Applesauce

by Klaas Verplancke

Overview

Nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Prize and listed as one of the Best Children's Books of 2012 by Kirkus

Johnny's daddy has smooth cheeks, an apple in his throat and sounds like a mom when he sings in the bath. At other times a cactus grows out of his chin and his breath smells like cauliflower. At times he has warm hands and his fingers taste like applesauce. Other times his hands are cold and flash like lightning, and he becomes a thunder daddy. When this happens Johnny wants to find a new daddy, but he eventually realizes that thunder daddies don't last forever. And that there's nothing like the comfort that comes from those we love.

Klaas Verplancke's story, with its humorous, energetic and imaginative illustrations, will strike a chord with many young children and parents as they discover that love sometimes means setting limits, and that people do get angry, but that where there is love, it doesn't last.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554981861
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2012
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

KLAAS VERPLANCKE is a world-renowned illustrator, author and graphic designer who has exhibited his work in his native Belgium and abroad. His illustrations typically reveal his sense of humor, poetic imagination, and somewhat surrealistic view of reality. He has won the BolognaRagazzi Award, was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and has been nominated six times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for his oeuvre as a whole. His inspiration for this book came from his close relationship with his young son who "collapsed like a pudding" when he felt that their father-son friendship was compromised as limits were inevitably put in place. He lives in Bruges, Belgium.

Editorial Reviews

This book’s real strength lies in its illustrations and the juxtaposition of the two sides of the father’s personality, the latter being something with which most readers will identify. Overall, Applesauce is a good addition for libraries, particularly public libraries as it is aimed at younger readers.

CM - Epp Carla

. . . Verplancke gives us a wonderful image of father and son.

Ottawa Citizen - BERNIE GOEDHART

"My daddy has smooth cheeks and an apple in his throat. He sounds like a mom when he sings in the bath."
— from the book


A Kirkus Best Children's Book of 2012

Long-listed for the Astrid Lindgren Prize, 2013

"Reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are in its visual transformations and emotional intensity, but with a more present and openly loving parent." —Kirkus, starred review

"…Verplancke gives us a wonderful image of father and son."—Ottawa Citizen

From the Publisher

PreS-K—Sometimes Johnny's father has smooth cheeks, warm hands, strong muscles, and a soft belly for sleeping on. He makes applesauce and lets his son lick it off his fingers. Those are Johnny's favorite moments. Other times the man's hands are cold and he's a "thunder daddy" who yells at Johnny to pick up his shoes, do his homework, and turn down the TV. Then Johnny wishes he could go to "the forest of Other-and-Better" to find a new daddy who never gets mad. The thundering times come to an end eventually, and soon Daddy is making applesauce again. A parent's unpredictable moods can be frightening to a small child, and this book attempts to address that fear. However, it's unclear whether these are the normal emotional fluctuations of a healthy parent, or whether the father is grappling with more serious issues. Unfortunately, no comfort or explanation is offered to Johnny: he just has to wait it out. The bold, colored pencil and acrylic illustrations are well executed but disconcerting, rendering the father genuinely frightening in some spreads, and merely unappealing in others (as when his "hair is a bush…and his breath smells like cauliflower"). The poetic language effectively captures a sensitive child's ambivalence and fears, though, so this picture book might find a home in larger collections.—Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD

School Library Journal

"My daddy has warm hands. His fingers taste like applesauce. I wish he had a thousand hands." Spare of words but rich in feeling, this love note tracks some ups and downs but circles back to an attachment so warm and close that only the stoniest of hearts will remain unaffected. Tagging along as his father washes up in the morning, sacks out in front of the television after some vigorous outdoor play, and then goes on into the kitchen to peel apples, the young narrator makes contented comments about dad's hands, muscles and stomach ("soft as a pillow"). When an unspecified offense brings on "thunder daddy," though, the miffed lad heads for "the forest of Other-and-Better"--a staircase, in the pictures, that transforms into a dense, dark forest of trees with shouting mouths--in search of a nicer parent. The scary experience drives him back into the kitchen where dad, who had himself transformed into a hairy, scowling gorilla, offers a bowl of applesauce and reverts bit by bit over a wordless spread as amity is restored. Aside from an early remark that papa "sounds like a mom when he sings in the bath," there's no sign of a second adult. Reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are in its visual transformations and emotional intensity, but with a more present and openly loving parent. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews