stable, because they are supposed to talk and tell about a buried treasure. The older has to agree. And takes his last cup of cider - but does an old wassail with it, he pours it over the roots of the oldest tree. That how the Apple Tree Man shows himself, and tells about the treasure under the roots. He digs it up and hides it. And when the younger brother listens to the animals, they laugh at him and say "He wants to hear where the treasure is, but it's not buried any more, and we won't tell were it is".
The audience was 70-80 persons, grey haired, sitting tight in a hot hall, and didn't know what to expect. But they soon got into the story. And when we came to the wassail, I asked them to raise a toast = take their coffee cups and repeat after me. Last sentence is a loud "Hip hip hooray" - "and now you pour out your cider on the roots". And they laughed and poured the last drops of coffee out and cheered.
In the end when the animals talk, I heard myself making "donkyish" and "oxenish" voices - and it fitted really well into the story and the mood in the audience. "I didn't know that you were such a good donkey", one of the younger listeners remarked.
I recommend this story to anyone that needs a "midwinter tale" - it worked with everyone in my audience, from 8 years to 94 years!
Neppe
5) Best myth site: Carlos Prada's Greek Mythology Link - http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/
I use it regularly for my myth class. It's got great pix, too. There 's also some good stuff in Sappho's poetry in which apples figure as sexual imagery.
6) Boria wrote a whole chapter, Apples, for our book Rooted In America: Foodlore Popular Fruits Vegetables
7) QUERY: So it is that I now come to you all in an honest plea for the bones of any catchy stories for younger audiences that might go along with the theme of apples/fruit and clever things to do with them. I had thought also to tell the Christian tale of the Garden of Eden, so any stories that fit in with that would also be appreciated.
Aubra P.
RESPONSES:
a) The kids will love your apple story (because you do!) and it will forever change the way they cut an apple. There are many other folktales about apples available, if you want to expand on that theme. Some great adventure tales involve Golden Apples. Check out Edith Hamilton's Mythology notes on Atalanta to see her wild & wooly origin and adventures prior to getting trapped into marriage by a race involving enchanted golden apples. But the "fruit" in Eden was certainly not the apple we know. I recommend reading the fascinating chapter on apples in Michael Pollan's BOTANY OF DESIRE to learn how they came to Europe from Khazakstan -- much later than biblical times. The mythical fruit imagined by the ancient scribes was perhaps a pomegranite; but European translaters plugged their words for "apple" into the text because it was a familiar generic term for somekindafruit. Compare their names for other fruits and vegetables: pomo d'amor (apple of love) for tomato, pomme de terre (apple of the earth) for potato. [pardon my foreign spellings] Pollan's book will tell you more than Disney ever dared about good ol' Johnny Appleseed, barefoot pagan/christian vegetarian entrepreneur of the frontier. The real story would fit quite well into UU curriculum!
Fran S.b) You might want to look at Mark Twain's Letters From The Earth for an interesting look at the Garden of Eden. It's funny, though might have to be toned down for children.
Mary G.c) You can also take the idea of the red house (heart) with a star on the inside and write your own story to dovetail into whatever lesson may be at hand.
Marilyn K.d) The reason that an apple was brought in in the popular imagination was because of the confusion in Latin between on the one hand "malum" an evil & "malus" bad, and on the other (but both with a long "a") "malum" an apple & "malus" an apple tree. Those words come from Greek, but in the Romance languages, were replaced by *poma, originally the (plural of the) generic term for fruit "pomum".
While our ordinary apples derive from Central Asia (which I learnt from almost the only in-flight magazine to teach me anything), crab-apples were native to Europe. Were the apples that appear in Greek literature edible or not? They usually seem to be "golden", prized for their appearance rather than eaten - Atalanta's distraction, Heracles' task and the Apple of Discord thrown by Eris/Discord which led to the Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War.
It's a side issue, but although I don't know when the apple was first mentioned in Greek writing, Ancient Greek and Biblical times were basically the same, first millennium BCE.
