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Apricot ABC
Excellent Book
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1969
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Miska Miles
38 books3 followersPatricia Miles Martin aka Miska Miles
Award winning American author. Born in Kansas in 1899. Worked as a teacher before becoming a writer. Apparently she became a writer by accident when she inadvertently found herself in a creative writing class at a local college when her own class was full up. Her first book was actually written whilst attending the course! Her career became very successful. One of her books (Annie and the Old One) was made into a film and received a Newbery Honour award.
She used her experiences of living on a farm and a Navajo reservation and her many travels, to colour her children's fictional stories, most of which were about animals, nature and different cultures. Quite a few of her novels were horse stories. She also wrote non-fiction, including a number of biographies.
She wrote under her own name, as Patricia A. Miles, and also under two other pseudonyms: Miska Miles and Jerry Lane. Her pony books were written under her own name and that of the Miska Miles pseudonym. I don't think she wrote any horse-related stories under her other pen names.
Sources: The De Grummond Collection.
Award winning American author. Born in Kansas in 1899. Worked as a teacher before becoming a writer. Apparently she became a writer by accident when she inadvertently found herself in a creative writing class at a local college when her own class was full up. Her first book was actually written whilst attending the course! Her career became very successful. One of her books (Annie and the Old One) was made into a film and received a Newbery Honour award.
She used her experiences of living on a farm and a Navajo reservation and her many travels, to colour her children's fictional stories, most of which were about animals, nature and different cultures. Quite a few of her novels were horse stories. She also wrote non-fiction, including a number of biographies.
She wrote under her own name, as Patricia A. Miles, and also under two other pseudonyms: Miska Miles and Jerry Lane. Her pony books were written under her own name and that of the Miska Miles pseudonym. I don't think she wrote any horse-related stories under her other pen names.
Sources: The De Grummond Collection.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 7, 2009
Miska Miles has masterfully composed a genuinely interesting story set to an acrostic of the alphabet. An Apricot falls from a tree, startling a Bee, which calls some Crickets and Caterpillars to come and see. All manner of creatures from different environs encounter the apricot, until a hen happens by and eats it. Seasons pass until the apricot seed shoots and sprouts to become a young apricot tree.
The story includes the four seasons through the plant's life cycle, and also depicts many small creatures and plants in their natural environments. It wonderfully combines a multi-layered experience of the natural world with the didactic instruction about the alphabet. Peter Parnall's illustrations are clean-lined and lively, and he blends each letter into the meadow's environment for readers to find.
Apricot ABC brings together many elements that make a children's book excellent: interesting illustrations, well-written rhyming text, rhythmic pacing, a little bit of drama, an experience of the outdoor world, some unusual vocabulary, and a visual "I spy" element. It is an outstanding addition to a home library.
The story includes the four seasons through the plant's life cycle, and also depicts many small creatures and plants in their natural environments. It wonderfully combines a multi-layered experience of the natural world with the didactic instruction about the alphabet. Peter Parnall's illustrations are clean-lined and lively, and he blends each letter into the meadow's environment for readers to find.
Apricot ABC brings together many elements that make a children's book excellent: interesting illustrations, well-written rhyming text, rhythmic pacing, a little bit of drama, an experience of the outdoor world, some unusual vocabulary, and a visual "I spy" element. It is an outstanding addition to a home library.
May 7, 2017
My favorite alphabet book ever (and one of my favorite books to have read to me when I was a little kid). Great nature illustrations and really pretty language.
"Quietly, from special places
In the flickering shadow of Queen Anne's laces,
Quickly ventured queer little things,
On fluttering, fragile gossamer wings."
"Quietly, from special places
In the flickering shadow of Queen Anne's laces,
Quickly ventured queer little things,
On fluttering, fragile gossamer wings."
April 14, 2018
1.) No awards.
2.) Appropriate grade levels: Preschool-1st grade.
3.) Original 3 line summary: In this story, an apricot falls from a tree and many creatures come along to see it. Eventually, a hen comes along and eats the apricot down to the seed. This book also goes over each letter of the alphabet using rhymes and goes over the four seasons.
4.) Original 3 line review: I thought that the author used a very interesting way to get the alphabet across to young readers. I also thought that including different creatures and seasons would be great a way to keep children engaged in the text. This would be a fun book to read for those wanting to learn about rhyming, seasons, and the alphabet.
5.) One in class use would be having children draw something from the outdoors that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Students could also practice writing the words used.
2.) Appropriate grade levels: Preschool-1st grade.
3.) Original 3 line summary: In this story, an apricot falls from a tree and many creatures come along to see it. Eventually, a hen comes along and eats the apricot down to the seed. This book also goes over each letter of the alphabet using rhymes and goes over the four seasons.
4.) Original 3 line review: I thought that the author used a very interesting way to get the alphabet across to young readers. I also thought that including different creatures and seasons would be great a way to keep children engaged in the text. This would be a fun book to read for those wanting to learn about rhyming, seasons, and the alphabet.
5.) One in class use would be having children draw something from the outdoors that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Students could also practice writing the words used.
July 7, 2017
Very clever and engaging - not at all one of those dull word-a-page ABC books.
May 8, 2025
This is a exquisite title in both the text which has a beautiful flow as well as some rhyming, the illustrations were done by Peter Parnell drew them viewing his Delaware farm and all the flora and all the insects, butterflies and flowers are beautiful and yes there is a consecutive alphabet in each of the illustrations. Lots of green and brown tones in all of the illustrations along with white space. Copyrighted in 1969 this is definitely an oldie but goodie. A very noticeable attribute of this book in this age of printing color on slick paper the feel of the pages is fantastic and no slick paper here! A beautiful creation.❤️
July 22, 2022
I collected this for Parnall's art. It's not on par, imo, with his desert collaborations w/ Byrd Baylor, but it does charm. The poem is certainly an original take on the ABC format, and has some valuable themes about the natural world, but I think the book will primarily appeal to only a minority of readers who just 'click' with it. It will make for a fun read-aloud for the certain young family that is getting my collection of kids' books.
August 5, 2011
A very clever ABC book. A story about an apricot that has fallen from a tree. Science is woven into the story through plant and animal identification for each letter. It is also fun for the kids as they seek to find the somewhat hidden letter on each page.
My Owen wants me to say that he liked the chicken and he wants to know if you have read it? Well, have you? ( ;
My Owen wants me to say that he liked the chicken and he wants to know if you have read it? Well, have you? ( ;
February 24, 2010
A delightful ABC book that doesn't follow the conventional style of one page, one letter, a bunch of words starting with that letter. This book tells an actually story, as a poem, going through the alphabet as it does.
May 27, 2010
A great alphabet book that tells a story in rhyme, each page focusing on a different letter.
April 30, 2023
"A dallop of dirt and a smidgin of sand." Wonderfully written!
June 7, 2009
I remember reading this book as a child.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews