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Apples for All: A Story About Grafting
40 pages, Hardcover
Published April 28, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 3, 2026
🍏🚜🏃🌱🍎
Review:
A spring children’s book release in time for gardening and the great outdoors is apt. The author, Mary Peterson, grew up in farm country and brings her experiences to her writing and illustration.
🚜🏃Apples for All: A Story About Grafting tells the tale of young Bobbi who lives on a fruit tree farm and notices of all the fruit trees, there are no apple trees. She wishes to make applesauce so goes to her grandfather with the seeds from her snack apple. Grandfather explains that these seeds wouldn’t produce a good tree, but they can buy a tree to plant. This leads to fun moments when each family member has an opinion about what variety of apple they should get.
How can she possibly choose? Grandpa has an idea…
🌱🍎For further thought and wrapping up, there are apple facts, and yes, a recipe for applesauce
Through the story of family, growing, grafting concept, and the versatility of the apple is touted in the text and the vibrant picture illustrations. A book a child might choose again and again for story time.
I rec'd a finished print copy from Feeding Minds and Publicity Prose
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816 on 4.30.26.
Review:
A spring children’s book release in time for gardening and the great outdoors is apt. The author, Mary Peterson, grew up in farm country and brings her experiences to her writing and illustration.
🚜🏃Apples for All: A Story About Grafting tells the tale of young Bobbi who lives on a fruit tree farm and notices of all the fruit trees, there are no apple trees. She wishes to make applesauce so goes to her grandfather with the seeds from her snack apple. Grandfather explains that these seeds wouldn’t produce a good tree, but they can buy a tree to plant. This leads to fun moments when each family member has an opinion about what variety of apple they should get.
How can she possibly choose? Grandpa has an idea…
🌱🍎For further thought and wrapping up, there are apple facts, and yes, a recipe for applesauce
Through the story of family, growing, grafting concept, and the versatility of the apple is touted in the text and the vibrant picture illustrations. A book a child might choose again and again for story time.
I rec'd a finished print copy from Feeding Minds and Publicity Prose
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816 on 4.30.26.
May 29, 2026
Through a fictional story about a family on a farm, former Iowan Mary Peterson teaches kids about patience and science as they grow an apple tree.
Bobbi decides she wants to grow an apple tree so she can eat applesauce whenever she wants. Bobbi thinks she can just plant the seed from her apple, and a tree will grow; unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.
When Grandpa agrees to plant an apple tree on the farm, everyone has opinions about the kind of apple tree to get. Granny Smith for pies, Gala for eating, McIntosh for cider, and crab apples for jelly. Bobbi just wants apples for applesauce. What kind of tree should they get?
Grandpa has a great idea. What if they grafted all the different apple trees onto one tree? After selecting a tree that was already grafted with a few varieties, they stopped by Bobbi’s aunt’s farm to get a branch from her crab apple tree.
Through a fictional story, readers will learn about grafting onto an original tree. The process takes patience and lots of care, but if done correctly, you could have a variety of apples in 3 years! I didn’t even realize one tree could have several different kinds of apples.
The end of the book includes various facts about apples, including that it takes 36 apples to make one gallon of cider, and the smallest apple is called Rockit and is the size of a golf ball. Illustrations of all the various types of apples and a recipe to make your own applesauce round out the end of the book. I have fond memories of making applesauce with my mom from our very own apple tree. Even if you don’t have an apple tree in your backyard or a place to grow one, you can still visit an apple orchard or a farmer’s market and make your own applesauce together.
Bobbi decides she wants to grow an apple tree so she can eat applesauce whenever she wants. Bobbi thinks she can just plant the seed from her apple, and a tree will grow; unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.
When Grandpa agrees to plant an apple tree on the farm, everyone has opinions about the kind of apple tree to get. Granny Smith for pies, Gala for eating, McIntosh for cider, and crab apples for jelly. Bobbi just wants apples for applesauce. What kind of tree should they get?
Grandpa has a great idea. What if they grafted all the different apple trees onto one tree? After selecting a tree that was already grafted with a few varieties, they stopped by Bobbi’s aunt’s farm to get a branch from her crab apple tree.
Through a fictional story, readers will learn about grafting onto an original tree. The process takes patience and lots of care, but if done correctly, you could have a variety of apples in 3 years! I didn’t even realize one tree could have several different kinds of apples.