Philip A.e) This may answer your question. Translators give us "golden apple" in English, but the Greeks may have meant merely "golden fruit."
Fran S.f) I read somewhere that the golden apple was originally a quince, but I can't remember the source or the evidence for that claim. However, the idea that it could have been a pomegranate puts quite a different view on things.
Moni S.g) I'll need to find the original Greek/Latin words used to be sure, but since the pomegranate is specifically identified in the Persephone myth, where she swallows half-a-dozen seeds and hence has to spend the six winter months with Hades, I assume that is a different word to the that for the golden apples.
But words in different languages (including English and American) don't always have exactly the same meaning(s), and dictionaries tend to simplify things - "malum = apple?" could probably be a dissertation
For those of you with any Latin, I remember "malo malo malo malo" being translated as:
"I'd rather be
In an apple tree,
Than an evil man
In adversity"malo = I prefer
malo = ablative of location of malus = apple tree
malo = ablative of comparison of malus = bad (man)
malo = ablative of location of malum = evilPhilip A.
8) In addition to Johnny Appleseed, did anybody mention getting various versions of the story of William Tell and Other Stories (Oxford Dominoes Series, Starter Level)? Another person important to apple lore is Granny Smith &
her story is given briefly in Bill Beatty's A treasury of Australian folk tales and traditions (Australiana classic).
9) "The Little Red House"
The story is about a little boy who goes off in search of a little red house, without a door, with a star inside (an apple). Any other apple story would do. Also "Johnny Appleseed". Both are found in Easy-To-Tell Stories for Young Children by Annette Harrison.
"The Tale of the Three Apples" — A Tale from Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton 1850 — http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-3apples.htm
JOHNNY APPLESEED
1) I attended a puppet show Friday in which the storyteller, Katie Adams of Tampa, FL used a quilt (as a backdrop)to tell Johnny Appleseed stories. She used the nine squares to depict different aspects of stories about Johnny. She also used whirly gigs and other puppets in her show. I really liked how she put everything together. Its always interesting to see other's creative ideas. Her most interesting idea for me, which she quickly showed that evening at a workshop: a walkman recorder (flat) that she had velcor(ed) into a pocket of her dress. She could just reach into her pocket and turn her music on. I'm still working on how she had it all hooked up. Her dress was made to give her plenty of room for wires in the back. I enjoyed her performance, but still personally, I'm "just" a storyteller.
2) For a very interesting and not well known aspect of Johhny Appleseed read The Botany of Desire. Johhny was planting trees from seed. Apple seeds don't grow true to form. Each seed is unique. You can't grow orchards of eating fruit from seeds... the orchards that sprung up from Johhny's seeds were used as cider apples...mostly hard cider and applejack. The Botanty of Desire. 4 desires/4 plants. Apples/seetness Marijuana/intoxication/Tulip/Beauty Potato/control (very scary genetic engineering!)
3) Don't forget that Johnny was planting seeds from apples that were not grafted as most of today's apples are. Today's apples do not grow true because they tend to revert back to the root variety. I suspect from all I read that what is now called "heritage" apples or old variety apples may grow true. Not sure, but I suspect it was not as much a problem then as now. There is the Johnny Appleseed Museum in Urbana - one of the towns I go to for work.
4) Looked at several sites - and of course, many were on Johnny Appleseed the legend, but some were on the real man, John Chapman. At this site: http://www.nwta.com/Spy/winter00/johnny.html and a few of the others, it was mentioned that "... The laws of the day required each pioneer family to plant 50 apple trees during their the first year of homesteading." As well, John did own nurseries where the saplings were grown. Re: seeds vs grafting, Mark Tully who wrote the article said, "...Even in those early days, grafting was the most common way of propagating apple trees, but Johnny felt that cutting into a tree was cruel, so preferred to plant seeds." Seems as if John Chapman is as interesting as Johnny Appleseed - and the truth seems to vary on both of them.
5) Apparantly grafting goes all the way back to Roman times. Heirloom's are the same as others...this was a revelation to me... the only way to insure your next generation of apples come true is by grafting. 5 seeds from the same apple can yield 5 trees with very different characteristics... just like our kids.
