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Mine!
This rhythmic read-aloud about sharing by an award-winning author and a Caldecott medalist features a series of hilariously selfish forest animals.
In a tall, tall tree, at the tip-tippy top, hangs a single red apple...
Along skirts Mouse. “An apple!” she squeaks, "How divine! When it tumbles to the ground, it’ll all be mine!”
And so it goes, for Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear, who each can't wait to get their hands on the apple.
Soon the wind huffs and puffs, the branch snips and snaps, and down the apple falls. Only one shiny red apple for five furry creatures? What are they to do?!
Here is a read-aloud picture book, perfect for storytime, that will have kids repeating the refrain “Mine!”... complete with an ending that celebrates sharing and is sure to surprise!
In a tall, tall tree, at the tip-tippy top, hangs a single red apple...
Along skirts Mouse. “An apple!” she squeaks, "How divine! When it tumbles to the ground, it’ll all be mine!”
And so it goes, for Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear, who each can't wait to get their hands on the apple.
Soon the wind huffs and puffs, the branch snips and snaps, and down the apple falls. Only one shiny red apple for five furry creatures? What are they to do?!
Here is a read-aloud picture book, perfect for storytime, that will have kids repeating the refrain “Mine!”... complete with an ending that celebrates sharing and is sure to surprise!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2023
1 person is currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Candace Fleming
71 books638 followersI have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
June 29, 2023
Another amazing picture book picked up at ALAAC!
I always worry that rhyming picture books are going to seem too young for my fourth and fifth grade readers, but as usual, I am wrong. I can see my students digging deep into the wonderful word choice in the story and having good discussions around the theme (greed gets you nowhere).
Favorite verbs:
skittered, squeaked, zippety-eeked, hoppety-boinged, deceive, lumbered
Favorite adjectives:
divine, thorny
I always worry that rhyming picture books are going to seem too young for my fourth and fifth grade readers, but as usual, I am wrong. I can see my students digging deep into the wonderful word choice in the story and having good discussions around the theme (greed gets you nowhere).
Favorite verbs:
skittered, squeaked, zippety-eeked, hoppety-boinged, deceive, lumbered
Favorite adjectives:
divine, thorny
September 3, 2023
Fun story about several animals who can’t wait for the apple to fall so it will be theirs (mine!). But they are outwitted in a surprise ending. Loved the artwork which reminds me lots of Eric Rohman’s Caldecott winner My Friend Rabbit, a favorite of mine. I did not realize that Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman (author and illustrator of this book) were husband and wife. What a lot of talent is in their home.
April 25, 2024
Super cover on this title as it foretells exactly the storyline of this title, a red apple at the top of the tree and which animal will obtain the apple. Love the clean clear large illustrations which focus on one element of the story at a time. These type of illustrations enable a non reading child “reading” the story to you after one hearing. Love the black outlining for emphasis in the illustrations as well as around the borders of the page making one’s attention focus on that page.
April 26, 2024
This book is bright, visually clear, and appealing to young audiences. The simplicity of the illustrations reflects the simplicity of the story, and the pop of red from the apple gives the entire book a sense of continuity. Although the illustrations are bright and punchy, they are still beautiful in their simplicity.
January 9, 2024
Great picture book! Would make an excellent mentor text to teach vivid verbs and theme.
January 23, 2024
Adorable. I love the art. Simple, sweet book.
April 15, 2024
Read—inspired by Maria Walther’s upcoming book-More Ramped Up Read Alouds.
November 2, 2024
Amusing | Big and bold illustrations | Stories in rhyme (appeal terms from NoveList) - Emma
Read
August 14, 2023Love the ending; it's cute. Good book for foreshadowing/predicting.
June 21, 2025
This book is a complete delight and will thrill my Kinders. I think we'll be able to have great discussions, too.
October 25, 2023
Cute and delightful illustrations tell a fable-like story of a group of woodland animals who learn that we don't always get what we expect, and sometimes, we get a pleasant surprise.
September 2, 2023
I always enjoy reading the picture books this creative husband-and-wife team create, and this one is no exception to that enjoyment. With richly colored artwork, rendered with stained paper and relief printmaking, that depicts the animal characters vividly and vocabulary and storytelling style perfect for reading aloud, this picture book shows what might happen when individuals are greedy and refuse to share. It all starts when Mouse spots a crisp red apple just about ready to fall from the tree. Imagining how delicious this fruit will be, she waits nearby so that she can be the first to reach it. But others have the same idea, and Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear get in on the act, also lying in wait as they imagine how much enjoyment they will receive from chomping on the ripe apple. The illustrations show each of them as they contemplate their snack and declare that it is "MINE!" (unpaged). When the apple finally falls from the tree, five vertical panels show its path while those hungry animals watch. All of them race for it, and a fight ensues, during which the apple slips from their grasps and lands in the hands of an opossum. He has the right idea since, delighted though he may be, he is quick to share this bounty with a worm. The rhyming lines, minimal text, and repetition as well as the unique visual perspectives [for instance, a double=page spread showing only the five animals' tails as they try to outrun each other for the apple and five speech balloons continuing the word "MINE!" add to the delights of reading this simple but effective story.
