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THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit


Books by Margot Apple

BOO COW by Patricia Baehr
ANIMALS
Released: July 1, 2010
by Patricia Baehr, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Apple's soft, bucolic illustrations gently milk the situation for all its available humor. (Picture book. 5-8)"
The Noodlemans' dream of agrarian paradise is nearly thwarted by a haunted henhouse. Read full book review >
LITTLE GOOSE by David Mraz
ANIMALS
Released: April 1, 2009
by David Mraz, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Apple's full-bleed colored-pencil illustrations add appropriate warmth and gentleness to Mraz's fable, which, although more than a little precious in its contrivance and hardly original in presentation, is nevertheless in tune with a young target audience. (Picture book. 3-6)"
Downy yellow goose explores his small universe. Read full book review >
SHEEP BLAST OFF! by Nancy Shaw
ADVENTURE
Released: June 2, 2008
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
"The team's long-running series continues to entertain, with text happily accessible to even the youngest readers. (Picture book. 3-6)"
Sheep have shopped, hiked, trick-or-treated; now readers find sheep in space! Read full book review >
COWBOY SLIM by Julie Danneberg
FICTION
Released: Feb. 1, 2006
by Julie Danneberg, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Perfect for cowboys and -girls who long to ride at the head of the herd. (author's note and glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)"
A poetic greenhorn proves that the pen is mightier than the lasso in this winsome western. Read full book review >
BIRTHDAY PONY by Jessie Haas
ANIMALS
Released: Aug. 1, 2004
by Jessie Haas, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Another blue ribbon. (Fiction. 6-9)"
Haas and Apple have deservedly cornered the market on horse books for second-graders. Read full book review >
SCAMPER AND THE HORSE SHOW by Jessie Haas
ANIMALS
Released: April 1, 2004
by Jessie Haas, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Winning. (Picture book. 4-9)"
The delightful duo that brought readers Appaloosa Zebra (2002) and Runaway Radish (2001) returns with the story of Scamper, a white pony, and two sisters who take him to a local horse show. Read full book review >
THE NAME QUILT by Phyllis Root
FAMILY AND GROWING UP
Released: April 10, 2003
by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Margot Apple
"A low-key alternative to Blumenthal's Aunt Claire's Yellow Beehive Hair (2001) or Patricia Polacco's intergenerational stories. (Picture book. 6-8)"
A child and her grandmother forge a new link to their family's past after an old one is lost. Read full book review >
APPALOOSA ZEBRA by Jessie Haas
ANIMALS
Released: Feb. 1, 2002
by Jessie Haas, illustrated by Margot Apple
"A fitting addition to the creator's equine oeuvre; a fine supplement to the ABC canon. (Picture book. 5-10)"
A young rider imagines the horses she'll have when she grows up in this charming equestrian alphabet. Read full book review >
BRAVE MARTHA by Margot Apple
Released: Sept. 1, 1999
by Margot Apple
"The comfortable pencil and watercolor drawings, making deliberate or accidental homage to Sendak's Really Rosie, lend a nostalgic flavor to this age-old bedtime dilemma. (Picture book. 4-8)"
Apple turns from the exploits of Nancy Shaw's exuberant sheep (Sheep Take a Hike, 1994, etc.) to a quieter bedtime tale about a young girl facing her fears in the dark. Read full book review >
READY...SET...READ--AND LAUGH! by Joanna Cole
HUMOR
Released: Sept. 1, 1995
edited by Joanna Cole, Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Serviceable but uneven. (Anthology. 4-6)"
 A roundup of ready-to-read humor from familiar sources, from the team behind Ready. . .Set. . .Read! (1990). Read full book review >
SHEEP TAKE A HIKE by Nancy Shaw
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 1994
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Both preschoolers and newly independent readers will chortle at the antics of these charmingly silly and sensible sheep. (Picture book. 3-8)"
 In their sixth appearance, Shaw's six insouciant sheep bumble their way through an expedition featuring the usual trials and mishaps of novice hikers (steep climbs, briars, arguing about the trail, a bog, getting lost). Read full book review >
SHEEP OUT TO EAT by Nancy Shaw
ANIMALS
Released: Sept. 1, 1992
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
"A deft, succinct, charming as ever fifth appearance. (Picture book. 2-7)"
 No toddler has ever precipitated more mayhem then these five insouciant sheep, now stopping at the quaint ``Tiddley Wink Tea Shop,'' which is run by an unsuspecting cat. Read full book review >
STAR BABY by Amy Lawson
FAMILY AND GROWING UP
Released: April 1, 1992
by Amy Lawson, illustrated by Margot Apple
"A blind grandfather who's avidly interested in astrology is an especially amiable character; Apple's frequent illustrations, seen in unfinished form, look promising. (Fiction. 6-10)"
 A gentle, lighthearted fantasy about ``lonely only'' Allie who, wishing on a star on her ninth birthday, gets immediate results: a baby falls from the Milky Way into her father's arms. Read full book review >
SHEEP IN A SHOP by Nancy Shaw
ANIMALS
Released: April 1, 1991
by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple
"Again, Apple's warmly comic illustrations are the perfect complement to Shaw's exquisitely concise wordplay. (Picture book. 2-7)"
 Those totally delightful sheep who appeared earlier in a jeep (1986) and on a ship (1989) turn up in a country store, impecunious but in need of supplies for a birthday picnic. Read full book review >
PHOEBE DANGER, DETECTIVE by Margot Apple
Released: March 1, 1983
illustrated by Margot Apple, by Paul Fleischman
"The case itself is pretty heavy-handedly contrived, then, though Fleischman keeps the kids in motion and the tone light—and Apple's winning touch adds considerable appeal."
The latest detective on the crowded juvenile scene is ten-year-old Phoebe Danger-field, who shortened her name for her newspaper ad because she couldn't afford the extra line. Read full book review >