Title: Candy Apples
Author: Cherice T. Peagler
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc,
ISBN: 978-1-0980-5776-3
Pages: 26
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Christian Morality
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
To a child growing up, one of the most basic, fundamental, and important lessons in life is understanding what is right and wrong. For example, if you know something is wrong, but nobody is looking, does that make it right or okay? Integrity is something, which at times, goes against immediate gratification and emotional desire. Yet sticking to the higher behavior of being honest, exercising delayed gratification, and above all being moral, the benefits one will receive will surely outweigh the consequences of poor behavior.
This lesson is shown to readers of Candy Apples by the creative and faith-based author Cherice T. Peagler. In her book, she introduces readers to Cameron, a young boy full of energy and spunk. Cameron and his mom had invited his friends over to play outdoors with his puppy Blue Chips. While the mom was making candy apples and cookies, the kids wanted to have some freeze pops, and they each decided on what flavor and color pop each wanted. This came to a point when two children wanted the same color pop – and what should they do? Split the pop in half? Or have one kid get another color? Well, it became obvious that if they split the freeze pop in half, that would result in each of them getting less pop – so they decided to simply choose another flavor.
Then came their next dilemma, as the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cookies and the sweet sugary smell of candy apples filled their nostrils with joyous thoughts. Cameron wanted to eat a cookie and taste a candy apple, but he thought, “What can I do to avoid giving into urges that I want to do but I understand will cause negative consequences?” This becomes a theme of the book and the major lesson brought to the readers’ minds. The author begins to peel apart the ramifications of various options – which all basically point to exercising delayed gratification – as that would be the most moral and best course of action. Cherice T. Peagler references a Bible quote, “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”
The simplistic artwork of the illustrations, along with the firm advice of the written text, are both combined as the book is paged, resulting in Candy Apples becoming a beacon of good and wholesome advice to youngsters. Reading this book helps to set the moral compass of children who are at a very impressionable age, and it is a powerful theme for the youngest of readers to be introduced to, time-and-time again. Under the guise of being a book about cookies and candy apples, children will finish this book with a healthy heaping of morality, which will sweeten their lives in so many ways for years to come.