The end of the book includes various facts about apples, including that it takes 36 apples to make one gallon of cider, and the smallest apple is called Rockit and is the size of a golf ball. Illustrations of all the various types of apples and a recipe to make your own applesauce round out the end of the book. I have fond memories of making applesauce with my mom from our very own apple tree. Even if you don’t have an apple tree in your backyard or a place to grow one, you can still visit an apple orchard or a farmer’s market and make your own applesauce together.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This gorgeous picture book and story about the science of grafting and growing an apple tree is the perfect choice for young readers who enjoy gardening and learning about apples and all of the yummy kinds of apples. Teachers who teach in an early education classroom will want to add this delightful book to their classroom bookshelf.
Bobbi loves applesauce. Her family has a farm with fruit trees, but they are missing an apple tree. Grandpa teaches her that they just cannot plant an apple tree from the seed of an apple. They go shopping for an apple tree to plant but everyone in the family wants a different kind of apple. That is the idea behind the science of grafting. Bobbi learns that a branch from one kind of apple tree can be placed onto another kind and they grow together. More than one kind of apple can then be grown from one tree. The process is described in detail throughout the story.
Apple Facts are part of the book. A comprehensive collection of illustrations of the variety of apples is included. A recipe for homemade applesauce is also included.
Apples for All provides a wealth of ideas for activities for teachers to include in their curriculum to learn about apples.
1. Introduce the concept of grafting. Introduce the concepts of pollination from bees and the concept of composting when gardening.
2. Observe the illustrations of how the apple tree changes from season to season and the season when it is time to harvest the apples.
3. Bring in samples of the varieties of apples for a tasting party. Create a math activity of graphing the favorite apples in your class.
4. Provide a cooking center in your classroom to make applesauce with the included recipe. An electric skillet is a classroom-friendly cooking tool to prepare the applesauce.
5. Invite a parent to bake an apple pie to send to class.
Apples for All is recommended for ages 4-8. It is published by Feeding Minds Press and will be available in your favorite bookstore on April 28, 2026. It has an ISBN of 978-1-948-89820-1.
Bobbi loves applesauce. Her family has a farm with fruit trees, but they are missing an apple tree. Grandpa teaches her that they just cannot plant an apple tree from the seed of an apple. They go shopping for an apple tree to plant but everyone in the family wants a different kind of apple. That is the idea behind the science of grafting. Bobbi learns that a branch from one kind of apple tree can be placed onto another kind and they grow together. More than one kind of apple can then be grown from one tree. The process is described in detail throughout the story.
Apple Facts are part of the book. A comprehensive collection of illustrations of the variety of apples is included. A recipe for homemade applesauce is also included.
Apples for All provides a wealth of ideas for activities for teachers to include in their curriculum to learn about apples.
1. Introduce the concept of grafting. Introduce the concepts of pollination from bees and the concept of composting when gardening.
2. Observe the illustrations of how the apple tree changes from season to season and the season when it is time to harvest the apples.
3. Bring in samples of the varieties of apples for a tasting party. Create a math activity of graphing the favorite apples in your class.
4. Provide a cooking center in your classroom to make applesauce with the included recipe. An electric skillet is a classroom-friendly cooking tool to prepare the applesauce.
5. Invite a parent to bake an apple pie to send to class.
Apples for All is recommended for ages 4-8. It is published by Feeding Minds Press and will be available in your favorite bookstore on April 28, 2026. It has an ISBN of 978-1-948-89820-1.
May 7, 2026
The information about cultivating apples is offset nicely by the story of Bobbi and her love of applesauce. I loved how her family worked together to help her choose and plant a tree. The assortment of apples was fun to see, but I kind of wanted a history of Honeycrisp apples and information about the change in popularity of types; when apples were used more for cooking, MacIntosh were the most popular. That might be a little bit of a niche interest!
The pictures were clear, bright, and charming, and lent themselves well to the educational content. The text is easy to follow, and not overly long, so this could be a fun read aloud in the fall, when teachers like to look at books like Rustad and Enright’s Fall Apples, Brown and Nassner’s Secrets of the Apple Tree, Amstutz and Shipman’s Applesauce Day, Hall and Halpern’s The Apple Pie Tree, and Hutchins Ten Red Apples.
Now that many people don’t live near farms and don’t have family who run them, children have lost a lot of their agrarian knowledge. I had a student a few years ago who thought that strawberries grew on trees. Books like Apples for All serve a very important purpose in educating children about the food they eat. I’ll definitely be looking for other titles from Feeding Minds Press, which is run by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture.
