Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains

My students love this book. It is light and fun and a great way to introduce pioneers to little kids.

This is the vegan version of "Oregon Trail," an ancient computer game that was once -played on the Apple IIe, and featured "blam-blam" cheesy sounds as you gunned down moose, dear, and bear. Here, there's no fishing or hunting, but you follow the same trail past Chimney and Courthouse Rock, ford a river, climb the Rockies, and raft down the Columbia River to Oregon. Although I wondered the book violated any copyright laws, all resemblance to the "Oregon Trail" ends there.Unlike the game, there's no dysentery, crooked traders, stampeding animals, or cranky settlers. Instead, a plucky family travels from Iowa to Oregon with a gigantic wagon holding a holding a whole orchard of fruit trees: Apples, plums, cherries, pears, and peaches. The book is more enjoyable than I expected, given its resemblance to the game, mostly because of the colorful girl, "Delicious," who narrates the story, and the sometimes silly obsession of her fruit-minded father. When "Delicious" (at least her father didn't name her "Gravenstein") alerts us "Daddy was ready for the most daring adventure in the history of fruit," you know you're in for a clever and exciting tall tale.On the way to Oregon, the family encounters nasty skeptical fellow travelers, weather changes, and natural obstacles. They build a raft and start paddling the Platte River, the "muddy drink started to pull us down":"'The peaches are plummeting!' my sisters shouted.""'The plums are plunging,' boomed my brother.""'Don't let my babies go belly-up!" howled Daddy.Apparently, Daddy's has unbounded concern for the apples of his eye...and he also loves his kids. Delicious, who knows that children raised on apples are "mighty strong" (there's lots of "Western" dialect festooning these pages), gets her sibs to kick off their shoes and kick their feet against the Platte. Later, a windstorm strikes, half-denuding the family (sure to get some laughs from the younger set), and eliciting another cry from Daddy (always in big, bold font):"Guard the grapes! Protect the peaches!"The persistent, albeit slightly goofy Daddy, is shown on a great two-page spread resembling the Disneyland diorama of the Grand Canyon. The family is hauling the wagon up about a 50 degree incline, an impossible task, of course, while the unvanquished Daddy announces, "just a hundred miles to go." In one of many colorful illustrations, Delicious-looking more and more like a young pioneer woman, fights a wispy Jack Frost with a bonfire and a blanket. Very soon, "that low-down scoundrel was hightailing it out of there, heading straight for Walla, Washington. Delicious stands tall and proud. The illustrations slightly recall those of Patricia Polacco with their emphasis on people's faces and long exaggerated lines, although they're not quite as loopy and personal as Polacco's.The books concludes with a successful orchard planting in Oregon, just as in the true story of the parents and their eight children who brought the first apple trees from Iowa to Oregon in 1847. Delicious, easily the most appealing and emotionally satisfying character in the book is last seen high up in an apple tree, munching away and pondering the Gold Rush that that began shortly after their trip. All those fruit trees, she says "made us richer than any prospector. We were happier, too. After all, apples taste a whole lot better than gold."

My granddaughter really enjoyed listening to this book over and over. It tied in well with her class's study of apples, so I gave a copy to the school.

I really like this book. I bought this a Christmas gift for my nephew. I received it as a gift years ago for one of my sons.

We love this silly story. We checked found this book in our local library & checked it out so many times I decided to buy it. You can't help but read the book with a silly accent & my kids love that.

Great book!

I LOVED this story! It was so cute!

LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!

My kids loved this book!!! It was highly entertaining. It opened up a few great topics to discuss as well. Pioneers and tall tales.