Ten Red Apples

by Pat Hutchins

Ten red apples hanging on a tree. Yippee, fiddle-dee-fee! But they are not there for long. Horse, cow, donkey, pig, hen, and the other farm animals each eat one. "Save one for me," calls the farmer. But what about the farmer's wife? Count on Pat Hutchins to solve the problem happily. And count the red apples before they are all gone!

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Food, Mathematics

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Pat Hutchins is an English illustrator and writer of children's books.

She won the 1974 Kate Greenaway Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. The work was The Wind Blew, a picture book in rhyme which she also wrote. It shows how "a crowd of people anxiously chase their belongings" in the wind.

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

A counting book that feels like it should have a nice rhyming cadence, but instead has this really awkward fiddle-dee-fee refrain stuck all over the place. Mixed reactions at story time today, but I don't think I'll read this one again anytime soon.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complete with counting (backwards from 10 to 1), a funny story line, animal noises, and wonderful illustrations... this book has it all! Having the kiddos count the apples on the tree, as well as guess what animal is on the page and what noise that animal makes, was a great deal of fun. The rhythm was a bit strange and off balance at times, but a few on the spot alterations made for a great read.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old son's review: 😘🙏🏾🥰🤩❤🥺🥂🥳👋🏾🥰🤠🧁🍎🍏✌️

[Krista Lineweaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten Red Apples, is a picturebook that can be read to and enjoyed by the nursery age group. It is about a farmer and his wife that have an apple tree. All of the farm animals continue to eat his apples which leaves none for his wife to make an apple pie, but then they find another one and all is well. It is a very cute, rhyming story that young children would enjoy hearing. I had completed a flannelboard story project using this book and it worked out very well. I was able to make all of the animals and the people in the story. The children enjoyed playing with the felt pieces and seeing the story come to life as I read it to them. They were all able to help me put up one animal at a time and take away one apple every time a new animal appeared. It is a great story with many benefits for children. It encourages rhyming, introduces new farm animals and the noises that they make, it could from ten to zero, and has brilliant illustrations that will catch and hold the children's attention. I would be very excited to see this story used in more classrooms. I will definitely be using this book in my classroom one day.

[Claudia Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten Red Apples is a good book to help kids count to ten. In this book, a farmer is watching his animals eat his ten apples one by one, all while telling the animals to save him one. This book would be great to help teach kids numbers zero though ten. You can count along with the book as the apples disappear. This book can also teach kids about animals. The farmer calls out to each animal as the animal takes an apple. Then the animal makes a noise. This helps kids learn what kinds of animals there are and what sounds they make. The illustrations in this book are really cute. The characters are made to look toy-like. This gives the book a lighthearted playful feel. Each animal that has already eaten an apple can be seen to the side of each page. Then the animal next in line to each an apple can be seen in the background behind the farmer. This will allow kids to guess what animal will be next, this will make them eager to turn the page. Also, at the top of each page there is the number of apples left and that many apples drawn out next to the number. This allows the kids to point and count how many apples are left. The apples are also shown on the tree so the kid can visually see what that amount of apples look like.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic from Pat Hutchins, one of the storytime masters of yesteryear, and just as fun today, as well as a refreshing break from other picture books with AI-generated slop illustrations. A countdown from 10 to 1 apples. But the barnyard animals are munching all the apples! Does farmer ever get one? You'll have to read it and see! (Note: What's the tune of this? Anyone know?)

Themes: apples, animals, math
Ages: toddler-1st grade
Pub year: 2000

[Drew Slanina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informational for young children. This book focuses on rhyming patterns as well as basic mathematics. This book focuses on basic subtraction. The book starts at ten apples, and every-time the page is turned, they subtract one apple. This book also names different types of animals, which allows children to learn different types of animals.

[Mary Greer Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for young children to learn about farm animals. Good bright Illustration to capture young children's attention. Great for starting the ten frames on counting with adding and subtraction. This book can be used with an art project to make something simple in our environment. There is also room for language and literacy with repetitive wordings.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

One by one animals take an apple from the farmer's tree as the book counts down from 10 to 0 in rhyming verses.
The illustrations are a little odd. The book looks to be taking place in the Netherlands (windmills, etc.), so I think the illustrations are wooden Dutch dolls.

[Trina Stets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pat Hutchins write the greatest rhymes in book and it works so well with her story line. The colors are bright and teaches kids to count and just enjoy the rhyme time story. I enjoyed reading this to my grandson.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with farm animals taking various apples, to the chagrin of the farmer and his wife. The illustrations are folksy and odd. I didn't see much point in this book so wouldn't bother getting it again.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked for playing preschool unit on apples.

Counting book. Like that it counts down from ten and practices animals Stella knows, but don't love that every animal says the same fiddle-dee-fee thing for the rhyme.

[Emily Storytime · Rating 4 out of 5]

10/20/22 - "Harvest"
Counting and animal noises? Yippee-fiddle-dee-fee! One of the older preschool kids picked up on the repetitive phrases really quickly and said them with me.
My library has a felt story for this book but I didn't use it this time. Will possibly try it next time.

[Vayda Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are a little weird, but it is a great way to review numbers and animals.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite apple unit book.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counts backwards which is very confusing for a child who is learning their numbers.

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird pictures and too wordy for a standard counting book.

[Everett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is interesting and I like the repetitive song-like nature. However I gave it two stars because it reinforces gender role stereotypes.

[Tara Olson Kazda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find that most books that count up to or down from 10 tend to not keep the attention of a group of children but this one did better than most. The animal noises and "fiddle-dee-fee" refrain helped.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for our apple unit. Even though it went on a little too long.

[Emma-Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that this is a counting book that incorporates animals...but I can’t get passed the fiddle-dee-fee and the almost rhythmic cadence.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too long for my mostly baby baby/toddler story time. Various animals eat most of the apples so how is the farmer's wife going to make a pie?

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berry loved this one, but I struggled with the rhyme. *shrug*

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

my preschooler is a fan, after she heard it read at the library she started using "yipee!" all the time

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great counting book where kids will chant along. All the animals on the farm are eating the apples before the farmer can. Will he ever get one? Toddler and up

[Mama Bearian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This simple, repetitive rhyming book would be great for preschoolers. I liked the text, but found the illustrations to be a little weird.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that it counts backwards from ten. I like the old-fashioned wooden toys as characters (but do even *parents* today recognize them?). Ultimately, though, it's kinda boring and silly.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

SO BORING! Math doesn't have to be dull.

[Katelynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like it should have a rhythm to it but doesn't.

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. We did an interactive activity with this one. 2 year old liked it.