Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature: How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world

 how_apple.gif

Marjorie Priceman is a wonderful author which has received many honorable awards such as Topic 10 picture book of the year. This obviously shows us that not only is she an outstanding author but she is also a wonderful illustrator. Her love for children’s books is incredible and shows greatly through her works

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World is a educational book with humor, exploration and intrigue through out the journey of getting the ingredients to make an apple pie. The girl travels from Europe to Italy to France and more picking up different ingredients along the way. The book starts off my going to the market which ends up being closed…

In that care, go home and pack a suitcase. Take  your shopping list and some walking shoes. Then catch a steamship bound for Europe. Use the six days on board to brush up on your Italian.

This sets the scene for a trip around the world. Another one of my favorites pages is tords the end of the book when she forget to get the apples so her and all the ingredients which she has picked up throughout the book have to sky dive out of the plan (of which they were taking back home) to land in an orchard and pick apples.

Wait a minute. Aren’t you forgetting something? WHAT ABOUT THE APPLES? Have the pilot drop you off in Vermont.

I just thought this passage was so cute and really entertaining. This book seriously would keep the attention of pretty much any child. Overall I would definatly recommend this book for any classroom lesson on economics or different resources being all around the world!

Curriculum Connections
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World is a wonderful book that really touch on the topics of economic and geography. The main character in the book travels around the world trying to find all the ingredients needed to make an apple pie. This allows for students to see the historical development,  investigate and understand that natural resources are limited (VA SOL 1.8).  Overall this book would be a wonderful introduction to an economical or geographical lesson plan.

Additional Resources

  •  There are many different lesson plans having to do with the book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. On this site it gives you wonderful examples and ideas for incorporating this lesson into the classroom.
  • This is another wonderful lesson plan which incorporates, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. It talks about economics and geography. This lesson also relates this book directly to certain grade levels. This is a wonderful resource.
  • This site is all about Marjorie Priceman and gives you many other links that are very helpful. I found this to be helpful for a lesson when you want to us one of her book!

Book: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Author/Illustrator: Marjorie Priceman 
Publisher: Dragonfly Books
Publication Date: 1996
Pages: 40 pages
Grades:
 
1-2
ISBN: 0679880836

This entry was posted in book review, economics, social studies. Bookmark the permalink.