CHILDREN'S AND ADULT BOOKS
(To retell any of these stories, obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.)
• 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
by Naomi Baltuck) (The Four Ne'er Do Wells)
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
by Sandy Nightingale
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
by Annette Harrison. (1992) (Contains The Little Red House)
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
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, 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
by Shirley Climo with Alexander Koshkin (illus). (2000 - Ages 4-8)
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
by Alice Schertle. (2000 - Ages 4-8)
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
(Tia Miseria's Pear Tree) by Amy Cohn (editor) and Molly Bank (illustrator). (1993 - Ages 4-8)
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
by Kathy Charner (editor) with Rebecca Jones (illus). (1996)
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
by William Knight and Audrey Knight. (2000)
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
by Margaret George. (2007)
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)
by Marjorie Priceman. (1996 - Ages 4-8)
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
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)
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)
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)
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)
by Ovid with Denis Feenery (introduction) and David Raeburn (translator). (2004)
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
by Stephen J. Butler. (1994 - Baby-Preschool)
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
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. 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)
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)
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
by David Scofield Wilson and Angus K. Gillespie (editors). (1999)
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 
by Eileen Colwell) (The Golden Phoenix)
• Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis, and Inspiration, The 
by Fred Hageneder. (2002) (Chapter on apple trees)
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 
by Augusta Baker) (The Magic Apple) (1955)
• Too Many Apples
, 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 Trees
by 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)
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)
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. 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)
by Howard Pyle. (reprint 2003 - Ages 9-12)
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
by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (reprint 2004)
•••••
AUDIO RESOURCES
• 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.
TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN
 |
• 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.
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
by Century Novelty.
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
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.
• Plastic Red Apple Containers 1 pc
from prettypartyplace.
Party Toys. Size: 4.75 inch x 4.75 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.
ONLINE LINKS
http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Fruits/GoldDel.html
http://212.net/apples/apple1.htm
http://www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/story_links.html
http://www.SpiritofTrees.org
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/apple.htm
http://www.last.fm/music/Raffi/_/Apples+And+Bananas
Bad Apple — A Native American Wonder / Magic Marvelous Transformation Folktale
http://www.foothillglobalaccess.org/faculty/arca/Lesson05/FolktaleMachine/folktales/NatAm_WonMag_Transf.html
Betty Stoggs' Baby — legends and folktales
http://legends-folktales.blogspot.com/2007/06/betty-stoggs-baby.html
Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens, The (Bulgaria)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/sfs/sfs51.htm
Hind of the Golden Apple, The — Portuguese Folk-Tales by Consiglieri Pedroso with Henrietta Monteiro (translator)
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/books/portugual/pedroso/hindgoldenapple.html
INPUT AND DISCUSSION FROM STORYTELLERS, TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS
(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 by Anne Pellowski, page 85. This paper cutting story is very much liked by young children, holds their attention and is fun to tell!
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) by Suzanne I. Barchers. (2001)
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 by Kathy Charner (editor) with Rebecca Jones (illus). (1996)
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 by Margaret George. (2007)
• Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner. (2008 - Young Adult)
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 by David Scofield Wilson and Angus K. Gillespie (editors). (1999), 1-22. Includes The Unfruitful Tree, The Enchanted Apple Tree and The Silver Plate and the Transparent Apple. (In another day or two, there will be a search by tree type feature at the site.) And in the essays section of Spirit of Trees, there is a link to an essay on the apple tree—The Wisdom of the Apple Tree by Glennie Kindred at
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 for an interesting look at the Garden of Eden. . . it's funny, though might have to be toned down for children.
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
(This
web page updated 12/28/05; 7/15/08; 11/1/08)
