Someday I’m going to write the perfect apple book for reading aloud to a whole group of preschoolers. Yes, there are many books out there featuring apples, but I haven’t found one that is perfect for reading aloud to a group of brand-new preschoolers. However, there are many that come close. I’ve rounded up the best apple books for preschoolers to read at circle time and those that better shared in small group or one-on-one.
Apple Books For Preschoolers
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The Best Apple Stories to Read Aloud for Circle Time
Reading aloud to a whole group of preschoolers at circle time at the beginning of the year is challenging. You need something short and engaging. This list fits the bill.
Bunny needs to get the apples for apple pie in Hungry Bunny by Claudia Rueda. There is a shiny red ribbon in the book that you use to interact with the book.
Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington is a wonderful introduction to life as a farmer on an apple farmer. It’s a busy job!
Apple Countdown by Joan Holub is a good pick to read before a field trip to the apple farm. In this colorful countdown story from twenty to one, the students grab their name tags, board the bus, and head to the farm. It’s a fun one to use for counting apples and lots of number fun.
Fox is trying to solve an apple mystery in Apples for Little Fox by Ekaterina Trukhan. Can you help discover why the apples are missing?
One Red Apple by Karla Gudeon is a short read accompanied by beautiful illustrations. It starts by picking an apple and enjoying it. Then, the birds come and eat the core and the life cycle of the apple starts back over from seed to sprout to new apples.
Before you make applesauce with the children, read Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson. It’s fun to learn that applesauce can taste different depending on the apples you use. Plus, you learn about the applesauce making process along with some other yummy apple treats.
Children will enjoy following the dog throughout Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray. Plus the alphabet book allows you to spend time identifying letters of the alphabet.
For another apple themed alphabet book try Apples A to Z by Margaret McNamara. For wiggly listeners, you can easily skip over the detailed section on each page or just read a few descriptions based on the attention span of students.
Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace follows a rabbit family to the orchard. The story includes a chart of five apple varieties and what they are best used for. Other diagrams include the parts of an apple to seed to tree.
Ducking for Apples by Lynne Berry is full of rhythm as the duck team heads to the apple tree to load up with apples. Plus, there is lots of counting to do throughout the story.
For more apple counting fun, read Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins.
Lots of bartering and trading happens as Granny takes a walk to get the apples she needs to make an apple pie for dinner in An Apple Pie for Dinner by Susan VanHecke. She even invites a crowd to enjoy it. This is a good book to work on sequencing. There is even a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book.
Another good one for sequencing is the cumulative book, The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, by Lauren Thompson.
If you have young preschoolers, Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell is a good pick. It’s short, engaging, and informative.
How to Grow an Apple Pie by Beth Charles is the story of a little girl who waits six years to pick up apples from her family’s apple trees. Children will learn about pruning, the role of bees, and how to pick apples from the tree while listening to the story too. Yep, an apple pie recipe is included.
Informational Books About Apples to Explore in Small Groups or One on One
Seed by Maggie Li explores the life cycle of an apple seed named Pip. Travel with Pip as it gets eaten, released as poop from a bird, and planted in the ground.
Follow an apple tree through the seasons in this die-cut board book. This informational read is full of labels, side bars, and fun litlte creatures to spot as preschoolers learn that fruit trees planted together are called an orchard or that flower blossoms on an apple tree will turn into apples. Check out How It Works Tree by Isabel Otter.
Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum has stunning photographs of apples in the orchard from blossom to the time you cut the apple open. Lots of information about how apples grow and all the things you can make with them.
An Apple’s Life by Nancy Dickmann is a simply explained life cycle of an apple tree complemented with photographs. It’s more simple and shorter than the book above.
Secrets of the Apple Tree (Shine-a-Light) is an interactive book that allows you to hold the pages up to the light or shine a flashlight behind the pages to reveal hidden pictures.
I love Gail Gibbons’ work but most of it is best shared with a little bit older group. However, The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree works with preschoolers. Children will watch Arnold take care of his apple tree through the seasons.
Fun Apple-Themed Books to Explore in Small Groups or One on One
Imagine so many apples that they fill the closets, the wagons, and even the piano. That is just what happens in Apple Pigs by Ruth Orbach. Of course, if you have that many apples you need to share with everyone.
Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple-Picking Time by Jody Fickes Shapiro is the story of a family that visits their grandparents to pick apples and sell at their apple stand. Of course, there is plenty of apple centered foods to have while they are there. A recipe for microwave-baked apples is included at the end of the book.
It’s a fun tradition to make applesauce as a family. Learn all about it in Applesauce Day by Lisa Amstutz. A recipe for applesauce is included.
We all want to read about Johnny Appleseed during an apple unit. Try the Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd version for young children.
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall takes us through the seasons of an apple tree right through harvesting the apples for pie. Back matter includes information on how bees pollinate the apple trees.
Apple Cake a Gratitude by Dawn Casey showcase the gratitude for all the things and people who help to create a delicious apple cake. A recipe is also included for apple cake.
Grab a Printable Book List of Apple Books
Download the printable booklist of these great apple books to take to the library or stick in your lesson plan binder.
For more apple fun and literacy learning, check out these other posts.
“All Around the Apple Tree” circle time song and activity.
And, grab the Fall Preschool Literacy Unit.