Check out The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World.... absolutely one of the best books I've read in twenty years.
6) This thing about seeds not producing good apples has always puzzled me. I have grafted trees before and I have bought grafted trees, which most all of them are anymore, actually. Many of these grafts are onto crabapple stock or other hardy stock of the apple family. I won't pretend to be expert on this, and I've forgotten a lot of what I once knew, but this much I do remember about grafting. (I remember well a pretty pink rose I had that died back in the winter, and next year it grew back--as a blackberry! Darn thing is still in my flowerbed.)
But here on our farm, the trees that come up from seed produce good apples. I have a tree in my yard that grew from a seed thrown under the porch. It produces bushels of yellow apples so sweet the applesauce doesn't need any sugar added. We have trees scattered all over our land that produce wonderfully flavored apples.
No, they are probably not true to variety, but they are very good to eat or to cook. So those seeds Johnny Appleseed planted probably did produce some good fruit. They might not have been recognizable as Yorks or Macintoshes or Winesaps or other familiar varieties, but certainly they were well worth harvesting and eating.
As for cider, people used the drops, leftovers, small apples, etc for that. Nothing was wasted. They would also take the pulp from the cider-making, add some water and let that ferment to make vinegar. And of course, cider that goes past the hard stage becomes vinegar too. We've made cider and vinegar, as well as apple butter, applesauce, pie apples, apple jam--you name it. Apples were such a multi-purpose fruit they were probably extremely valuable to settlers for all the many food items that could be made with them.
So Johnny Appleseed with his sack of seeds was probably a welcome figure, and no wonder his legend was passed on.
7) From The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World:
.....Every seed in (an ) apple, not no mention every seed riding down the Ohio alongside JOhn Chapman, contains the genetic instructions for a completely new and different apple tree, one that, if planted, would bear only the most glancing resemblance to its parents. If not for grafting-the ancient technique of cloning trees-every apple in the world would be its own distinct variety, and it would be impossible to keep a good one going beyond the life span of that particular tree. In the case of the apple, the fruit nearly always falls far from the tree.
The botanical term for this variability is heterozygosity,...... and in the apple it is extreme.... Wherever the apple tree goes, its offspring propose so many different variations on what it means to be an apple-at least five per apple, several thousand per tree-that a couple of these novelties are almost bound to have whatever qualities it takes to prosper in the tree's adopted home.
Apples were precious on the frontier, and Chapman could be sure of a strong demand for his seedlings, even if most of the would yield nothing but spitter. He was selling, cheaply, something everybody wanted-something, in fact, everybody in Ohio needed by law. A land grant in the Northwest Territory specifically required a settler to "set out at least fifty apple or pear tree' as a condition of his deed.....the purpose of the rule was to dampen real estate speculation by encouraging homesteaders to put down roots. "
Pollan goes on (at length ) to talk about the desire for sweetness... the fact that cane sugar was associated with the slave trade, and that the apple was one of the few natural sweet foods available
Also..."Up until Prohibition, an apple grown in America was far lesslikely to be eaten than to wind up in a barrel of cider....Corn liquor, or "white lightning," preceded cider on the frontier by a few years, but after the apple trees began to bear fruit, cider-being safer, tastier and much easier to make became the alcoholic drink of choice. Just about the only reason to plant an orchard of the sort of seedling apples JOhn Chapman had for sale would have been its intoxicating harvest of drink, available to anyone with a press and a barrel.
It wasn't until this century that the apple acquired its reputation for wholesomeness-"An apple a day was a marketing slogan dreamed up by growers concerned that temperance would cut into sales.....
And on and on... totally fascinating... very interesting stuff about John Chapman's Swedborgian philosophy, brilliant woodsmanship, his use of healing herbs...Pollan describes him as an Dionysus' American son.........
