Review by New York Times Review
TOLSTOY was wrong: happy families are not all alike. Some make applesauce, and those who do, the author of this smartly observed, warm-hearted tale implies, are almost surely the better for it. Narrated by a young boy, "Applesauce Season," by Eden Ross Lipson, unfolds as an artful blend of family ritual and recipe, with members of three generations of urban homebodies and apple fanciers taking part in a seasonal rite that leads from farmers' market to stove top to dining room table. At the center of it all is the narrator's doughty, discerning grandmother, the family elder whose unfussy reverence for a job well done transforms an old-fashioned quest for a taste of the fruits of the fall harvest into something more: a glimpse of the examined life. The grandmother in question is a spry, emphatic woman - an owlish impresario who sees "no reason to start eating apples when peaches are perfect," and once their high season has arrived, no reason to stop eating them, whether in sauce form or more simply "out of hand." An urban earth mother in a floppy hat, she is a kindly, vibrant presence, a mensch with a McIntosh whose ironclad rubric of sauce making dos and don'ts hints at a life spent coolly taking the measure of things, both in and out of the kitchen. We glean all this from her grandson, who, with a grade schooler's swelling pride in his own newfound competence, nimbly leads the reader through the basics of sauce making (a detailed recipe is also provided, in an after note), while casting an appraising eye over his elders. This bright young boy has clearly inherited more from the older woman than a weakness for Winesaps. Lipson, who was the children's books editor of The New York Times from 1984 to 2005, and who died earlier this year, made this, her first book for children, a family story that points inexorably to the future. With a wink to the reader in the final scene, both author and illustrator focus in on the boy as he wonders aloud what life will be like for him when he's grown. Endearingly, as though to show whose grandson he is, he frames the question for himself in the language of apples: "Apple pie is good," he allows, "but I still like applesauce best. Maybe I'll change my mind when I grow up. Maybe not." TO underscore the cross-generational bond, Mordicai Gerstein depicts grandmother and child with matching rounded cheeks and flamboyant red Harry Potter-style glasses. (He gives the one family member to opt out of the sauce making - the boy's father - a contrastingly lean if not quite hungry look.) Gerstein, who won the 2004 Caldecott Medal for "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," draws in a wiry, kinetic line that touches down lightly on the page to bring us face to face with a memorable character and the people at the center of her world. His illustrations suggest images in a family album, albeit an album whose pictures have been fashioned with a trick lens. Employing a foreshortened perspective, Gerstein tilts cutting boards, pots and the like our way, the better for us to see (as the curious reader is apt to want to do) how each step of sauce cookery is accomplished. Their utility as a teaching tool aside, these gravity-defying, dreamlike images seem to nod approvingly at the untamed spirit that drives the pursuit of any glorious obsession. The other key ingredient is color: dabs of pale pastels to subtly indicate a skyline backdrop or interior wall; fiery Bonnard chords of fall color to stake out the various centers of dramatic interest. This is color to whet the appetite and quicken awareness. We look once and think to look again, and happily there is more than enough for seconds. Leonard S. Marcus is the author of "Minders of Make-Believe" and the editor of "Funny Business: Conversations With Writers of Comedy," which will be published in October.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 27, 2009]
Review by Booklist Review
My grandmother says there's no reason to start eating apples when peaches are perfect. But around the time school opens, applesauce season begins. A boy outfitted in red, round glasses (just like Grandma's) is our guide to an unlikely but tasty topic: applesauce. In a well-cadenced narrative perfectly suited for reading aloud, he explains that the city has no apple trees, but there are farmers' markets, and that's where three generations of his family buy at least three varieties of apples every week; it's the diversity that makes each batch of applesauce different. Those who assume that the choosing and chopping of apples, the cooking and tasting, and the grinding and scraping in the food mill might make for a less-than-scintillating story have only to see those actions lovingly performed by characters drawn with Gerstein's imaginative brush. So evocative is his work that readers can almost smell the sauce as it simmers. Then it's time to celebrate the first sauce of the season, at a family dinner. Preparing this delicious dish is an apt metaphor for familial warmth and sharing, but metaphors aside, thank goodness the book concludes with a recipe for applesauce.