Once Upon a Golden Apple

Joan Buchanan is a writer, storyteller and instructor and author of
Taking Care of My Cold.

Once Upon a Golden Apple is a special book that draws exuberantly on the
roots of children’s literature. The highly regarded children’s
novelist Jean Little has combined her talents with those of her niece,
Maggie de Vries. Add accomplished illustrator Phoebe Gilman, and the
recipe for success results.

The story has a modern setting but plays on mixing up and getting wrong
classic folk tales and fairy tales. Anyone who has tried to skip pages
in a children’s bedtime story will know the difficulty of fooling the
listener. He or she knows the “right” story! The humor is perfect
for preschoolers to eight-year-olds, who will enjoy the
recurring-question framework and anticipating the answers. The authors
refer to plots and characters from Little Red Riding Hood, Chicken
Little, The Gingerbread Boy, and many more. If the listeners and readers
don’t get the jokes, there are some fundamental storytelling gaps to
fill in.

Gilman’s illustrations are lively, detailed, full of action, and
(where fitting) highly decorative. The book design is such that the
reader can follow the “right” story on the right-hand side of the
book. What a fine marriage of pictures, book design, and text!