8) You may or may not know that I present a program called "Sarah Farley Remembers Johnny Appleseed." It is the culmination of years of study about Chapman. I asked Joe Besecker, of the Johnny Appleseed Society, Urbana University, about Botany of Desire, and here is what he had to say:
"The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World in my opinion is totally wrong on the Johnny Appleseed section. All reproduction that involves fertilization the offspring are different, including humans. Settlers needed apple seedlings to establish permanency. Also, the cider and vinegar were important to the settlers. Pollen is way off base saying Johnny's intention was to provide alcohol to get the settlers drunk."
9) I was reading about Johnny Appleseed to my 7 year old daughter when this fact popped up. In school they taught us that he loved apples, as a homeschooler I found out the truth and began laughing. My daughter didn't get the joke put she did learn that our Mr. Appleseed liked to drink rather than eat apples. We made apple sauce from 9 different apples that day and tried each apple before we cooked them up. I told her to make apple cider like Johnny wanted took too long.
10) I tell a version of Johnny Appleseed based on a few other little known or little talked about "Facts". Johnny also went around planting Dog Fennell. (you can find a reference to this is B. A Botkins American Folklore.) He got his plants mixed up and thought it would cure malaria or some other ailment. At any rate it has no medicinal properties and really only one distinct property. It stinks. It is often called stinkweed! So I tell the story of what would have happened had he been known as Johnny Stinkweed. He is portrayed as a little goofy and not all that bright. Unaware that the settlers hate that stinkweed stuff. In my version he ends up given a choice to change his life, a choice between a sack of appleseeds, or a case of walnuts. Eventually he choses the walnuts and declares himself Johnny Nutcase! Of course he ends up as Johnny Appleseed eventually... It's a fun story and one of my favorites to tell, it goes over great with kids age 9-14 but doesn't sit well with adults. I usually share the truth behind the story. But, they just don't like when you mock a legend! So it is my favorite story I wrote which I seldom tell. I wonder do we all have these?
11) As Sarah Farley, I also tell about Johnny's advocacy of dog fennel, a.k.a. mayweed. According to Peterson Field Guides' Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs, dog fennel, a bad-smelling annual, was indeed effective to some degree in treating fevers, colds, diarrhea, dropsy, rheumatism, obstructed menses, and headaches. The leaves can be rubbed on insect stings. It also works as an astringent and a diuretic, and it induces sweating (as in to break a fever) and vomiting. Some experience an allergy to the plant when used topically or internally. I suppose that he could have been called "Johnny Hoarhound Seed," "Johnny Pennyroyal Seed," "Johnny Catnip Seed," "Johnny Mullein Seed," and "Johnny Rattlesnake Root," also, since he planted those and others liberally.
12) Dog fennel is also used often when folks get into nettles - they hurt terribly and dog fennel will stop the stinging.
13) A couple of thoughts on the much bad-mouthed Johnny Appleseed. As I mentioned, he spent a lot of time in areas I work in daily. There are still orchards with stock descended from those trees. He got his seed from cider presses and planted seeds and offered them freely to folks who wanted them. Several things are important, however. As Granny Sue so rightly pointed out, the apple was not used back them as it is today. Most on this list probably only eat apples fresh. You probably do not even fry apples, much less preserve them in any way.
Fresh apples to eat were nice treats back then, but a small part of the things apples were used for - as she mentioned - jelly, apple sauce, dried apples (for fried pies - yum), apple butter, fried apples, apples stored underground in root cellars, vinegar and cider...and yes, hard cider and apple jack.
Remember a fruit that was stable as it was preserved was important - peaches and pears were not as versatile not as hardy in the cold Ohio winters. I don't know if you can dry either and you sure can't make cider or vinegar easily from them.
Secondly, folks who traveled into Ohio and elsewhere might have very little space for things - a bag of apple seeds took a lot less room...AND way less care than grafted root stock.
Third, these folks were homesteading. They didn't care how long it might take for a tree to bear fruit. They were planting for generations. We on the other hand tend to think very short term. The gnarly, hard apples mentioned tend to keep pretty well in a root cellar. The big meaty red delicious and other modern apples probably would rot in the same situation.