August 16, 2023
I am a big fan of Candace Fleming's works for children especially her chapter books. In this picture book, she teams up with her partner the award-winning Caldecott Medal illustrator Eric Rohmann to create a fabulous book to share with younger readers. She uses accessible poetic verses to tell the story of a number of increasingly bigger forest animals all waiting for an apple to drop so they can make it MINE. The bold illustrative style of Rohmann captures each animal's anticipation and then with stationary illustrations, he manages to create action packed pages depicting the chaos when the apple finally falls. Fleming uses her final page to remind the reader that maybe thinking about OURS instead of MINE might be a better way of operating. What a great book to add to a school collection or home library to remind readers about the importance of sharing,
November 25, 2023
Young readers and those who read to them will enjoy sharing this story in which the child or audience can read the lines for the mouse, hare, fox, deer and bear who all see an apple on a tree and think, "MINE!" What happens when the apple drops? Who will it belong to? The ending may surprise you. In my option, this one has the feel of a future classic, much like illustrator Eric Rohmann's 2003 Caldecott Award Winner My Friend Rabbit: A Picture Book.
August 25, 2023
First sentence: In a tall, tall tree,
at the tip-tippy-top,
hung a single read apple,
just about to drop.
Premise/plot: Various animals--of all shapes and sizes--all wait in anticipation for the apple to drop from the tree. But WHO will get the apple? Each sees the apple as MINE. The story is told in rhyme.
My thoughts: I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the illustrations. The text is good, solid. But for me personally it was the illustrations that took it from "really like" to "love." I thought the story was cute and playful. It has perhaps slightly more suspense than most picture books. It was interesting to see WHO got the apple in the end.
at the tip-tippy-top,
hung a single read apple,
just about to drop.
Premise/plot: Various animals--of all shapes and sizes--all wait in anticipation for the apple to drop from the tree. But WHO will get the apple? Each sees the apple as MINE. The story is told in rhyme.
My thoughts: I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the illustrations. The text is good, solid. But for me personally it was the illustrations that took it from "really like" to "love." I thought the story was cute and playful. It has perhaps slightly more suspense than most picture books. It was interesting to see WHO got the apple in the end.
November 15, 2023
Several animals anxiously wait for a ripe apple to drop. Each one imagines how great it will be when the apple is MINE! In the end they are all surprised.
This simple book with it's rhyming text and colorful verbs begs to be read aloud. Illustrations are bold, with thick black outlines.
Compare illustrations and writing style with Oh, No! also by Fleming and Rohmann, and My Friend Rabbit by Rohmann. Readers will recognize some of these animals from previous stories!
Tie-in:
ELA--Word choice, onomatopoeia , foreshadowing, conversation/thinking bubbles
SEL--greed vs sharing, mine vs ours
Autumn: Apple units
This simple book with it's rhyming text and colorful verbs begs to be read aloud. Illustrations are bold, with thick black outlines.
Compare illustrations and writing style with Oh, No! also by Fleming and Rohmann, and My Friend Rabbit by Rohmann. Readers will recognize some of these animals from previous stories!
Tie-in:
ELA--Word choice, onomatopoeia , foreshadowing, conversation/thinking bubbles
SEL--greed vs sharing, mine vs ours
Autumn: Apple units
September 24, 2024
A great little rhyming story. I love how she used her rhyme scheme in this story. It was delicious. She also sets up tension so well. We see all these animals in wait and the tension builds.
Each animals sees the juicy apple in the tree and they each want it when it falls. Mine! They find a place to lay in wait for it to fall. The apple is like a gunshot. It falls off the tree and the animals are out of the gate.
The comedic bit is at the end when another animal gets the prize so dearly longed for.
The artwork is bold and lovely. It's rendered with stained paper and relief printmaking. Simple and effective
Each animals sees the juicy apple in the tree and they each want it when it falls. Mine! They find a place to lay in wait for it to fall. The apple is like a gunshot. It falls off the tree and the animals are out of the gate.
The comedic bit is at the end when another animal gets the prize so dearly longed for.
The artwork is bold and lovely. It's rendered with stained paper and relief printmaking. Simple and effective
November 7, 2023
Candace Fleming is always a favorite and Mine! is another success. Everyone is waiting for the apple to fall. Mine! they all shout. But who will get it? The answer is a bit of a surprise and the rhyming text reads aloud well and features clear illustrations of friendly animals. The verbs are strong and powerful and descriptive. Simple, but darling.
Read as a nomination in the 2023 Fiction Picture Book book award category as a panelist for Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils Awards).
Read as a nomination in the 2023 Fiction Picture Book book award category as a panelist for Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils Awards).
March 14, 2024
A mouse, a hare, a fox, a deer, and a bear all see a nice juicy apple just about ready to fall off the tree. Unbeknownst to each other, they all find a place nearby to wait. When a breeze kicks up and knocks the apple down, who will get the apple?
