Illustrated by Ted Lewin
This first person narrative describes a field trip to an apple orchard that Farah takes on her second day of school in her new country. Farah understands much more of what she sees than her teacher and classmates give her credit for. They don't understand why she chooses a green apple when the others are picking ripe red apples, and one classmate tries to stop her from adding her apple to the cider press. The apple becomes a metaphor for aculturation and a symbol of triumph when she says her first "outside myself" word.
I've been a foreign student without any knowledge of the language and this book rings true. Bunting is a master at packing a lot of meaning and depth into sparse language. The beautiful watercolor illustrations capture the expressions of the students superbly.
Recommended Levels: 1-6
SLJ, starred in Booklist.
Friday, January 26, 2007
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2 comments:
Most of us have children in our schools who are attempting to aculturate in the face of classmates who don't understand them. This title could be the bit of bibliotherapy that helps the lightbulb go on over some little heads. I like the metaphor and symbolism of the green apple, too.
I showed this to one of our ESOL teachers and she said it was "spot on." She especially liked the phrase "outside myself word." She's planning to share it with our teachers to give them some insight into the ESOL learner.
I also shared it with two of our female students who cover their hair. They have been paired as reading buddies because the first grader was self-conscious about covering. The fifth grader loved the book and said she really connected with Farah. The first grader said she didn't like it as much. She couldn't really express why she didn't like it.
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