About the hard cider/apple jack - two different things. Hard cider was very short lived before it turned to vinegar. These folks probably didn't have a lot of time to drink an' carry on if they wanted to survive. Drinkning a little hard cider was probably built around some of the social events that kept a community together. Apple Jack where I come from is cider with sugar and yeast added to make a stronger drink. Yeast and sugar were precious commodities for pioneer families.
As a Drug Rep, I can't pass on the medicinal uses. Alcoholic beverages were used for other things also - as an anesthetic, for sickness - folks still take whiskey and mix it with rock candy and sulfur in some parts to make cough syrup, it has been used for thousands of years to clean wounds. Last, but not least, alcohol was used extensively as trade goods. So, Johnny Appleseed was not some idiot who went through the wilderness giving away worthless seeds, but was trying to help settlers change the face of a wilderness.
Oh, Granny Sue mentioned the apple tree she has. My Grandma had 4 apple trees on Little Creek in Clay County. All the old stock Romeo like Johnny Appleseed planted. All planted from seed when she and my Grandpa first took up housekeeping. All bore fruit and were sweet little ol' gnarly apples. Ugly as teenage sin, smallish, but they made some awesome fried apple pies.
14) Johnny Appleseed was absolutely not some idiot....he was in fact considered to be a powerful medicine man by the Native Americans he encountered... Another reason he didn't like grafts is that he thought cutting into a tree to be a wicked act. His kindness to animals was legendary even in his own time.
More from Pollan:
" In the process of changing the land, Chapman also changed the apple-or rather, made it possible for the apple to change itself. If Americans had planted only grafted trees-if Americans had eaten rather than drunk their apples-the apple would not have been able to remake itself and thereby adapt to its new home. It was the seeds, and the cider, that gave the apple the opportunity to discover by trial and error the precise combination of traits required to prosper in the New World. From Chapman's vast planting of nameless cider apple seeds came some of the great American cultivars of the nineteenth century.
Looked at from this angle, planting seeds instead of clones was an extraordinary act of faith in the American land, a vote in favor of the new and unpredictable as against the familiar and European. In this Chapman was making the pioneers' classic wager, betting on the fresh possibilities that might grow from seeds planted in the redemptive American ground."
Chapman as a businessman....
"...he preferred to get out ahead of the settlers moving west, and this would become the pattern of his life: planting a nursery on a tract of wilderness he judged ripe for settlement and then waiting. By the time the settlers arrived, he'd have apples trees ready to see them. In time he would find a local boy to look after his trees, move on, and start the process all over again. By the 1830's JOhn Chapman was operating a chain of nurseries that reached all the way from western Pennsylvania through central Ohio and into Indiana. It was in Fort Wayne that Chapman died in 1845-wearing the infamous coffee sack, some way, yet leaving an estate that included some 1200 acres of prime real estate. the barefoot crank (no no... not my words!) died a wealthy man."
15) I am surely enjoying all this Appleseed lore, a lot of it new to me. I'm not sure about how long cider keeps. When we made it, we processed it and it kept as long as we wanted it to. We heated it to a boil, put into jars and sealed it up. Not the same as raw cider but it kept. Most of what I remember reading is that folks kept it in barrels. I wonder just how long it was cider before it became vinegar, or did they keep the apples and only grind the cider as they needed it? Wassail is made with cider, and they had it on hand at Christmas--of course, by then maybe it was hard and that accounts for all the wassail songs!
Actually, you can make cider from pears. We did a small amount every year, although it never lasted long enough to be processed. It was even better-tasting than the apple cider. Probably (guessing here) pears were not as hardy and plentiful as apples, and more susceptible to frost in the spring, so not as dependable a crop. You can also make vinegar from them, and from peaches. Any fruit that yields juice will yield vinegar, the question is the quality of the vinegar, its flavor, and whether this is a good use of the fruit. Peaches, being more tender and well-suited to making jam and for drying, would probably not be used to make vinegar. Although I've made vinegar (and wine) with the skins and bruised fruits. Pears are excellent for drying, and keep very well. I make pear jam, although old-timers seemed to favor pear marmalade instead of jam.
