Throwback Thursday - Apple Picking

Time for another Throwback Thursday post and one of the fun things that we got up to in the late summer was picking the apples off our apple trees in the garden. BookBairn loved picking the ones up off the ground, though I had to keep a very stringent eye on her as she loves to take a bite out of them and they really did need a good wash first as well as saying that they are cooking apples so taste pretty rubbish until they have been cooked and sweetened. But it was absolutely brilliant to have a little helper run put all the apples in the basket! (I can only say we were having way too much fun to take some photos of BookBairn being my little helper, I promise our next Throwback post will have lots and lots of photos over BookBairn over the last year!)

We were sent a truly lovely little book that fit our afternoon of apple picking just perfectly, 'The Mysterious Apples' by Diana C. Vickery is just a delightful tale. I previously reviewed the first book in this series (The Magical World of Swankypants - what a great title, right?) and described it as a "wee gem of a book" and the same is true for this book!

'The Mysterious Apples' is a funny story about two squirrels, Yasmin and Yo-yo who collect as many apples as they can carry in their basket. But these greedy little squirrels have eyes bigger than their drey can hold and they have to find a bigger place to stash their apple hoard. Unfortunately for them these silly little squirrels decide to put their apple hoard in a basket by the cottage door. Mum is delighted to find that someone has picked the apples for her and she makes an apple pie. The ever-resourceful squirrels aren't disappointed for long when they discover that their apples are gone. They instead resolve to raid the plum tree and steal the bird nuts! (Sorry Papa BookBairn - this made us giggle as we know how much you love an anti-squirrel devise for your bird-feeders.)

Formatted as a smaller and thinner board than the average board book, these books are great for little readers as they aren't too large or heavy for those small hands. They are also delightful for adults to read as they are written in rhyming sentences so simply role off the tongue! But the real highlight of this book is the fantastic illustrations. Each page is packed full of woodland creatures that BookBairn just loves spotting as we turn the pages. The illustrations are bright and colourful and much more summery in contrast to the autumnal tones of 'Hooty the Owl', the first book in the series. I also prefer the cheeky squirrels in this book as it seems so fitting to the squirrels we see in the garden. In short, this sequel is even better than the first!!

We are still eating our way through our apple haul, but I think I'll need to make a batch of stewed apples and freeze them as we won't get through them all any time soon!