Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Primitive-looking cut-paper illustrations depict an apple's travels from tree to kitchen to backpack to picnic and eventually into soil, where it takes root as a new seedling. Run your fingers across this satisfyingly square book's cover and feel the subtle, smooth outlines of a ripe apple and simple letters. You'll immediately sense the solid, soothing storytelling at work inside, achieved through astute manipulations of paper. McClure's masterful cut-paper pictures appear more chunky and primitive here than in other works (To Market, to Market, 2011, etc.), appropriate in a book about plant processes as old as the Earth. Solitary verbs centered on white left-hand pages definitively describe the apple's journey. Their red, all-uppercase, hand-drawn block lettering compliments rustic black-and-white pictures that look a lot like whittled woodblock prints. Beginning readers can latch onto these firm words, point at their hefty letters and discern sounds and meanings. Older readers will appreciate McClure's use of a velvety, Valentine red to highlight the apple; these isolated instances of color pull children into each leg of a small odyssey, making a little apple's peregrinations seem deserving of acute attention. Backmatter includes "The Life Cycle of an Apple Tree" and "Composting," described in simple language that manages to be both sophisticated and conversational. Four panels capturing the four seasons sit on the opposite page: a summation of an apple's year in pictures and an assured ending. This deconstructed lesson in plant regeneration, composting and life cycles will reach apple-eating readers of many ages. (Picture book. 3-8)

ALA Booklist (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

As the title indicates th it's bold, red presentation is book is about just one thing: an apple. Each snow-white page contains a single word, faced by McClure's eye-catching, black-and-white papercuts that tell the story. The tale opens with fall, showing an apple at the base of a tree. A girl takes the apple from her kitchen and puts it in her backpack: hide. Each turn of the page reveals one more thing that happens to the apple. The girl shares it with friends and then forgets it on the ground. It returns to the earth. (The author's note explains that it's in a compost heap to be broken down so the soil it mixes with can become a rich food for plants.) In spring, a new plant emerges. The note's explanation of how an apple tree grows does not quite square with the one-word narrative. In fact, the author's note says apple seeds rarely grow into trees, though it happens on occasion. This is best used with a young audience who will enjoy following this one particular apple through its journey.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

A little girl sneaks an apple into daycare then forgets it on the playground. The apple is put in the compost and sprouts the following spring as a seedling. Although the one-word-per-page text ("Fall / Find / Sneak / Hide...") makes choices that may perplex young readers, McClure's dynamic black-and-white cut-paper images with red accents are a sure draw.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Primitive-looking cut-paper illustrations depict an apple's travels from tree to kitchen to backpack to picnic and eventually into soil, where it takes root as a new seedling. Run your fingers across this satisfyingly square book's cover and feel the subtle, smooth outlines of a ripe apple and simple letters. You'll immediately sense the solid, soothing storytelling at work inside, achieved through astute manipulations of paper. McClure's masterful cut-paper pictures appear more chunky and primitive here than in other works (To Market, to Market, 2011, etc.), appropriate in a book about plant processes as old as the Earth. Solitary verbs centered on white left-hand pages definitively describe the apple's journey. Their red, all-uppercase, hand-drawn block lettering compliments rustic black-and-white pictures that look a lot like whittled woodblock prints. Beginning readers can latch onto these firm words, point at their hefty letters and discern sounds and meanings. Older readers will appreciate McClure's use of a velvety, Valentine red to highlight the apple; these isolated instances of color pull children into each leg of a small odyssey, making a little apple's peregrinations seem deserving of acute attention. Backmatter includes "The Life Cycle of an Apple Tree" and "Composting," described in simple language that manages to be both sophisticated and conversational. Four panels capturing the four seasons sit on the opposite page: a summation of an apple's year in pictures and an assured ending. This deconstructed lesson in plant regeneration, composting and life cycles will reach apple-eating readers of many ages. (Picture book. 3-8)

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

An afterword says that this is actually McClure-s first book, which she created in 1996, hand-bound, and sold locally. Small and square, it features a single word in block letters on each left-hand page, opposite one of McClure-s signature cutouts. A girl takes an apple from the pile her mother is using for pie (-sneak-), slips it into her school knapsack (-hide-), and leaves it on the playground (-forget-). The apple makes its way into the compost and then into the ground, where it sprouts: -Spring.- The technical ability required to use a single piece of black paper and a pair of scissors to represent intangibles like the movement of air or a reflection on the water is a rare gift; parents and children can spend rewarding time together merely figuring out how McClure (To Market, To Market) has created positive and negative space. For McClure, the apple-which adds a flash of red to the otherwise b&w images-joins the natural world to the human world, and adds beauty to its surroundings wherever it-s found. Ages 3-6. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Aug.)