This strange, weird and fascinating work, Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer and Marvin Bileck, dates back to 1964. Fortunately it is still with us today, but is getting more difficult to find. This work consists of very strange and nonsensical sentences. Examples of these are “Salmon slide down a Hippo’s hide, and rain makes applesauce,” and “Monkeys mumble in a jelly bean jungle, and rain makes applesauce.” These silly words cover two pages in a scroll type script, across and through some of the most interesting illustrations I have ever seen in a children’s book.
The illustrations are well... I can only call them mind boggling. They first appear to be quite cluttered and are extremely complicated and detailed. Now this is important….the adult mind will quite often glance at these pictures, become instantly overloaded, and then move on to the next page. Big, big, big mistake here! I did this myself when I first opened this book, but then I started watching children reading it. I mean reading it over and over and over again! I stopped, took a second look, and now I find myself reading it over and over and over again! There is something new to see each and ever time you go through this work! Each illustration covers two pages, is detailed in the extreme and lightly colored so as not to be completely overwhelming.
As to the text; it is a string of very silly statements, which by the way, is pointed out by a number of little pixie type kids hidden in the corner of many of the illustrations. You are reminded several times throughout the entire book that “Oh, you’re just talking silly talk.” If you read the text very closely and study the pictures very closely, you will find a common theme running throughout the book…Rain does indeed make applesauce!
Considerations :::
This book was written for kids from age four to eight. The reading level is not very high, but in this case reading levels really are not the point, but imagination and stimulation is. About the only people I have found that do not like this particular work are adults, and I am sorry to say that those that did not like it sort of fell into the category of “big people with little or no imagination who forgot what it was like to be a kid again.”
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: The title of this book is “Rain Makes Applesauce,” and not “Rain Makes Apple Sauce.” This makes a big difference when you go to buy the book. This book was out of print for some time, but happily is once again for sale.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
Rain Makes Applesauce
Word Count: 181
32 pages
ISBN-10: 0823400913
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 2.5 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 31891
Lexile: NP
-- amazon
2 comments :
"Rain Makes Applesauce" happens to be one of my alltime favorite books. I never found it "weird."
I only found it "wonderful."
I studied "Principles of Imagery" with Mr. Bileck at Queens College and everything and everyone he touched was filled with his love and charm.
douglas florian.
Hi poemhome: Thanks for stopping buy. We too found this work to fall into the “wonderful” category. My comment here was directed at another (actually two) reviews of this work that I sharply disagreed with. I have little patience with adults that have lost their magical view of life, and well….become” too adult.” I must admit to having a pang of envy in your having studied with Mr. Florian….I can tell from his work that he and I would have gotten along quite well. This particular book is getting more and more difficult to find and we feel it may end up being one of those lost treasures that we will all be poorer for loosing. Thanks for your comments and do drop by often. We love input like yours!
Don
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