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This is the first and only picture book by Lipson, the longtime New York Times children's books editor who died in May; it stands as a wonderful tribute to her considerable contributions and talents. Accompanied by Gerstein's (A Book) gem tlich vignettes, Lipson introduces a family of urban-dwellers whose ties that bind are made of applesauce. As the youngest child and narrator explains, from "just about the time school opens, when it is still hot and summery but vacation is over," until December, the family, with Grandma at the helm, comes together to produce pots and pots of homemade puree. Lipson's down-to-earth lyricism makes it clear that every step of the process has its rewards-even shopping inspires the narrator to savor the panoply of apples at the farmers' market ("first come Ida Red and Paula Red, Twenty Ounce and MacIntosh, Ginger Gold and Jonagold"). Best of all, applesauce season brings out the connoisseur in everyone: in one of the funniest scenes, Gerstein shows the narrator and his family adjusting the seasoning with the scholarly intensity of chemists. The book is a terrific nudge toward establishing family cooking rituals-the recipe on the final page should close the deal. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Urban meets bucolic in this charming family story that is narrated by a family's youngest child. "We live in the city. There are no apple trees, but there are farmer's markets where there are lots of apples." That's where the boy and his grandmother shop. They choose the fruit, wash it, cut it up, cook it, and finally run it through the food mill. Then comes the eating, ".plain, or with ice cream, or cottage cheese, or gingerbread, or cookies, or sliced bananas." This is not a long book but it's filled with enticing details. Even the names of the varieties are fun: Black Twig, King David, Northern Spy. A celebration of family ritual and slow foods, the story is in the best tradition of "show, don't tell." Gerstein's colorful paintings are edged with dynamic scratchy lines that convey a lively sense of movement. His sly humor is a perfect match for the straightforward narrative, which ends with a recipe and a glimpse into the boy's sunny future-full of apples, of course.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) In this warm portrait of family and food, the young narrator tells us, "Applesauce season starts just about the time school opens, when it is still hot and summery but vacation is over." He and his grandma, city dwellers, go to the farmers' market and buy six pounds of apples for sauce and another six for "eating out of hand." At home, mom helps out, and three generations make the applesauce, a process the boy describes from start ("Mom cuts them into quarters, Grandma cuts them into sixths. I don't know why") to finish ("We taste till it tastes right, and then it cools some more and thickens. Then it's ready"). Though the boy has two applesauce-lovin' sisters, he's clearly the one whose passion equals Grandma's -- a connection emphasized in Gerstein's cheery illustrations of the two wearing matching eyeglasses, frames round and red as apples. As any good cooking show does, the pictures provide above-the-countertop/stove/table views as the apples are transformed into sauce. The final page includes a detailed recipe and an illustration of the boy, now a dad, in the kitchen cutting apples with his daughter, sharing a smile -- and the same apple-red glasses. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Flavored with family tradition and spiced with Gerstein's cheerful illustrations, this account of one family's love of applesauce hits the spot. One day "when it is still hot and summery, but vacation is over," Grandma says, "It's time for applesauce." The city-dwelling family buys apples ("at least three different kinds") at an outdoor market. The names and varieties of apples and the details of cooking change as the season progresses, with the subtle variations in the process lovingly detailed in both text and image. The "first sauce of the season" is celebrated and toasted at a special gathering of family and friends, while later Grandpa is remembered on his birthday with a candle-bedecked pie. The child narrator (who sports round, red glasses just like Grandma's) wonders whether he'll prefer pie to sauce when he grows up, while the illustrations project a future generation of apple lovers, a poignant touch for this last book by the late Lipson. In a crowded orchard of apple books, this one stands out for home or school apple- and/or family-tradition projects. Applesauce recipe appended. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
