1. Fall Crunch Time
  2. Crunch Activities
  3. Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading

Apple books

  • One Green Apple
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 3
    • Farah feels alone, since it’s hard being the new kid in school, especially when you’re from another country and don’t know the language. On a field trip to an apple orchard, Farah discovers there are lots of things that remind her of home. As she helps the class make apple cider, Farah connects with the other students and begins to feel that she belongs.
  • The Apple Orchard Riddle
    • Grade Levels: K – 3 
    • Students learn a lot about apples and apple orchards—including how apples are harvested, how cider is made, and what the different varieties of apples are—while trying to solve a riddle.
  • Apple Farmer Annie
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 2
    • Annie is a very busy apple farmer. She bakes yummy treats with the apples she picks and saves her best apples to sell at the market. Follow Annie through her apple-filled day of picking, counting, sorting, baking, and selling.
  •  The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 3
    • This book about nature and the changing seasons focuses on a young boy and a very special apple tree.
  •  Apples  by Gail Gibbons
    • Grade Levels: Kindergarten – 3
    • Explains how apples were brought to America, how they grow, their traditional uses and cultural significance, and some of the varieties grown.
  • Apples by Jacqueline Farmer
    • Grade Levels: 1 – 3
    • Describes the cultivation and uses of apples.
  • Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 3
    • In preparation for Halloween night, a family visits Mr. Comstock’s farm to pick apples and pumpkins.
  • Apples to Applesauce by Inez Snyder
    • Grade Levels: 1 – 2 
    • In this fun and informative series, curious readers will discover how some of their favorite products are made from start to finish.
  • The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 3
    • Two sisters rejoice as the colorful blossoms on their tree develop into big, red, and ready-to-pick apples. This concept book about how things grow includes an easy recipe for apple pie.
  • How to Make an Apple Pie and see the World by Marjorie Priceman
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 2
    • An apple pie is easy to make…if the market is open. But if the market is closed, the world becomes your grocery store. This deliciously silly recipe for apple pie takes readers around the globe to gather ingredients.
  • The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
    • Grade Levels: Kindergarten – 3
    • Story about baking a delicious apple pie.

Pear books

  • Are We Pears Yet?  by Miranda Paul
    • Grade Levels: Kindergarten – 3
    • Written entirely in dialogue and staged as a play, this is a clever informational picture book that looks at growth cycles and fruit trees in a whole new way.
  • Red Apple, Green Pear by Rebecca Bondor
    • Grade Levels: Preschool and up
    • Perfect for toddlers, if you’re working in Farm to Early Care! Teach colors with images of delicious fruit.
  • Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
    • Grade Levels: Preschool and up
    • With spare text and sweet illustrations, this book contains only five words: apple, pear, orange, bear–and there. Emily Gravett creates clever variations on this theme by rearranging the words–on one spread, a brown bear juggles an orange, apple, and pear; on another spread, there is an orange-colored apple and a pear-shaped bear. Simple and compelling! Try eating a local pear once you’re finished reading.
  • Too Many Pears! by Jackie French
    • Grade Levels: Preschool – 2
    • Pamela the cow loves pears and will do anything to get them. But will Amy find a way to keep the pears safe? Watch Pamela perform all kids of antics to get to her favorite fruit.
  • The Pear in the Pear Tree by Pamela Allen
    • Grade Levels: Very Young Children
    • Another original Pamela Allen book to share with the very young. As with her award-winning Who Sank the Boat?, there is something for all of us to learn from this simple but amusing story of John and Jane’s attempts to pick a pear from the pear tree.
  • The Golden Pear by Helen Ward
    • Grade Levels: pre k- 2nd 
    • A lonely wizard follows a stolen golden pear, until he finds the island of the golden pear trees and friendship with a group of fishermen
  • From Seed to Pear by Ali Mitgutsch
    • Grade Levels: K-2nd
    • Describes the cycle of a pear seed which, when planted, produces a fruit-bearing tree and a supply of new seeds.
  • Little Pear Tree by Jenny Bowers and Rachel Williams
    • Grade Levels: prek-1st
    • Watch a tiny seed grow through the seasons into a fine pear tree. See a tree burst into blossom and lift the flaps to see the animals that live in the tree. Lift the flaps in a garden of flowers to see the insects. Look under the leaves to see the animals in autumn.