Crabapple Trouble

by Kaeti Vandorn

Callaway just wants to do a good job--but her worries are getting in the way!

Callaway, with her apple head and huge heart, likes to help others, grow special crabapples, and spend time with her friends--but things suddenly go sideways when the town decides to hold a festival and all her friends want to enter the harvest contest! Afraid that nothing she has will be good enough, Callaway nearly loses her head and ends up finding a fairy named Thistle.

Join Callaway and Thistle as they prepare for the festival and help their friends--and each other--along the way.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Friendship, Childrens, Juvenile

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 11, 2020

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute it practically shoots glitter right at you (which everyone knows is solidified Joy). Just a pure and good story that was perfect for a snowy day in April, a cute tale of an apple and a fairy as they make crafts and learn that helping your friends is the true victory. Also food. I love how there is a “how to draw the characters” section in the back too, which more graphic novels should totally do. I want to draw them. So I did.

And now you know why I’m not an artist. Check out Kaeti Vandorn instead, who can actually do cute art.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful tale about competition, winning and losing. If you know of a small child who is afraid of competition give her/him this book - they will learn that true 'winning' is about how you make and help your friends - really cute art.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, 3.75 stars.
Told as a graphic novel with characters who are pieces of fruit, Callaway is too shy and anxious to enter the summertime fair competition. With the help of a few fairy friends, she finds a way to be part of it. This one is for anyone who feels anxious about being accepted by others or who enjoys graphic novels, especially those who enjoy the details in the illustrations. Author/illustrator Kaeti Vandorn is one to watch.

[Elle Pierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and fun! A sweet story about overcoming your anxieties, friendship, and finding your own way to shine! The artwork is vibrant and the world is so unique! Highly recommend!

[Lovely Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

Very cute little story for kids about some aspects of anxiety

[Kenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute graphic novel about how to navigate anxiety and comparing yourself to others. It teaches the reader that you’re not the only one who might have a hard time…it’s important to have friends to depend on! A lovely book to add to my classroom library!

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think beginning graphic novel readers might enjoy this one. I am always a little thrown by anthropomorphized food that somehow grows or bakes miniature versions of itself that it eats. I don't know why, but this bothers me. How can Calla grow crab apples when she is a crab apple and then eat them?? How is this not cannibalism?? Or is it not because the crab apples she grows can't talk? Clearly I am looking way too deeply into this. I like the themes about coping with anxiety and I think Vandorn offers some great tips throughout the story for avoiding losing your head over something. Calla and Clementine find a good solution to their nervousness about the contest. The world they inhabit is very whimsical with fairies, animals walking upright, talking food. Might be my mindset but I found this to be just ok.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

These illustrations were ADORABLE! This is a nice quiet book about not working yourself up and being anxious and just being the you that you are.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little apple-girl loses her little apple-head whenever her anxiety gets the best of her. i mean, come on!!! too cute & sweet. :)

[michelle (travelingbooknerds) · Rating 5 out of 5]

buy this for the anxious tween/teen in your life

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5

wowowowowow the themes in this graphic novel are so on point around a crab apple who “loses their head” over anxiety, worry, and catastrophizing. this is a wonderful book that will provide crucial vocabulary surrounding anxiety and mental health during an important age where there are many anxiety-inducing coming of age moments tweens and teens endure. the friendships are sweet, the themes and messages are important and necessary. love that this book exists and i already have multiple friends in mind to whom i’m going to recommend this book to for their kids.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author and so does my son. After reading and loving her first book, my son wanted to read more books by this author. I found this book and he loved it. He made me read it and the story was so cute. It is about a crabapple named Callaway who is very under-confident and thinks she isn’t good enough. She thinks she will look like a fool in front of her friends if her produce for a fair doesn’t match up to her friends’. She ends up meeting a fairy called Thistle and learns that there is no point in worrying. There is clementine too who is worried just like Callaway. The story was great and with cute fairies, any kid will like it. I loved the illlustrations too.

[Loz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, a lot of fun, and delightful art. Loved it!

