Apples to Oregon

Apples to Oregon

Written by: Deborah Hopkinson

Illustrated by: Nancy Carpenter

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004

30 Pages

Historical Fiction Book

     I choose this book, because I was curious about the story.  The book is set in the time of the pioneer days.  It is about a family who travels from Iowa to Oregon.  The father has grown several apple trees, as well several other types of trees such as peach and cherry, and decides to take them along for the journey.  When the family encounters harsh weather conditions, and the father is afraid his trees are going to die.  But, one of his daughters, Delicious, is determined that her father’s trees will make it; Delicious and her brothers and sisters all pitch in to help, and after a lot of hard work, which included getting through a storm, desert, cold weather, and  even a ride on  a river, the family makes it to Oregon…..with their father’s trees!

 

     I really like the pictures in this book.  Oil paint was used for the illustrations.  The artist does a wonderful job portraying the characters in the book during the pioneer time period. I love all of the different color she uses.  They are very bright.  The pictures are also painted using a lot of detail.  I also love the map that is in the end covers of the book.  It shows the family’s journal from Iowa to Oregon.  I think this is very useful when teaching, especially younger children, because it allows them to visualize what takes place throughout the story. 

     I would use this book to teach students about the history behind this story, and the type of genre that the book is as far telling the story of a tall tale.  I think this book would be great for teaching story grammar, because it has several different characters.  It would also be good to teach a lesson on sequencing, since several things happen to the family as are traveling.  I could also have my students write about what type of tree they would want to take with them on a journey if they could, or what their favorite tree is.  This book would be most appropriate for second to fourth grade.