Mine!
by Candace Fleming; illus. by Eric Rohmann
Preschool    Schwartz/Random    40 pp.
8/23    9780593181669    $18.99
Library ed.  9780593181676    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780593181683    $10.99

“In a tall, tall tree, / at the tip-tippy top, / hung a single red apple, / just about to drop.” Crisp, bright illustrations with smooth black outlines, created on stained paper with relief printmaking (and recalling the style of Rohmann’s Caldecott winner My Friend Rabbit), feature a shiny red apple that stands out against green leaves and blue sky. Mouse spots the apple, which, from her position on the ground, looks precarious up high in the tree. “Mine!” she declares and waits for it to fall. Next comes Hare, then Fox, Deer, and Bear, and one by one each lays claim to the irresistible fruit. The final visitor to the tree is the wind, and the apple falls at last. The chanting rhythm of the text bounces toward an inevitable conflict; dramatic visual perspective shifts heighten the tension. Smart compositions using panels to slow time show the animals watching the apple’s descent before they dart off the page after it in a chorus of “Mine!” The ensuing animal brawl is featured on two wordless double-page spreads; story-hour audiences will easily see the apple rolling away from the hubbub and toward the page-turn. Finally, one last animal asks, “Mine?” The clever plot twist is a just-right ending to this spirited, visually pleasing read-aloud.

From the July/August 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.