[Fiona Mackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentle graphic novel that sensitively looks at anxiety and pressure. Perfect for primary and intermediate students, but will also be appreciated by some secondary readers.

[hope h. · Rating 4 out of 5]

short n sweet with bright colors, adorable character design, and a fun little story. i have nothing to complain about here, it's just so fucking cute - and i LOVED the little homage to classic kid's graphic novels with the section in the back that teaches you how to draw the characters. i would've gone wild for this as an 8 year old and i love that.

[S G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. Story about an apple girl who loses her head when she gets nervous. Great take on overcoming anxiety and dealing with the pressure of competition. Really enjoyed the bonus content at the end where the author explained the concept and character development.

[Pixel Queer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the art work so much, the story was also very cute :)

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tale about dealing with anxiety, advice, and finding out what you want to do. Might share this with my nephew who also can get frustrated about forms of competition...

[Lei ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cutest graphic novel I've read! The art/sketches are too cute!

[Peoria Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spencer rated it 4 stars.

[MelonJel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute and wholesome 🥺💖 I first picked it up because I thought the art was cute, but I ended up enjoying the story a lot ♡ looking forward to future work from this illustrator!!

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received an ARC of this book at ALA Midwinter 2020.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most peculiar thing of this 2020 when it comes to book reviewing will surely be why this was bracketed as for chapter-book readers. This is patently too weird for such a young audience fresh to choosing their own books, and just too plain boring for anyone else. We have some creature with no neck but a crab apple for a head, and the rest of the orchard is represented by equally two-part creatures. If I managed to draw any part of a cartoonish anatomy I'm sure it would have been the neck, but no, not in this world. There's some sort of competitive harvest festival, where the freshest, biggest and best produce is due to be shown off, but Old Neckless Crabbie is on to a hiding to nothing, because crab apples are pretty small and not up to much unless you run them through a kitchen for a few hours. Luckily for him, then, he loses his head, finds some weird fairy types, engages with adventures with them, and slowly gets to work out what he might win the festival with.

So, the pluses of this thing. It's coloured well. So, the negatives of this thing. This is a world of utter freakishness I'd have dumped this and run back to my safe place if I were of the target age. Characters we get so damnably little introduction to, with a body and a head and a huge gap of nothing in between them? WTF? Just imagine Rupert Bear, or Big Bird, or the girl from Inside Out, with a free-floating, detachable head, and think if that would be a good idea. The side plots, making up many of the episodes here because the main arc is so boring, are just weird, and sometimes just far too worthy and moralising. Oh, and I actually lied in the first paragraph, because Old Neckless Crabbie is actually a young female, and not the reject from a Steinbeck-themed nightclub its dungarees initially get you to think. Barely ever does the artwork generate enough character and detail to let you identify assumed gender. But then, that only makes it on a par with the script.

Chap-book readers deserve so very much better.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know some people may not like this book, but as a child who completely lived through the pressure and anxiousness that the main character and Clementine has felt throughout the book, it was really nice to feel seen. My inner child was definitely happy someone put out something with this storyline. I could've definitely used this story to learn how to better handle my nerves as a kid, and that it's okay to feel the way I do about things. Yes parental advice is great but sometimes some kids still need a bit more reassurance through other things that they could relate to or feel more supported by. I was definitely a kid who had recieved a lot of advice but it would've been nice to have something to read that was in the point of view of a character around my age group at the time. I was very naive and nervous and super shy with social anxiety so it was nice to see this story from beginning to end. It's definitely not a story most parents or families would agree with but some young adults and adults with their inner child that has been hurt can feel seen and understood through this. Some young kids that are in the same shoes or similar circumstances with similar personalities can definitely benefit from it. Especially since it's so lighthearted compared to what a TV/Movie example could show. (Since sometimes they're a bit more realistic in harsh reality and hurtful things in that media to not beat around the bush) some kids put more expectation on themselves and it's a great piece of content to help someone not be as hard on themselves as they continue to grow up and figure out their life as an individual. 10/10 in my opinion. You don't need to agree with it but I'm putting it out there because it's my individual perspective on it.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was cute and sweet but I will also say that my kids thought it was weird and didn’t want to read it. The idea of the little crabapple character literally losing her head when she gets anxious is perhaps not the best image for some children with anxiety. I get it, “don’t lose your head” and all that, and the resolution is well done, but go into it knowing it might be really off-putting for some of the very children it is meant to help. (Also, ditto what other reviewers have said that it is a little weird that there are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables growing actual fruits and veggies to eat.) All that said, I personally enjoyed it and I think there’s a good message. I appreciate that the main character struggles with anxiety, especially performance anxiety, and there’s not some magical change (unrealistic for anyone in real life!) but rather figuring out how to enjoy an event in a way that won’t make her feel overly anxious, and knowing that true friends will respect her decision. Also, realizing that sometime the people who appear to have it all together are also struggling, too. I thought the illustrations were adorable (well, except for the rolling heads!) and will definitely be on the look out for future books from this author since I also liked her Monster Friends. The back of the book has some how-to-draw segments, suggestions for imagining your own fruit/veg characters, and a page about awfulizing and how the author struggled with this in her own life.

[jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is super cute!! an adorable story about a crabapple girl who gets anxious when all her friends are excited about entering a contest. she doesn't like to be the center of attention, and she's afraid of what everyone will say about her entry. with help from a fairy, she learns that there are other ways to get involved in the contest that are more comfortable for her.

this book talks about anxiety in a way that kids will be able to understand and relate to. i like how the solution isn't "do something you're uncomfortable with anyway," it's "there are lots of ways to get involved, so pick the one that's right for you." not everyone wants to be in the spotlight--some people are happy helping out backstage! i also like that she meets someone else who has the same worries, which shows kids with anxiety that they aren't alone. this book would have comforted me a lot when i was a kid.

also, the illustrations are so fun and whimsical. the character designs are unique and expressive, and the colors are soft and pretty!!

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Callaway loves taking care of her crabapples, but she is really nervous about the upcoming Summertime Fair. Her nerves get the best of her, and she can't figure out what to submit for the contest. New fairy friend Thistle helps Callaway keep her head, but Thistle has his own struggles, as none of the other fairies trust him to get anything right.

This is a sweet, fun book, if a little strange at first. I like how the characters literally lose their heads when they become stressed--it adds humor to moments of tension. The book's approaches to staying calm and working on not becoming overwhelmed are particularly welcome in current times.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Callaway is in charge of all the crabapples in the orchard. Her apples are tart and sweet, and would be a great contender in the produce competition, but she's nervous that she can't measure up. When she overthinks, she loses her head... literally. Thankfully her new fairy friend, Thistle, helps her to keep calm and carry on! Together they help both fruits and fairies to prepare for the competition, while also helping each other keep their heads on amongst all of the hard work! Vibrant, adorable, and witty!

[Danielle Booey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little story about letting worries get in the way of living life. Crabapple just wants to have fun and enjoy the Community Fair, but her worries about entering the Fair Contest keep causing her to literally lose her head! Thanks to a little advice from her new fairy friend Thistle, Crabapple starts to slowly learn how to calm herself down and participate in ways that make her feel good.

A lovely graphic novel for the kids or adult in your life that need a reminder about not letting the worries and expectations of others get them down.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The harvest festival is almost here, and everyone is getting ready to enter the contest with their fruit. Callaway is so worried about what to enter and what everyone will think, but Thistle helps her keep busy and not worry while working on his own secret project. Has a good message about how you can still participate without competing and still have fun. Not all of us (AKA me) like being on the stage. Some like helping backstage. Not sure who I would recommend this to, but the illustration style reminds me of the cutesy manga, like Happy Happy Clover.

[Kailin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art in this was absolutely adorable. I didn’t even read what it was about before deciding to read it. I was convinced by the cute art alone!

The story itself was soooo sweet. There is an assortment of little fruit and vegetable people that live in town. They spot a flyer for a contest and everyone immediately gets excited to enter. Crabapple is worried her dish won’t be just right.

It follows her anxiety about the entire contest and her fear of disappointing her friends. It was very well written for the age group it. I loved it and the multiple lessons through out the story.