Category: - Anna Egan Smucker

Golden Delicious Apple Classroom Ideas

9/12/2016

This time of year my book Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story is always popular for teachers to read to their students. In addition to the wonderful pictures from Kathleen Kemly, the tale about the discovery of the Golden Delicious apple in West Virginia is a true story! I've run across some great ideas for classroom activities to accompany reading my book and I'd love to share!

Fun Apple Activities
Probably most appropriate for older grade school students, this was my children's (Mary and Ben) favorite activity when they were little. See how to make a "shrunken apple head" here.

Did you know that there's a star inside an apple? Use this cute idea from The Very Busy Kindergarten Classroom as a fun way for children to learn more about an apple's interior. Students can stamp the apple half and make a print onto a card.

Who knew the apple could be a great tool to teach kids about math? This activity from Mamas Like Me shows how to use construction paper and pom-poms to make apple trees into a fun re-usable math lesson.

Here's a way to help children grow an apple tree from the seeds of an apple.

Do you have any fun ideas for activities to accompany my book? Please share in the comments and see below for a video from Read Aloud West Virginia of me reading from Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story.

Apple Book Reviews

9/11/2015

My apple book, Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story, about the discovery of this apple variety, gets a fresh bushel of interest during apple season each year. I am always delighted to see people writing reviews on other websites about how they enjoyed the book as both a great story, and as an interesting piece of history.

Here are a few reviews I really like:

From GoodReads.com:

"I am looking for GOOD quality kiddie lit to use with my students. Smucker, who is a prolific writer of anything West Virginia and in fact just anything, tells the story of West Virginia's state fruit, the Golden Delicious apple. In addition to her story, she does go into detail about it and the Golden Grimes, one of the varieties found in West and thought to be brought here by Jonathan Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed.

In addition to its regional appeal to me, I think the book also shows kids that people are often looking for improvements on things we have and what we think are impossible to improve. It shows that ingenuity can create good things." - Katy

From KirkusReviews.com:
"This lightly fictionalized story of the golden delicious apple truly reads like a fairy tale. In 1905 Missouri, the famous Stark Bro’s Nursery is the place farmers send their apples, hopeful that the brothers will want to sell the apples to their customers. But Paul and Lloyd are picky, likening each taste of a new apple to trying a glass slipper on another woman’s foot. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Anderson Mullins discovers a one-of-a-kind apple tree on his property that produces the most delicious golden apples. They win fair ribbons, yield year after year and stay sweet even through winter storage. In 1914 he sends three to the Starks and it becomes their Cinderella apple. Paul journeys to West Virginia to buy the apple tree, bringing back twigs to graft onto the trees back home. And from that one tree, every golden delicious apple is descended. The colors of Kemly’s charming watercolor-and-ink illustrations neatly evoke the time period and the agricultural theme. A standout amidst the proliferation of apple books found in elementary classrooms."

From Amazon.com:
The Golden Delicious is my favorite apple! I was surprised to learn that its origins began in my home state of West Virginia. I enjoyed learning the history behind the sweet fruit and how different types of apple trees are developed. The book was well written and beautifully illustrated. ---- Jennifer Weingardt

Thanks to everyone who has enjoyed this book and shared their opinions. It's still one of my favorites.

Golden Delicious Apple Story Activities

8/25/2015

Hi everyone!

I'm eagerly anticipating apple season. Are you? My story, Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story has inspired a bushel :) of creative people to create activities around the book when they read it aloud to children.

Here are some neat examples I found of activities to do to encourage fun learning/teaching moments with my Golden Delicious Book:

Art Activity Idea From the WVU Extension Service: Campers will hear the story of the Golden Delicious apple, snack on Golden Delicious Apples and complete artwork that details apple fruit structure. Carve a stamp into an apple.

Math Activity Idea From Scholastic: Purchase a selection of apples (including Golden Delicious) to have a taste testing and graph the results (favorites, sweetest, tartest, etc). Invite a neighboring class or two and compare their graph results. Bon appetit!

Cultural Activity Idea from Pinterest: Compare this Cinderella Story to other Cinderella Stories from around the world and from other periods of time.

Nutrition Activity from Healthy Choices: Use the book to encourage healthy eating in kids! Golden Delicious apples are the loveliest and sweetest.

Thanks for reading and please submit your own ideas in the comments section. I'll add them to the list.

Golden Delicious Selected to Represent West Virginia in DC!

8/10/2009

A popular pavilion feature at the National Book Festival, especially among young readers and their families, is “Discover Great Places Through Reading” -- a free map of the United States that can be presented at each table for an appropriate state sticker or stamp. On the back, the map includes “52 Great Reads About Great Places,” a reading list of books for young people compiled with a recommendation from each state.

Every state selects a book and author to represent itself for the festival, and this year the WV Library Commission's Center for the Book has chosen GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY by Bridgeport, WV author Anna Egan Smucker. More than 120,000 people attended the festival last year.

Here is a link to this year's poster: 2009 Festival Poster - 2009 National Book Festival (Library of Congress)

Golden Delicious Apple Book Kirkus Review

6/16/2009

There are several "apple" books on the market. I was pleased that Kirkus Reviews called my book, GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY, a "standout."

Kirkus Reviews 2008 September #1

This lightly fictionalized story of the golden delicious apple truly reads like a fairy tale. In 1905 Missouri, the famous Stark Bro's Nursery is the place farmers send their apples, hopeful that the brothers will want to sell the apples to their customers. But Paul and Lloyd are picky, likening each taste of a new apple to trying a glass slipper on one lady’s foot after another to try to find Cinderella. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Anderson Mullins discovers a one-of-a-kind apple tree on his property that produces the most delicious golden apples.

They win fair ribbons, yield year after year and stay sweet even through winter storage. In 1914 he sends three to the Starks and it becomes their Cinderella apple. Paul journeys to West Virginia to buy the apple tree, bringing back twigs to graft onto the trees back home. And from that one tree, every golden delicious apple is descended. The colors of Kemly's charming watercolor-and-ink illustrations neatly evoke the time period and the agricultural theme. A standout amidst the proliferation of apple books found in elementary classrooms. (author's note) (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus 2008 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

Anna Egan in the News!

6/2/2009

Yesterday I found out that an Australian newspaper wrote an article "Young Reader Inspired by Famous Namesake" about my Australian cousin Anna Egan (who I wrote about in this post) and me. Here's a little bit of the article:

Anna's mum, Yoshi Egan, of Cleveland, said they were so excited to discover a children's author in West Virginia had the same name that they immediately began searching for her books in Australia.

The book Golden Delicious by Anna Egan Smucker had to be especially ordered from the US and Yoshi said Anna saved for the book herself.

"We then encouraged her to write to the author," Yoshi said.

"My husband told her not to expect a reply but she did get a reply and it came with a book signed by the author."

Click here for the whole story: Young Reader Inspired by Famous Namesake

Golden Delicious Book & Apple Tree Kit from Stark Bros.

6/1/2009

A wonderful pairing of my Golden Delicious book with a children's Golden Delicious tree care kit is now available from Stark Brothers nursery. How exciting! Here's an excerpt from an article published in the Charleston Gazette on Jan. 24, 2009:

West Virginia author Anna Egan Smucker’s newest book is featured in the Stark Bros. nursery catalog as part of a grow-your-own fruit tree kit for children.

The nursery's kit includes a copy of the book, a Golden Delicious Dwarf Apple tree ready for planting, a "My Apple Tree" planting guide for kids, a children's tree care kit and a patch. It sells for $41.97. To get a kit, visit starkbros.com/KidsClub/.

For the full article, go to the Gazette's website.

Golden Delicious Apple Teaching Ideas & Resources

5/30/2009

Apple books are popular for teachers to use in teaching students about science - especially during apple picking season. There is a wealth of across-the-curriculum teaching ideas & resources for teachers with activities for all grade levels at the www.usapple.org educators’ site and at www.nyapplecountry.com/edplansa.htm

Scholastic's Kid Lit Kit blog author Jeremy Brunaccioni posted a really nice review of Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story in his Picture Book Thursday "Harvest Time" edition. He also reviewed the book Corn by Gail Gibbons and The Best Gift of All which was written by Jonathan Emmett and illustrated by Vanessa Cabban.

The blog is about how teachers can teach with books. The review is about how teachers can use Golden Delicious in their classrooms and is as follows:

Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story
If you’ve ever read Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire and thought the apple information would be useful in the classroom but too advanced for your students, then this is the book you’ve been waiting for. It traces the discovery and distribution of the Golden Delicious. The author’s note is extensive and intriguing enough to make me want to plant some apple trees in my yard.

Activity
Purchase a selection of apples to have a taste testing and graph the results. Invite a neighboring class or two and compare their graph results. Bon appetit!

Thanks Kid Lit Kit!

Golden Delicious Official Debut

5/29/2009

me and the Mullins family

GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY made its official Grand Debut at the West Virginia Book Festival in our state capital of Charleston. I was delighted with the response. After my slide presentation, both the WV Book Company and Borders sold out of their copies!

A great and unexpected pleasure was meeting several descendants of Bewel Mullins, the brother of Anderson Mullins, the Clay County farmer who discovered the Golden Delicious apple. What a terrific family! The above photo shows Helen Elaine Whited Dawson, Helen Suzanne Mullins Plybon, Nancy Margaret Mullins Schaffner, me, and David Lonnie Mullins. They're justifiably proud to have their "family" story in a book.

As always, the West Virginia Book Festival, held the second weekend in October, was a great energizer for me. It's fantastic to be in the company of so many fellow-booklovers. A huge THANK YOU!! to all those people, especially the librarians, the WV Book Festival committee, and all of the volunteers who work so hard to put this annual event together.

It's also a wonderful opportunity to hear other authors read from their work. I was especially impressed with Ann Pancake who read from her powerful book STRANGE AS THIS WEATHER HAS BEEN. This novel brings home in a visceral way the devastation of mountaintop removal mining on our land and people.

Golden Delicious Book Presentation

5/29/2009

Recently I had the pleasure of doing a presentation on my new book, GOLDEN DELICIOUS: A CINDERELLA APPLE STORY at the Mary H. Weir Public Library in Weirton, WV. It was great to be back in my hometown where I also spent a day at St. Joseph the Worker Elementary School sharing my books with the students and doing a poetry workshop with the 8th Graders. The teachers went all out, wearing apple motif pins and vests, and the walls of the hallway were filled with delightful artwork done by students in response to my various books. There was even a delicious apple cake in the teacher's lounge. What a memorable school visit. Thank you St. Joe's!

The photo shows Linda Kucan, a professor in the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education, and my best friend ever since 7th Grade. (In my book NO STAR NIGHTS Linda is the "best friend on the slag hill.) In the middle, is her niece Jordan Porter who along with her brother, Tyler, helped out tremendously with book sales, and that's me on the right.