One Green Apple

Author: Eve Bunting

Farah, a young Muslim girl, begins her story on her second day in a new school in a new country. She listens and nods but doesn't speak. So many things are strange to her, including the clothes and language. Her class is going on a field trip to an apple orchard where they will each pick an apple to be made into cider. When she puts a green apple into the cider press instead of a ripe red one, as her classmates have done, they symbolically protest. But the cider from all the apples they have mixed together is a beautiful metaphor for the benefits of the intermingling of different peoples. Farah begins to make friends. She even learns a new word:  "App-ell." Her simple story helps us to understand the feelings of one of millions of immigrant children striving to make their way in our American world. Tee Lewin's gorgeous full-page watercolor illustrations depict the apple-picking adventure. This is a great picture book for early primary and ESL classrooms.

One Green Apple

Year Released: 2006

Grades 1-4