As for being small and knarly, our self-seeded apple trees are not all like that. Some are, but only because they are not cared for, just grow where they will, with no pruning or other care. The tree in the yard yields lovely yellow apples, great for eating, and the ones at the top of the tree are quite large. They tend to have a mildew on them, because we don't spray with all kinds of chemical stuff, and it washes right off.
16) QUERY: I've heard that Johnny's main mission was preaching, not apples, and that he wore a cooking pot for a hat -- true?
RESPONSES:
a) Yes, he wore a cooking pot or a "kettle" on his head. I believe it began with that being his method of carrying everything as he traveled from place to place.
b) As a young man, Chapman became a follower of Swedenborg. Johnny called himself an "apple missionary" because of his work with apples, but he also carried with him a New Testament and tracts by Swedenborg. As he visited the various settlers on his circuit, he would leave sections of the Testament and pages from the tracts. Then, on his next round, he'd collect the former and leave new pages. Often, during his visits, the settlers would ask him to read aloud from the Bible. His voice was strong, according to first-hand testimony, and carried even to the corners of the lofts. He claimed to be a "primitive Christian" because of his simple life. As for the mush pot, he had to carry something to cook in, but it is highly unlikely that he wore it on his head. That would be very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Reports say that he fashioned a high-peaked hat that had a sort of brim out front; he made it of pasteboard. He was about 5'9" tall, wiry of build, and full of energy. He seldom wore shoes, despite the weather. His clothes were usually out-sized, garments he had received in exchange for seedlings from folks who had no cash money to pay. While he never married, as a Swedenborgian, he believed that he would have multiple "angel wives" in Heaven.
c) And when he died, he was buried quietly and his grave is not known today.
d) How can this be? When I taught in Fort Wayne, I visited his grave. That was a long, long time ago and I still remember now impressed I was. Until then, I had thought that he was just some kind of mythical figure, not a real man. How about it, Jack's Mamma. Isn't Johnny buried there in Fort Wayne? Was I tricked? Say it ain't so.
e) I have always heard he was buried near Fort Wayne in an unmarked grave and the location was unknown. He did die around Fort Wayne. I don't know. Was it a memorial or an actual grave? I haven't been to Fort Wayne to see. Most of my digging into Johnny has been in Urbana. What I heard may be myth. His grave was unmarked...I may have just taken that to mean unknown. Folks may have researched it and put a marker on it in later years.
f) Seems the Johnny Appleseed park has a memorial but no Johnny! They still do not know where he is buried.
g) It is, indeed, purported to be Johnny's gravesite. The story goes that Johnny was visiting friends in Fort Wayne when he heard that one of his orchards, in Ohio, I believe was threatened by harsh weather. He took off in that bad weather to care for the orchard, became very ill, and died soon after.
h) Sorry to tell y'all, but I stopped and talked to folks in Urbana - the "grave" is only a memorial. No one is buried under the stone and no one knows for sure where Johnny is buried. That is definite, actual fact.
17) Following the Johnny Appleseed thread, here is a sad report of the threat to the UK apple: http://www.guardian.co.uk/supermarkets/story/0,12784,1093353,00.html
(To retell any of these stories, obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.)
• The Apple Thieves can be found in the Family Storytelling Handbook, The
See book description/review below.
Summary of story: Person builds house, plants apple seed in front yard. It grows magically and immediately. (Cut tree and "grow" it.) Children climb tree and break limbs. Build fence (cut from folded paper) Apple tree blooms and apples grow rapidly and magically. Plans to pick apples. Needs ladder. (Cut ladder from rolled paper). Plans to pick apples in morning. In morning half of apples are gone. That night he watches. Falls asleep. Hears music, sees elves dancing under tree. Calls out. Elves flee. Falls back asleep. Was it a dream? Looks under apple tree. Sees fallen apples and lots of little elf hats. Here I show children a tiny acorn cap. Acorn trees are very common around here and children recognize the acorn cap. I tell them that now they can tell which trees the elves like to dance under!
