While I enjoy turkey and all the fixings, for me the best part of Thanksgiving is pie. Hello, pumpkin, pecan, and apple — all are favorites and I’m happy to make quick work of them. 🙂 You can see why I’m especially excited to welcome Vermont author Beth Charles to discuss her new picture book, Apple Pie Tired, charmingly illustrated by Hannah Brinson (Sleeping Bear Press, 2024). 

In this scrumptious seasonal story, young Lola and her parents work together to bake hundreds of apple pies to sell at their family farm for Thanksgiving. Though it’s Lola’s plan to make Thanksgiving dinner while her parents make the pies, Mom and Dad need her help with every stage of this big job, leaving her without time or energy to cook. 

Still, Lola is happy to learn about and participate in the pie-making process, from weighing and combining ingredients in a giant mixer, to making top and bottom crusts with the dough presser; to peeling, coring and slicing the apples with another big machine, before finally assembling the pies after adding sugar and spices to the apples. Can you imagine the sweet heavenly aroma of all those pies baking in the oven? Yummmmmm!

Come Thanksgiving morning, Mom and Dad are still baking as customers “bustled in and out” before purchasing five hundred and four pies! Unsurprisingly, Lola and her parents are “apple pie tired” after all that work. What to do when hungry aunts, uncles and cousins arrive for dinner?

Beth knows well the feeling of being ‘apple pie tired,’ since she and her family bake and sell hundreds of pies at their family orchard bakery every Thanksgiving. I was curious to learn about the logistics of such an undertaking and how she went about writing this appeelingly delicious story.

Thanks for dropping by today, Beth, and for making us extra hungry for more more more apple pie!

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What was your favorite kind of Thanksgiving pie when you were little? What is it now?

I honestly don’t remember what kinds of pie or dessert we had at Thanksgiving as a child. Today, our bakery makes over 10 varieties of pie and I love them all, but my hands-down favorite is pumpkin. Unfortunately, I’ve become severely intolerant of dairy, so I’m on the hunt for a good non-dairy recipe.

Please describe your writing journey for this book, from initial spark to publication.

Way back in 2018, after hearing stories of our farm, my agent Essie White, suggested I write a picture book about baking apple pies. I thought about my approach to the story of a little girl making her first apple pie, and decided her first job was to wait for her little trees to grow big enough to produce, then wait through the growing season until it was time to pick the apples for her pie. That book became How to Grow an Apple Pie.

But I still hadn’t told the story of baking pies. And that’s where Apple Pie Tired came about. I thought it was important for kids to understand a little about where their food actually comes from. That’s why, instead of just writing about baking an apple pie, I’d give a glimpse into baking lots of pies in a small family farm. This way I could showcase the commercial equipment we use in contrast to what you would use in your kitchen, for instance a scale to weigh ingredients instead of a measuring cup.

Tell us about the first pie you ever made by yourself. How did it turn out?

The first pie I remember making outside our bakery was for Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law’s house in Ohio. I’d made hundreds of apple pies at the orchard, so I figured I’d have no trouble. Rather than bringing supplies from home, I stopped at a local orchard but saw no familiar apple varieties. It was downhill from there. The pie was a total flop.

Why did your family decide to purchase Mendon Mountain Orchards? Did any of you have previous farming experience? Please share a few pros and cons of running an orchard the average person may not know.

Honestly, we had no business buying an apple orchard! After years working as an elementary school librarian, my sister and her artist husband moved to Vermont to manage condominiums. Eventually they wanted to buy their own business, and the orchard came up for sale. It was too much for one family, so my parents came on board. My husband, a high school media specialist, was feeling burned out from teaching and was up for a change, so we packed up and moved to Vermont.

It kind of sounds like the beginning of a joke, three librarians, a high school vocational ed teacher (my dad), an artist, and a museum curator (me) buy an apple orchard… Luckily, we had an orchard manager who knew how to run things while we figured it all out. It helped that my sister could manage the small motel that was part of the orchard, and my mom was the financial brains, while I took on growing the little store from a seasonal to year-round shop. It was a struggle for many years and my husband and brother-in-law both got outside jobs to help support us. Fast forward 42 years and now my son owns the farm and I work for him.

The orchard has been a great place to raise a family, but owning a farm is a lifestyle. Long hours and outdoor work in all kinds of weather go hand in hand with enjoying the beauty that surrounds us here in Vermont. We bought the orchard with no experience and are still learning.

Diversity has been the key to our survival. We grew the bakery from one or two pies a day to more than fifty on a busy fall Saturday. A few years ago, my son added chickens and occasionally pigs, so there is always something going on.

Take us back to when you and your family first started selling pies at the orchard bakery. Was there a big learning curve involved in producing so many? Any catastrophes or funny incidents that stand out?

One of the first years owning the orchard, we had a bumper crop of apples – ten-thousand bushels! Since our cold storage only held seven-thousand, we sold a tractor-trailer full to a big juice company. That’s when my mom said, “I make a pretty good apple pie,” and the rest is history.

Lucky for us, our pie production started slow. We would gather around the kitchen table after dinner and peel apples by hand. We had an old stand-mixer and would make one crust at a time and bake just a few pies. Our original store was at the bottom of the driveway and one of us would walk a hot pie down to entice customers. I remember my sister bringing in a pie and the customer I was assisting couldn’t decide if she wanted it or not. The second she declined, the customer behind her snatched it up so fast, you could see the regret on the first person’s face.

As our pie production grew, we gradually searched for ways to increase productivity. We used a large marble slab and marble rolling pin for our crusts, scooping the dough with an ice cream scoop to try and maintain consistency. It was all quite a chore. Eventually we bought a used commercial Hobart stand mixer, a commercial oven and finally a dough divider and dough press.

As for catastrophes, each year brings its own challenges. One year, with 3 of us baking, my son and I became sick in the middle of the night. My mom, well into her 80’s, came to our rescue. Once we lost power just as the last pies came out of the oven and we were boxing them by flashlight. As much as we try to prepare, we never know what will happen!

What do you like most about Hannah Brinson’s illustrations? What’s your favorite spread and why?

I love everything about Hannah’s illustrations. I think my favorite is the front cover. Hannah manages to sum up the whole story in that one illustration. I love how Hannah’s soft color palette draws the reader in, promising a cozy read, all while portraying the bakery and barn equipment with great accuracy. I adore the portrayal of Lola, and seeing the white dog included was a tug to the heartstrings. My son lost his white Shepherd shortly before the book came out, and what a surprise to see Wonder so lovingly portrayed.  

I invited Hannah for a visit to the orchard and took her on a tour of the bakery, farm, and barn. I even had her make her own pie. We had a wonderful visit.

As for my favorite spread, how could I pick just one? They are all so lovely and sweet in their own way. I do love the page where Lola and dad are mixing dough, her expression is priceless. And I admit, I get a bit teary-eyed at the full page spread of a too tuckered to cook Lola with her dog snuggled close. 

Please share a favorite Thanksgiving dinner memory from your childhood.

Before Thanksgiving I would walk the neighborhood, collecting a few pinecones to turn into little turkey’s to decorate the table. Then we gathered at my aunt’s house for the afternoon. I remember the long table filled with food. I especially loved the candied sweet potatoes my aunt made. It was a once-a-year treat. After dinner, us cousins would gather in the living room to watch Babes in Toyland, which was on TV every year at Thanksgiving.

What do you hope kids will take away from your story?

When I write, I think about an emotion I want to evoke in the story. In this story, day after day, Lola puts aside her own plans so she can help her parents. So, even though her list never gets done, she knows her mom and dad really need her help. Of course, in the end, the whole family comes together to help, which is what Thanksgiving is all about. People coming together.

Anything else you’d like us to know about the book?

One of my early readers suggested I cut either mom or dad from the story to simplify it. In both my books, I deliberately portray both parents as equals in the work of the farm and bakery. I want kids to see that there are no gender limitations.

What are you especially thankful for this year? 

I have so much to be thankful for and try every day to appreciate all I have. As I sit at my computer, looking out over the fading foliage and mountains beyond, I think about how grateful I am to be living in beautiful Vermont. I have a fabulous agent, Essie White of Storm Literary Agency, a talented critique partner, dear friends, and most importantly, a large and loving family who inspire me every day. Who could want more?

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APPLE PIE TIRED
written by Beth Charles
illustrated by Hannah Brinson
published by Sleeping Bear Press, August 2024
Fiction Picture Book for ages 5-8, 32 pp.
*Includes Author’s Note and Apple Pie Recipe

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🍎 SPECIAL BOOK GIVEAWAY 🍏

The publisher has generously offered a brand new copy of the book for one lucky Alphabet Soup reader. For a chance to win, please leave a comment at this post mentioning your favorite Thanksgiving pie no later than midnight (EST) Tuesday, December 10, 2024. You may also enter by sending an email with APPLE PIE in the subject line to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. only, please. Good Luck!

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🥧 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 🍗

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*Interior spreads text copyright © 2024 Beth Charles, illustrations © 2024 Hannah Brinson, published by Sleeping Bear Press. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2024 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.