The Red Lemon by Bob Staake

"Over the hills and along the blue sea, 'The lemons are ready!' shouts Farmer McPhee."

The farmer loves his lemons. The people love these lemons. They make sherbet, drinks, cookies, cakes, muffins and shakes. But one day a rogue lemon appears - it is red!

"Who'd squeeze this red thing in their afternoon tea? Who'd buy a red lemon from Farmer McPhee?"

Famer McPhee throws the red lemon over to a nearby island but as you your reading companion or library group might predict lemons (no matter what colour) contain seeds and so if the conditions are right then ...

Does this book have a deeper message about acceptance of difference; trust; risk taking; perfection, consumerism (look closely at all the advertising banners) - probably, but it will also just be a fun book to read to your young preschooler. You could also talk about the way something that was discarded turned into something special and there is a whole discussion you could have with older students about the fate of the original orchard or island. Here are a few discussion questions. It would be fantastic to copy the double page spread of the futuristic red lemon town to read all the advertising signs. The one that says McPhee Memorial Building might give you a slight chill. Hopefully if you can find this book you will agree it is one of those picture books that will work equally well with young children and your older primary group.

"The Red Lemon" tells the tale of jolly Farmer McPhee, a perfectionist who one day finds a red lemon, a freak of nature, in his pristine orchard. He hurls the offending fruit onto a nearby deserted island. Little does McPhee know that he has just planted the seed that, long after his own orchard has gone to weed, will be the foundation for the thriving tourist destination Red Lemon Island. We see the island 200 years in the future, complete with its own Air Red airline and Bitter End discothèque. Bob Staake

A quirky city has evolved with an economy based on these fabulously sweet red lemons, attracting people from all over the world. Kirkus

Here is the publisher blurb: In this thought-provoking tale reminiscent of Seuss, Farmer McPhee finds a red lemon in his orchard and cries, "It's red as a stop sign! It's red as a rose! I can't have red lemons where yellow fruit grows! Imagine a world where lemonade's red? Where once-yellow cupcakes are crimson instead?" As he tosses the red lemon across the water, he can't imagine that it will land on a small island, sprout a seed, and someday bring forth an orchard of lemon trees...where people will travel to from all over, to try the red lemons that are "six times as sweet!"

Here are some more books about lemons. 

Companion book:

And if you want to talk about planting things try to find this vintage book:

The Lollipop Tree

Here is another Bob Staake book I really loved:

The Book of Gold

I did a search for other books by Bob Staake and now I have added his name to my library borrowing list for next week.

Barnaby Unboxed! by The Fan Brothers

We all wanted Barnaby to go on a hero’s journey: facing disillusionment, obstacles, and various ordeals, but in the end coming back to his home, 

transformed for the better by his experiences. Fan Brothers

Barnaby is half mouse, half elephant with a dash of flamingo. He has been living in a box on the shelf of a toy shop. His box says he is a perfect pet and fully trained. There are so many perfect pet boxes to choose from. It seems no one is noticing that he is perfect until one day a young girl arrives. Barnaby becomes her very special friend. They do everything together. Best of all they enjoy watching the television series 'Barnaby and Friends'. Sadly though, it is this show that leads to a devastating change. The Perfect Pet company release a new Rainbow Barnaby. 

"The next day, the little girl asked her father if she could have a Rainbow Barnaby."

"The answer was no. Barnaby felt a wave of relief wash over him. But after that, the girl no longer played with him quite as often as she used to ..."

Do you recognise this plot idea - I love you Blue Kangaroo; Ducky's Nest; Arnold, the Prickly Teddy; The Sea Saw; and Finding Monkey Moon.

The little girl no longer takes Barnaby for walks. And one day her father fails to notice that Barnaby is left behind. It is raining and dark and Barnaby is lost. Will he ever find his way back home? And after weeks outside in the rain and dirt will the little girl even recognise him? Is there someone who can help him? 

I have read this book many, many times and the warm happy ending still makes me so emotional. 

Joy, despair, reunion, community—delightfully, all here. Kirkus

Barnaby Unboxed is a simple story, with universal themes, and it is told beautifully. The possibility of interesting and important conversations about exploitation would be a bonus. Just Imagine

There are some valuable themes of found family, what home means, self-worth and finding (and appreciating) what we have. It's a profound little book, and told in age appropriate language, all accompanied by luminous impressionist inspired artwork throughout. Nonstop Reader

It will be exciting to show this book to a group of Teacher-Librarians at a conference next month. The case reveal (pulling off the dust jacket to reveal the image underneath) is a spectacular surprise. And then I can show the brilliant end papers. (You can see these parts of this book here). School libraries here in Australia have very limited budgets but these two books should be added to every collection - yes they are that special! See inside Barnaby Unboxed here. Check out all the books by The Fan Brothers - I have talked about nearly all of them here on this blog. Here is a generous interview between The Fan Brothers and Betsy Bird. 

I previously talked about The Barnabas Project which is the companion volume to Barnaby Unboxed. 

The Barnabus Project

Barnaby Unboxed might make you think of Toy Story. Older readers should look for this middle grade series:

They threw us away

And this powerful book too:

Ollie's Odyssey