Apple pie tired

A delightful account of helpfulness, plans placed on hold, and disappointment avoided. Each year, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Lola's parents make and sell apple pies from their orchard store. Lola wants to help by preparing Thanksgiving dinner herself. She has all the right ideas, like organizing a daily schedule to get the advance prep done, and an eagerness to take responsibility. But each morning, as she consults her projected list--peel potatoes, snap green beans, cut carrots--she notices that her parents need her help withtheir task that day. Charles takes readers step by step through the pie-making process. Day One is devoted to making the bottom crust: Dad weighs and mixes the flour, Mom portions out the dough, and then Dad presses it into a pan--with assistance from Lola. In the following days, the family works on the top crust and peels and cores the apples. Finally, each family member helps with baking and selling. The job all done, Lola is "too pooped to mash, and too tuckered to cook." So what about dinner? Then her extended family arrives, bearing contributions, and everyone pitches in, because "big jobs sure work better with a little help." An author's note describes the real-world model for the farm; a pie recipe and photos are appended. Warm, slightly idealized pastel illustrations add autumnal spice to this sweet book. While the protagonists are light-skinned, the farm's clientele is diverse. A mouthwatering, heartwarming story of teamwork.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.