I use the same paper cutting technique to make the tree to use with a French story, The Enchanted Apple Tree
This story is about an old woman named Misere who outwits Death. She has a magic apple tree that will hold anyone captive who takes an apple without her permission. When Death comes for Misere, he gets trapped in the apple tree and Misere won't release him until he promises that she doesn't have to go with him unless she wants. And she has never wanted, so that's why Misery is still in the world today!
Another version of this is Tia Miseria's Pear Tree, a story from Puerto Rico. There's a nice version in From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs
See book description/review below.
Also, the Greek Myth about the very fast goddess who lost the race with her suitor because he kept rolling golden apples in her path? From Atalanta to Zeus: Readers Theatre from Greek Mythology (Readers Theatre)
See book description/review below.
•••••
• Rhymes
Three apples fell from heaven
One was for the teller,
One was for the listener
One was for the one who.... (add your own ending)
(from Eastern Europe)
One little apple round and red,
Round and red, round and red
One little apple round and red
Fell on ____________'s head (insert name, repeat with different child)
Two Little Apples(to the tune of "This Old Man")
Way up high in a tree,
Two little apples smiled at me,
So I shook the tree as har-r-rd as I could
Down fell the apples -- Um-m-m-m, good!
http://www.theholidayzone.com/autumn/songs.html#two
I Once Saw an Apple
The GIANT Encyclopedia of Circle Time and Group Activities: For Children 3 to 6
See book description/review below.
•••••
• I'm sure you've already remembered the myth of Paris, which begins with Eris and the golden apple. I tell the first part of the myth, tongue-in-cheek, as "Eris Crashes the Party."
• Helen of Troy
• Nobody's Princess
See book descriptions/reviews below
•••••
• The Apple Tree Man
I got at tip about Taffy Thomas telling the story, and on his site I could understand that he does a wassail - a kind of toast. And that was something new that I put into the story.
Briefly the story is about two sons, eldest is kind, youngest mean. Youngest inherits everything, but lets his brother rent an old house. It's a wreck of a house, with only three old apple trees, and an old donkey and an ox. But he takes care of the house, the animals, and the trees, and gets a good crop of apples, that he brews into cider. On Christmas Eve his younger brother wants to listen to the animals in his stable, because they are supposed to talk and tell about a buried treasure. The older has to agree. And takes his last cup of cider - but does an old wassail with it, he pours it over the roots of the oldest tree. That how the Apple Tree Man shows himself, and tells about the treasure under the roots. He digs it up and hides it. And when the younger brother listens to the animals, they laugh at him and say "He wants to hear where the treasure is, but it's not buried any more, and we won't tell were it is".
The audience was 70-80 persons, grey haired, sitting tight in a hot hall, and didn't know what to expect. But they soon got into the story. And when we came to the wassail, I asked them to raise a toast = take their coffee cups and repeat after me. Last sentence is a loud "Hip hip hooray" - "and now you pour out your cider on the roots". And they laughed and poured the last drops of coffee out and cheered.
In the end when the animals talk, I heard myself making "donkyish" and "oxenish" voices - and it fitted really well into the story and the mood in the audience. "I didn't know that you were such a good donkey", one of the younger listeners remarked.
I recommend this story to anyone that needs a "midwinter tale" - it worked with everyone in my audience, from 8 years to 94 years!
Neppe
•••••
• Best myth site:
Carlos Prada's Greek Mythology Link
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/
I use it regularly for my myth class. It's got great pix, too. There 's also some good stuff in Sappho's poetry in which apples figure as sexual imagery.
•••••
•Boria wrote a whole chapter, Apples, for our book Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm
•••••
• Query: So it is that I now come to you all in an honest plea for the bones of any catchy stories for younger audiences that might go along with the theme of apples/fruit and clever things to do with them. I had thought also to tell the Christian tale of the Garden of Eden, so any stories that fit in with that would also be appreciated.
Aubra P.
