ALA Booklist (Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

A guy who grew apples was a hero? Well, yes, and Codell proves why through examining American folk legend Johnny Appleseed's noble life. The first half of the evocative text invites readers to travel back to 1774, a simpler time, when John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) was born. The second half then breaks down the five key ways cluding "Share What You Have" and "Respect Nature" which Appleseed "changed the landscape of our nation." At times, Codell's phrasing is perhaps too clever. For instance, "And of the many footsteps he took across the frontier in his bare and knobby feet, he left five for us to fill" may be difficult for younger children to comprehend. Perkins, whose titles include Newbery Award winner Criss Cross (2005), creates watercolor-and-gouache illustrations that have a somewhat stiff quality to them, but one spread rendered as a needlepoint sampler is lovely. An uneven collaboration, but valuable nonetheless as an inspiration to kids to change the world "seed by seed, deed by deed." An author's note contains an activity and an apple-pie recipe. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Teachers and librarians will be eager to see what the award-winning duo of Codell and Perkins has in store.

Horn Book

Two contemporary urban children meet colonial-era orchardist John "Appleseed" Chapman and accompany him around the country as he communes with nature and shares its bounty. Codell's lyrical text paints a heroic portrait; Perkins's detailed, homespun watercolor and gouache illustrations embrace the natural world, evoking its sounds, smells, and changing seasons. An author's note includes craft ideas and an apple pie recipe.

Kirkus Reviews

A simple introduction to an American legend turns up inspiration for making the world a better place. Frontier nurseryman John Chapman, born in Massachusetts just before the Revolutionary War, had traveled thousands of miles by his death and covered the Ohio River Valley with apple-tree nurseries, showing pioneer families how to start the orchards that would strengthen their attachment to the land. He had already become the legendary "Johnny Appleseed," known for singular habits of dress, kindness to animals, friendship with pioneer and original settlers and a love of books. Saintly stories ("The Native Americans respected him for his spiritual bond with his surroundings, his kinship with all that grew and lived") about Chapman inform this account. Codell says that Johnny Appleseed "left five [footsteps] for us to fill: Use what you have. Share what you have. Respect nature. Try to make peace where there is war. You can reach your destination by taking small steps." Perkins' watercolor, gouache and collage illustration is lively and disarming; a stitched sampler across one full opening offers rolling hills with apple trees in both blossom and fruit, Johnny Appleseed in the distance. Sources and acknowledgments appear on the title-page verso, while a final page offers suggestions for celebrating Johnny Appleseed's September 26 birthday, including a simple apple pie recipe and the graceful Swedenborgian hymn many children will know as "the Johnny Appleseed song." Sweet. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Born in 1774, John Chapman is better known now as Johnny Appleseed. "Why should we remember him today, more than two hundred years later, and call him a hero?" asks Codell, distilling the answer into five tenets Chapman lived by: "Use what you have. Share what you have. Respect nature. Try to make peace where there is war. You can reach your destination by taking small steps." In Codell's admiring prose, Chapman emerges as a kind of 18th-century American Francis of Assisi. Working mostly in watercolor and gouache, Perkins, too, knows how to use what she has: burlap, wooden planks, and embroidery make for a few showstopping spreads, underscoring the ingenuity and care Chapman was known for. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

Gr 3-5 This picture book focuses on Chapman's way of life and the five "examples" he planted for future generations along with his apple seeds: "Use what you have"; "Share what you have"; "Respect nature"; "Try to make peace where there is war"; "You can reach your destination by taking small steps." Codell points out that Chapman collected apple seeds from cider-press owners, who had no use for them, and he sometimes traded his trees for clothing. He gave away seedlings to those who could not afford to pay, lent his books to settlers, and entertained them with stories. He planted medicinal herbs and studied their uses, showed extraordinary kindness to animals, and developed a spiritual bond "with all that grew and lived." There is a homespun feel to the watercolor illustrations, a bit of cartoon in the few places that mention Appleseed legends, and a touch of folk art in scenes like the one showing Chapman sowing seeds in a grassy field adjoining apple orchards in all four seasons of growth. A purposeful conceit is woven throughout-a modern boy and girl find themselves back in Chapman's day, observing firsthand how he improved the world, deed by deed. The book ends with the challenge, "And now it's your turn. One small deed, every day. What seed will you plant?" Jane Yolen's Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth (HarperCollins, 2008) is more biographical; Reeve Lindbergh's Johnny Appleseed (Little, Brown, 1990) is a poetic tribute to Johnny Appleseed, the legend. Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH