I love a book that promotes social emotional learning and that I can share with my class of 3rd graders. The two messages that my students felt the author was trying to tell us is that:
1. Never give up
2. It's what's on the inside that counts

Both messages are important for children to hear. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

This was a nice little book. My 3 year old son really liked reading it and the illustrations were really good.

I am always on the lookout for books that show that being different is not a bad thing for my Granddaughter. This book is about Sally the Apple and she is different. She wants so bad to be picked by the farmer. One day her dream comes true and on the way she to town she is pushed out of the basket by the other so called perfect apples. The illustrations are appealing to children. She cries and even as an adult I felt for her and then amazing things happen for her. I recommend this book to children from toddler to early elementary school.

A great reminder for kids that there's more to people than what you see on the outside.

I appreciate how the author reminds kids about inner beauty & encourages them to look beyond the outside appearances.

A cute children's book that's engaging & teaches life lessons. Bonus for parents!

Brightly colored pages, cute illustrations, fun for kids & parents alike! Everyone wants to cheer for Sally & can't wait to see how things turn out for her.

(I was able to preview this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.)

Sally, an unattractive little apple, hangs on the mother apple tree with other red, juicy, delectable apples. The flowers on the tree have finally become delicious apples ready for picking. Sadly Sally isn't shiny, pretty or yummy-looking. All the beautiful apples mock and tease her.

"Ewww! Who would want to eat her?" they would exclaim while laughing out loud.

Harvest day arrives and all the apples are excited to be picked by the farmers and taken off to the farmer's market to be sold. What will Sally's fate finally be? Are the other apples right and no one will want to her because she is less than perfect?

The illustrations are colourful and certainly empower and enrich the understanding of the tale. They are full of emotion and very kid-friendly.

Sally learns a very important life lesson....it's not what's on the outside that matters most but what's on the inside that brings one acceptance and value. Through a wonderful twist of fate Sally's life finds purpose and meaning in a very inspirational and positive way. She miraculously grows into a beautiful apple tree and gives her little apples some very sound advice.

"She would talk to them daily, reminding them never to give up and teaching them that beauty is what you carry inside."

I love the positive message and I highly recommend this book.

Aww, what a wonderful book with such an amazing ending and message for children! All the flowers in the orchard have become delicious apples and the mother tree talked to them every day telling them to always look their best. Every apple in the orchard was pretty and they all looked forward to the farmer picking them for the upcoming market where only the best apples would go to market. But one apple was sad and she was called Sally. Sally wasn’t a perfectly pretty apple and the other apples were unkind to her, making fun of her for her odd shape. But when the farmer comes to pick the apples for the market, Sally finds herself being picked too. She is so happy to have been picked, but this only makes the pretty apples mad, and leads them to doing something very cruel to Sally.

This is a lovely picture book for children with a very important message in it too and illustrations that really make you feel for Sally the apple. After all the apples are picked by the farmer to be taken to the market, the pretty apples are angry about Sally being in the basket with them and when the basket is on the truck being driven to the market, the other apples do something cruel and push Sally out. She soon falls out onto the muddy road and nobody else notices her. And the mud and dirt on the road where she lies just ends up covering her more and more as other vehicles drive past. In the end Sally is so sad and ends up crying and crying, which made me feel so much for her as I know all too well how terrible it can feel when others have been cruel to you, especially when you are a child. The story does have a wonderful and uplifting ending for Sally though and it makes it such a joy to read despite how sad the moment is when Sally falls out of the truck.

The illustrations in this book are so wonderful. I love the style of illustration and how expressive all of the apples look, especially Sally. The pictures really make the story so much more engaging to read, especially when you see Sally’s expressions, and what happens to her at the end. The pictures make this such a lovely picture book and the overall message of the story makes this such a brilliant and relatable read for children too. As someone who was called ‘ugly’ by bullies at school when I was younger for being overweight at the time, I could relate to Sally and would have related especially when I was a child reading this. But the final pages which are so uplifting, hopeful and lovely give a wonderful message about how it’s not what’s on the outside that matters or makes someone beautiful, and it’s this message which really shines through the story despite the sad moments Sally has. I love how Sally’s story has such a good ending, in fact probably a better ending than the other apples that were mean to her, and having shown this book to several other members of my family, they all agree how wonderful the message is and how wonderfully it’s conveyed in this story too! 🙂 A wonderful picture book I would recommend!

Review of eBook

One beautiful day in the orchard, the flowers became delicious apples. The mother tree always reminded them to look their best because the harvest was approaching and only the best apples would be chosen for the farmer’s market.

All the apples were excited . . . except Sally. She wasn’t shiny, she wasn’t pretty, she wasn’t yummy-looking. All the other apples teased her.

What will happen when harvest day arrives? Are the other apples right when they say no one would want her? Will Sally be left behind?

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This touching tale, with its delightful illustrations, is sure to become a favorite for the young reader. The simple story is easy for young children to follow, and [sadly] many may have experienced teasing from other children, making the story particularly relatable for them.

Although the other apples treated Sally unfairly, she never reciprocated and, with no way to change the events that happened to her, she took advantage of her new situation to teach an important lesson. Surely, the unexpected outcome will bring a smile to the young reader’s face. [And may every reader recognize the truth in Sally’s ending message.] This is a perfect book for parents and children to read together.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Book Review Buzz and NetGalley
#TheAppleNobodyLiked #NetGalley

I saw this book’s title and immediately was hooked. It reminded me of that Spongebob episode where Patrick tells the story of the ugly barnacle.. and sadly, this book is very similar to Patrick’s story.
We started out strong, meeting Sally, who is a misshapen apple. Despite her appearances, she is picked to go to the farmer’s market, but all the other apples are cruel to her and shoved her off the truck. Sally cries and goes to sleep. She wakes up as a tree and tells all her little apples that she grows to never give up and that beauty is within.
Which is a great message, of course, but Sally herself gave up in the story! We don’t see her “trying” anywhere- she falls off the truck, and takes a nap and viola! Life gets better.
I liked the titles, I thought it was quirky. I liked the artwork and the idea of the story; however, I didn’t connect the ending to the rest of the story. I wanted to see more character growth from Sally the ugly apple.
Thanks Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book!

Such a beautiful story!! I love the moral of this story! Beauty lives inside of you, not the outside. I think the children would love this book. Hopefully learn from it. I have always thought ugly food tasted better than the pretty food. Beauty is only skin deep and the outside is also beautiful.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

I was so intrigued by the title and cover that I had to request this. It was actually a very cute story! I wasn't really sure how an ugly apple would be resolved in a satisfying way (would it secretly be a peach ala the Ugly Duckling?) but it was really a great story and I love the message about growing and finding your own path. Inspirational!

I like the story and I think it will be good to help kids understand it is important to know there are good things about themselves. I liked the illustrations

Thank you to the author, illustrator, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest reveiw.

A wonderful Childrens book that teach not everybody looks the same but it’s on the inside that counts. Great book to read to your little ones

This is a really good book with a great message for young minds, regardless of how others perceive you or treat you, having faith in yourself and trusting the potential you have to do great things is the only way you can succeed. Everyone is unique and everyone can have traits that others can look down upon and therefore it's easy to feel bad about yourself, but because that doesn't help, we should pay much attention to those taunts and bullies that try to push us down. Instead, we should keep our heads held high and stay determined to keep our course and find what we can do that helps us give a sense of satisfaction and success while also building up those around us. Always try to surround yourself with people that want to guide you to prosper and not those who don't want to see you win.

*Thank you to the author and publisher; Melanie J Villagomez, for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love the simplistic way of this book. Clear and concise story that will keep children’s attention with a message they can understand.

The illustrations were cute too.

I tell you what though, they were about the meanest bunch of apples. Joke was on them…the apple nobody liked got to live on long after those other apples were eaten.