- Graphic Novels
- Ages 5–8
- Comedy
Apple of My Pie
Book 2 of 4 in Norma and BellyView the full series
Book two of the Norma and Belly squirrel capers: when Gramps is accidentally whisked off to an apple-processing plant, Norma, Belly and Little Bee mount a madcap rescue before he ends up in a pie. Fast, funny, and easy to fly through.
- Best for5–8
- FormatGraphic
- Length128 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Warm
- Exciting
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
A mix-up at the farmers' market sends bespectacled Gramps off in a crate bound for the Crunchy Acres Apple-Processing Plant, so it falls to triangular Norma, thimble-shaped Belly and peanut-shaped Little Bee to save him. The trio recruits a friendly pigeon and stows away on a school bus taking children on a field trip to the farm, then dodges apple-corers and outwits the factory workers to find their friend before he is baked into a pie at the pie-eating contest. Mika Song's loose, expressive ink-and-watercolour panels keep the pace quick and the jokes physical, and the reading load stays feather-light — ideal for a newly independent reader or a shared laugh at storytime. The peril is entirely cartoonish and the warmth is real: the squirrels squabble, scheme and, in the end, look after their own. A worthy sequel to the Eisner Honor-winning Donut Feed the Squirrels.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Best-fit around 5 to 8. Very light text and heavy picture support make it a confident early independent read, and it reads aloud happily to 4-year-olds. Little adult crossover beyond enjoying the gags alongside a child.
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- Best fit · 5–8
- Read aloud · 4–7
- Independent · 5–8
Prose load
Minimal
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant readers
- Laugh out loud
- Feel good
- First graphic novel
Avoid if
No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Making friends
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Gramps is about to be turned into a pie, and only Norma, Belly and Little Bee can save him — via a stowaway school-bus ride, a helpful pigeon, and a run through a factory full of apple-corers. It's a proper chase, silly and quick, with a happy, treat-filled ending.
- Trickery and cleverness
- Friendship and belonging
- Surviving danger
- The underdog winning
- Unlimited treats
Why parents love it
The caper structure gives just enough tension for a new reader to feel gripped, with none of the real menace — the danger is all cartoon apple-corers. Song's art is warm and characterful, the pages turn fast, and the shared visual gags reward reading it together.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Indie gem discovery
In the series
Norma and Belly.
4 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Mika Song.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