Response: The kids will love your apple story (because you do!) and it will forever change the way they cut an apple. There are many other folktales about apples available, if you want to expand on that theme. Some great adventure tales involve Golden Apples. Check out Edith Hamilton's Mythology notes on Atalanta to see her wild & wooly origin and adventures prior to getting trapped into marriage by a race involving enchanted golden apples.
But the "fruit" in Eden was certainly not the apple we know. I recommend reading the fascinating chapter on apples in Michael Pollan's BOTANY OF DESIRE to learn how they came to Europe from Khazakstan -- much later than biblical times. The mythical fruit imagined by the ancient scribes was perhaps a pomegranite; but European translaters plugged their words for "apple" into the text because it was a familiar generic term for somekindafruit. Compare their names for other fruits and vegetables: pomo d'amor (apple of love) for tomato, pomme de terre (apple of the earth) for potato. [pardon my foreign spellings]
Pollan's book will tell you more than Disney ever dared about good ol' Johnny Appleseed, barefoot pagan/christian vegetarian entrepreneur of the frontier. The real story would fit quite well into UU curriculum!
Fran S.
Response: You might want to look at Mark Twain's Letters From The Earth
Mary G.
Response: You can also take the idea of the red house (heart) with a star on the inside and write your own story to dovetail into whatever lesson may be at hand.
Marilyn K.
Response: The reason that an apple was brought in in the popular imagination was because of the confusion in Latin between on the one hand "malum" an evil & "malus" bad, and on the other (but both with a long "a") "malum" an apple & "malus" an apple tree. Those words come from Greek, but in the Romance languages, were replaced by *poma, originally the (plural of the) generic term for fruit "pomum"
While our ordinary apples derive from Central Asia (which I learnt from almost the only in-flight magazine to teach me anything), crab-apples were native to Europe. Were the apples that appear in Greek literature edible or not? They usually seem to be "golden", prized for their appearance rather than eaten - Atalanta's distraction, Heracles' task and the Apple of Discord thrown by Eris/Discord which led to the Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War.
It's a side issue, but although I don't know when the apple was first mentioned in Greek writing, Ancient Greek and Biblical times were basically the same, first millennium BCE.
Philip A.
Response: This may answer your question. Translators give us "golden apple" in English, but the Greeks may have meant merely "golden fruit."
Fran S.
Response: I read somewhere that the golden apple was originally a quince, but I can't remember the source or the evidence for that claim. However, the idea that it could have been a pomegranate puts quite a different view on things.
Moni S.
Response: I'll need to find the original Greek/Latin words used to be sure, but since the pomegranate is specifically identified in the Persephone myth, where she swallows half-a-dozen seeds and hence has to spend the six winter months with Hades, I assume that is a different word to the that for the golden
apples.
But words in different languages (including English and American) don't always have exactly the same meaning(s), and dictionaries tend to simplify things - "malum = apple?" could probably be a dissertation.
For those of you with any Latin, I remember "malo malo malo malo" being
translated as
"I'd rather be
In an apple tree,
Than an evil man
In adversity"
malo = I prefer
malo = ablative of location of malus = apple tree
malo = ablative of comparison of malus = bad (man)
malo = ablative of location of malum = evil
Philip A.
•••••
• In addition to Johnny Appleseed, did anybody mention getting various versions of the story of William Tell and Other Stories (Oxford Dominoes Series, Starter Level)? Another person important to apple lore is Granny Smith & her story is given briefly in Bill Beatty's A treasury of Australian folk tales and traditions (Australiana classic)
•••••
• The Little Red House. The story is about a little boy who goes off in search of a little red house, without a door, with a star inside. (an apple) Any other apple story would do. Also Johnny Appleseed. Both are found in Easy-To-Tell Stories for Young Children by Annette Harrison.
The Tale of the Three Apples — A Tale from Arabian Nights, translated by Sir Richard Burton 1850
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-3apples.htm
• Not a real ghost story, but a good story for this time of year (October). I happened on it while researching something else:
http://www.curbstone.org/index.cfm?webpage=101
Granny Sue 9/27/09
(Created 2005; last update 7/6/11)
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