The pictures were clear, bright, and charming, and lent themselves well to the educational content. The text is easy to follow, and not overly long, so this could be a fun read aloud in the fall, when teachers like to look at books like Rustad and Enright’s Fall Apples, Brown and Nassner’s Secrets of the Apple Tree, Amstutz and Shipman’s Applesauce Day, Hall and Halpern’s The Apple Pie Tree, and Hutchins Ten Red Apples.
Now that many people don’t live near farms and don’t have family who run them, children have lost a lot of their agrarian knowledge. I had a student a few years ago who thought that strawberries grew on trees. Books like Apples for All serve a very important purpose in educating children about the food they eat. I’ll definitely be looking for other titles from Feeding Minds Press, which is run by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture.
Review of advance copy
Most all of us have desired to plant an apple or orange or peach seed from a delicious piece of fruit we've eaten and grow our own delicious fruit. The same is true for young Bobbi - an active, curious, young farmer's daughter. She's enjoyed her apple and wants to grow more just like it!
She approaches her Grandpa on the family farm and asks him to help her plant her apple seed so she can grow her own apples and even make delicious applesauce. Grandpa proceeds to tell her that seeds don't usually grow into trees that bear the same type of fruit. He then shows her how to graft a branch onto another "basic" apple tree and get the type of apple she desires.
This is basic tree grafting and doesn't get into the genetics of plants and how to propagate new species, etc. It is simple grafting and growing. And it is such a sweet family story of gentle education and on-hand learning. Not everyone has the opportunity propagate their own fruit and grow it, but for those who do it surely gives a grand sense of accomplishment and a reaping of delicious benefits.
This is another of Feeding Minds Press children's books that I absolutely love.
I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
She approaches her Grandpa on the family farm and asks him to help her plant her apple seed so she can grow her own apples and even make delicious applesauce. Grandpa proceeds to tell her that seeds don't usually grow into trees that bear the same type of fruit. He then shows her how to graft a branch onto another "basic" apple tree and get the type of apple she desires.
This is basic tree grafting and doesn't get into the genetics of plants and how to propagate new species, etc. It is simple grafting and growing. And it is such a sweet family story of gentle education and on-hand learning. Not everyone has the opportunity propagate their own fruit and grow it, but for those who do it surely gives a grand sense of accomplishment and a reaping of delicious benefits.
This is another of Feeding Minds Press children's books that I absolutely love.
I received a complimentary copy to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Bobbi just loves applesauce and really wishes her Grandpa would grow an apple tree on his farm. Even though he already has lots of other fruit trees, he tells her that growing an apple tree can be a bit quirky. Curious, Bobbi learns all about grafting and how long it takes for the tree to start giving fruit. When they finally plant the tree, Bobbi and her family work together, caring for it and learning everything they need to know to grow lovely Granny Smith, McIntosh, Crab, and Gala apples.
Mary Peterson, a talented author and illustrator, has created a fun and educational story that gently introduces kids to the fascinating process of growing an apple tree. The colorful pictures show teamwork, the different plants, and the bugs that help keep the tree healthy. Plus, this handy guide features step-by-step images, answers to common questions, and even a simple recipe to make your own applesauce!
Mary Peterson, a talented author and illustrator, has created a fun and educational story that gently introduces kids to the fascinating process of growing an apple tree. The colorful pictures show teamwork, the different plants, and the bugs that help keep the tree healthy. Plus, this handy guide features step-by-step images, answers to common questions, and even a simple recipe to make your own applesauce!
April 30, 2026
👧🏻 review: This is such an amazing book to let the green thumb kids who would benefit, enjoy reading and learning about apples. While reading this book with my reading buddy (one of the afterschool reader who reads with me), I was reminded of my Agricultural Science club that I recently joined. I was quite interested with plants and agriculture since I was young and thought about being an Agricultural Scientist/Engineer someday. We’ll see how that goes. In fact this book gave me some insights on what plants to experiment this summer on my break. Anyways during my 6th grade Science Fair, I was challenged to find a project by using egg shells and mung beans and I was happy to prove it worked. With food insecurity nowadays, this book is actually quite useful and resourceful for curious kids and readers to challenge the theory if grafting techniques can be done.
May 3, 2026
This book is such a sweet and clever mix of storytime and learning. Kids get to follow the journey of an apple tree over three years, from grafting and planting to finally picking fresh apples. Along the way, it sneaks in fun facts about nature, insects, companion plants, and how trees grow—honestly, grown-ups might learn a thing or two as well. The illustrations are simple, charming, and full of detail. The bonus apple facts, variety guide, and homemade applesauce recipe make it even more delightful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews