Sour Apple by Linda Liu (review)

Reviewed by: Sour Apple by Linda Liu Kate Quealy-Gainer Liu, Linda Sour Apple; written and illus. by Linda Liu. Holt, 2024 40p Trade ed. ISBN 9781250835086 18. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 3-6 yrs It's the start of apple picking season, but our green and slightly bruised apple narrator is left behind, fallen to the ground. The fruit wonders at not being chosen: "Am I not shiny enough to sell at the market? Or not tiny enough to be used as a target? Am I not sour enough to fill an apple pie? Or not sweet enough to be the apple of your eye? " The worm that soon emerges from the bruise doesn't make the apple feel any better, and the crowd of creatures that subsequently arrives, seemingly ready to snack, strikes not fear but resignation in the poor fruit. Surprisingly, however, the bugs roll the apple into a hole to bury it, and readers can now guess that, as the seasons pass across the pages, the apple has a more magnificent, stately future than simply being picked for a pie. The rhyming text is bouncy and tailor-made for storytime, and though the message is neither new nor subtle, the insecure, self-doubting apple makes a relatable proxy for any kid who has felt overlooked and ignored. Simple backgrounds, pressed, flat textures, and the shifty-eyed apple call up Klassen's shape figures (Circle, BCCB 2/19; Square, 7/18) in an uncomfortably derivative way, but that doesn't take away from the grumpy charm of our fruity hero. Have this one on hand when fall arrives and the apples are ripe for picking. End Page 366 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois