Horn Book Review
Ten red apples hanging on the tree. / Yippee, fiddle-dee-fee! One by one, the apples are eaten by nine farm animals and the farmer, depicted in the gouache folk-art-like paintings as flat, jointed, wooden figures. When the farmerÆs wife arrives to pick apples for a pie, she finds none (Fie, fie, fiddle-dee-fee!). The rhyming verse is lively, and the endpapers reinforce the counting lesson. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A farmer's bountiful apple tree is besieged by his hungry livestock in this lively countdown from the author of countless clever concept books. Rhyming verses tell the tale of the hapless farmer as he watches his animals gobble up his shining apples. The whole barnyard emerges one by one, from mighty horse to tiny hen, to sample the succulent fruit, emitting their distinctive calls when they're through. "Duck came and ate one, / pick, pick, pick. / Quack, quack, fiddle-dee-fee." Each time a piece of fruit is consumed, the farmer counts the remaining apples, beseeching the animals to leave one for him. Every number has its own two-page spread, with the featured numeral in oversized red text and the appropriate number of apples lined up next to it. Hutchins's (Pink Pig, 1994) exuberant verses will have children chanting the refrain "fiddle-dee-fee" along with the farmer. Her vivid illustrations dazzle the eye with brilliant colors. A red outer border frames the pictures, which contain a festive row of sunny yellow flowers, running along the top and bottom of the page. The characters, both animal and human, resemble brightly colored wooden toys--as if a child's toy set had suddenly become animated. The illustrated end pages provide additional counting practice for readers; counting up to ten on one side and down to one on the facing page. A welcome addition to the counting-book genre, Hutchins's playful tale is an edifying and energetic romp. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.