Apple Pie Picnic (English With Some Spanish)

Conceptually cumulative lines featuring italicized Spanish terms center a family's apple tree and the relationships it supports across several seasons: "This is the apple tree, el manzano, that grows near the house where Rosa lives." Opening with springtime scenes of blossoms and bees ("These are the bees, las abejas, / that buzz from flower to flower") and building throughout the year, spreads show animals scurrying, Rosa watching the blooms turn to fruit, and the Latinx-cued family eventually harvesting the apples ("red, ripe, and ready") for a pie before autumn ushers in winter. Rough-edged digital-style renderings capture seasonal activities anchored around the hardwood: birds build a nest amid flat-colored leaves; Rosa sits in a branch crook surrounded by fruit. It's a sunny pastoral portrait of natural bounty and intergenerational love. Back matter includes a bilingual glossary and an applesauce recipe. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

"Establishing a deliberate pace from the first line and writing in verse similar to "The House That Jack Built," Duran chronicles the journey of an apple from flower to fruit with a modest dose of critter-based humor. Fitzgerald's scruffy artwork replicates the precise rustic sensibility evoked by the text." -Kirkus Reviews

"Conceptually cumulative lines featuring italicized Spanish terms center a family's apple tree and the relationships it supports across several seasons. . . a sunny pastoral portrait of natural bounty and intergenerational love." -Publishers Weekly