Apple grumble

Gr 2--4--They say that one bad apple spoils the bunch, and the titular apple from Bad Apple returns to prove it. Round, green, and probably a little tart, Apple is mean and grumpy. His grandmother--Granny Smith, naturally--asks him to behave, but he refuses. More and more apples join the book, each one named after a real variety. Braeburn is a cool jock, for instance, and Jazz plays saxophone. Even a pineapple shows up, much to the chagrin of Apple. He feels the book is too crowded. Instead of making friends, he puts the other apples into a pie dish and covers them in crumble. The implication is that Apple will get his wish to have the book all to himself. Sanders's artwork is immediately charming. The apples are beautiful shades of red and green inked onto textured paper. Simple line drawings create expressive eyes and arms, giving each fruit a unique personality. Sanders uses spreads sparingly but to great effect. Overall, the book's layout is clean and clear. Apples cavort on one page, and bold, basic text stands opposite. The shallow characterization almost serves as a parody of more moralizing tales. But where Jory John invites readers to empathize with his Bad Seed, Jones and Sanders relish this apple's bad behavior. VERDICT A shallow but delicious dish, with a juicy villain at its core.--Chance Lee Joyner

Lewis-Jones returns with another installment of his Bad Apple picture-book series starring one foul fruit. Antihero Apple is up to no good again. He "drank Pea's tea, and stole Cat's hat, and other naughty things like that." Granny Smith, "one of the oldest apples," lectures him about his bad manners, and Red and Golden, "two delicious apples," urge him to be sweet like them. The popular apples (Bramley, Braeburn, and Cox) suggest that he show a little more team spirit, and the "fabulous apples"--Honeycrisp, Gala, Pink Lady, and Jazz--advise him to let go of his anger. But Apple is too hardcore (pun intended) of a grouch and a troublemaker to listen. It's Pineapple's birthday, and Apple crashes the party, filches Pineapple's party hat, and imprisons the rest of the apples in an apple crumble. Readers hoping for a comeuppance for Apple (like the one he got in the previous book in the series) will be disappointed. In a darkly humorous, picaresque ending, the fate of the other apples is left unknown, and Apple learns nothing--once a rotten apple, always a rotten apple. Lewis-Jones' sparingly narrated text has a certain appeal for those who appreciate dark wit. Sanders' minimalist illustrations are playful and expressive and use watercolor washes effectively to vary the appearances of the anthropomorphic characters. Amusingly irreverent, but young children will feel the lack of a moral or an apple-ly--ever-after. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.