Eric Rohmann returns to his illustration style from My Friend Rabbit with a woodcut look. His wife pens rhythmic text that employs a lot of great descriptive words and vivid verbs to tell the story. And the ending? Well, let's just say this would be a splendid text to use when having young readers practice making predictions.
Eric Rohmann returns to his illustration style from My Friend Rabbit with a woodcut look. His wife pens rhythmic text that employs a lot of great descriptive words and vivid verbs to tell the story. And the ending? Well, let's just say this would be a splendid text to use when having young readers practice making predictions.
picture-books
October 3, 2025Date: 09.26.25
Attendees: 70
Theme: Apples and Acorns
Introduction and announcements: My Thumbs are Starting to Wiggle
Book one: Acorn was a Little Wild by Jen Arena
Song/rhyme/game one: The Acorn Song
Book two: Sour Apple by Linda Liu
Song/rhyme/game two: List of Dance by Jim Gill
Book three: Mine! By Candace Fleming
Song/ rhyme/ game three: Apples and Bananas with tambourines
Activity: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/wp-con...
Attendees: 70
Theme: Apples and Acorns
Introduction and announcements: My Thumbs are Starting to Wiggle
Book one: Acorn was a Little Wild by Jen Arena
Song/rhyme/game one: The Acorn Song
Book two: Sour Apple by Linda Liu
Song/rhyme/game two: List of Dance by Jim Gill
Book three: Mine! By Candace Fleming
Song/ rhyme/ game three: Apples and Bananas with tambourines
Activity: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/wp-con...
November 22, 2023
This made for a super fun and interactive storytime read with my preschool littles. We LOVED the illustrations and the fun words the author used to describe how all the animals hid while waiting for the delicious apple to drop! We made sounds like the wind, we thought about how yummy that red apple would be, and we were all surprised by who finally ended up with that tantalizingly delicious red apple!
December 22, 2023
Forest animals vie for a juicy delicious looking apple that looks ready for plucking in this joyous romp! Eric Rohmann's illustrations are lovely, bright, and joyous to experience in this short story. This is a great pairing of author and illustrator masters!
I love this book for it's simplicity and the fabulous illustrations! As soon as it is returned, another student snatches it up exactly as I predicted.
I love this book for it's simplicity and the fabulous illustrations! As soon as it is returned, another student snatches it up exactly as I predicted.
February 29, 2024
A delicious apple hanging from a tree looks like the perfect snack for a series of animals that spy it. Starting from the smallest - a wee mouse - to the largest - a bear - each animal has proclaimed the apple "MINE!" and waits patiently - hidden from the others - to claim their prize. Finally the wind blows and the apple drops into a cacophony of animals shouting MINE! So who will get the prize? That may be a surprise!
March 27, 2024
There's a delicious red apple hanging just within sight of a hare, fox, and bear (just to name a few). Unbeknownst to each other, they all wait for the one apple they have claimed as theirs. When the wind blows and the apple falls, who will get it?
You can feel the anticipation each animal has just waiting for the apple they've claimed for themselves. When it falls...? This is a great book to use for young readers to make predictions.
You can feel the anticipation each animal has just waiting for the apple they've claimed for themselves. When it falls...? This is a great book to use for young readers to make predictions.
April 9, 2024
Was hoping this would go in depth a bit more about teaching the concept of sharing. For example, why weren’t the animals taught what they should have done instead of just fighting over the apple? Kind of useless for a toddler to just have an adult say “share!”, they have to be taught the concept and how to do it! Cute rhyming sentences and artwork, but missed a lot of opportunities to teach. Kind of useless
April 24, 2024
Great author, great illustrator, seems great,was thinking to use it in story time come fall, and then there is an attempt to rhyme "deceive" and "breeze." Ouch! What's especially disheartening is that otherwise this reads so well and Ransom uses such great lines like "hoppity boinged" and "zippety eeked." She could have just used a made up word and made it rhyme. Which is what I just might do if I may use it!
October 7, 2024
This book is adorable and would be great fun as a read aloud. An apple is about to fall from a tree and each animal takes a moment to think that is going to be mine. The way the author rhymes the story when she needs to and uses sound words like plop, fizz, etc. in other parts of the story makes this such a fun read. It a great ending. Also have to give it up to Eric Rothman, who did all the fantastic illustrations.
August 23, 2023
So very cute, and I've loved this author when I've seen them used in library storytimes. Each animal sees an apple in the tree and envisions eating it when it falls. Lots of cute, lilting text with a made-up, juxtaposed verb for each animal. When it falls it turns out it had an apple in it all along! Sweet illustrations and a good introduction for talking about sharing.
September 8, 2023
VERY CUTE & feels like a book that would be fun to read out loud! There is a perfect, wonderful apple in a tree that looks like it's about to fall off and a bunch of critters (rabbit, fox, deer, bear, etc) are all WAITING very patiently, convinced that it will in fact be theirs and they will NOT share (how dare) ....
then the wind comes!
o h n o
then the wind comes!
o h n o
October 20, 2023
This brings to mind Shake the Tree!, but with a different outcome. I enjoyed this book about this tiny, single apple lunch adventure.
Reviewed from a library copy.
Reviewed from a library copy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews