If you and your students love printable books, the I See Apples printable book is sure to be a hit! You can incorporate it into your fall or apple theme plans. Or just bring it out when the kids are having apples for a snack.
The apple emergent reader is fairly low-prep, and you don’t need many materials to use it. Plus, it packs a punch when it comes to the early learning skills incorporated into it. That’s a win-win in my book!
Your students will be able to practice early literacy skills AND math skills with one easy apple mini book. And, of course, it’s a great lead into some science concepts too.

Related: Free Preschool Printables
Preschoolers love making books, at least in my experience! Over the years, we’ve enjoyed making class books, individual books, books for friends, books for parents, etc. So many great learning opportunities arise when making books with kids.
Sometimes, I combine kids’ art with words to make books. Other times, I create a short printable for the children. That’s the case with this apple emergent reader the children worked on during our preschool apple theme.
I See Apples Printable Book
As I already mentioned, this printable apple book is easy to prep and simple to use with the children. Print, fold, staple, and go! Read below for more details about how to put the book together, and ideas for using it with the kids.
Materials for the Apple Mini Book
Yep, that’s about it! Of course, you might want to extend the learning with a few more items like:
- Play dough
- White board
- Dry erase markers
- Apple manipulatives
Those last ideas are just optional suggestions. So don’t stress if you don’t happen to have them on-hand.
How to Assemble the Emergent Reader
First, get your own copy of the I See Apples printable book at the bottom of this post. Then print out the book you prefer, making as many copies as needed.
To assemble the reader, fold each page in half vertically. Make sure the images are facing out. Then arrange the pages in order, with the folded sides on the right-hand side. Finally, staple along the left-hand side of the book.
Here’s a quick video to show you how to assemble the books without cutting them:
And then your apple books are all ready to go!
I See Apples Printable Book Pages
I kept the apple reader very simple. The layout is very basic, the words are easy and repetitive, and the pictures are simple. The book consists of 4 pieces of papers. Each page folds in half vertically, which leads to 8 mini pages.
Frist, there’s the front cover. It has the title “I See Apples”, along with space for a child’s name.

Related: Apple Sensory Bin
Each page follows the title’s pattern and focuses on the different colors apples can be. All apples are red, yellow, or green (or some combination thereof), so the first three pages consist of those colors.
The page “I see a white apple” focuses on what an apple looks like when it’s bitten or cut into. If you’re able to, I highly recommend that you cut open an apple so the kids can really observe the inside.

The page “I see a brown apple” explores what happens when an apple is eaten down to the core and left out. Perfect for a mini lesson on oxidation if you want!
Please note that the free printable includes two copies of the book. The first is an updated version with crisper clip art. The second version is the original printable apple book I made for my preschoolers about a decade ago at this point!

The child in the picture above, coloring in the very first iteration of this book, is in high school now! I feel so old!
How to Use the Apple Printable Book with Kids
Introduce the book to your students, “We’re going to make a book about different color apples.” Nothing spectacular, but it let the kids know what the book is about.
Next, go page by page through the apple reader. Point to the high frequency words your students might know, as well as the color words. Then let the kids get their hands on their own books!
Help the children locate the color words on each page. Depending on the ages and needs of your students, you can have them underline the color words on each page or you can do it for them. Either way, make sure to use a corresponding crayon, marker, or colored pencil to do so.
Finally, have the kids color in each page. Be sure to discuss the appropriate colors needed! They can color in the children eating apples however they like. Maybe they’ll want to color in their favorite type of apple.
And, of course, be sure to keep the books to read over and over again!
What Skills are Being Practiced with the Apple Mini Book?
Even though it’s a super simple book, “I See Apples” helps kids explore a variety of literacy, math, and science concepts. Here are some:
- High frequency words (I, see, a, an)
- Color words (red, green, yellow, white, brown)
- Parts of an apple
- The apple life cycle
- Oxidation
- Reading directionality
- Spaces and punctuation
- Color identification
- Language development

Related: Fall Activities for Preschoolers
It’s also a lot of fun to talk about the kids’ apple preferences along the way. In fact, your students might fill you in on that unprompted!
Don’t forget to get your free copy of the I See Apples printable book at the end of this post! Be sure to let me know what your students think of it, too.
More Apple Printables
If you loved the apple emergent reader, I bet you’ll enjoy these apple printables as well:
- Apple Calendar Numbers
- Free Printable Apple Counting Mats
- Apple Counting Book
- Printable Apple Tree Alphabet Letter Game
- Apple Tree Math Game
You can also find more apple activities saved on my Apple Theme Pinterest board.
Apple Preschool Lesson Plans
Let Preschool Teacher 101 save you a TON of time with done-for-you resources like our apple lesson plans. Our lesson plan packs come with a one-page week-at-a-glance, detailed daily lesson plans, skills checklist, book suggestions, editable weekly plans, and related printables. There are whole group lessons, small group activities, and center ideas! Click on the image below to see the plans:
Grab Your Free Printable Apple Book
This freebie is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re not a member, feel free to join (and you can grab the book as a welcome gift – we have even more freebies for you too!). If you’re already a member, you can enter your information too and you won’t be added a second time. Enter your information in the form below:
If you don’t see the form, you can access it here.

Originally published September 2013.
I love this! It’s perfect. I have an early reader AND we are going apple picking this weekend! Thank you.
I’m so glad you liked the apple book! Let me know how it goes, and have tons of fun on your apple picking trip.
I love this book! I’m currently doing apples as my theme and would love to include this. I’m having trouble accessing the freebie you have posted Would you be able to email it to me?? Thanks so much!
Michelle
Yay, so glad you liked it!! I hope you received the email I sent a while ago. Let me know how it works out when you try it!
Hi Sami! It’s listed under the “freebies” tab, next to the number of likes the page has received. Email me at rda.of.fun@gmail.com if you have any difficulty getting to it! 🙂
I printed the book, but I’m not exactly sure how to copy it and make it into a book.
Hi Lee Ann! Fold each page in half along the vertical line running in the middle of the page. Make sure the pictures are facing out when you fold. Then staple the book in order from there. Does that make sense? I may need to add photos or a video for this part!
So I need to copy them double sided?
Nevermind! I got it!! 🙂
Wonderfully creative and age appropriate book! And I write leveled books, so I know what I am talking about! Congratulations. I look forward to exploring your site.
Thank you so much, Ann! I really appreciate it – welcome, and have fun looking around. 🙂
Thank you so much for this!! It was exactly what I needed!!!
Yay, so glad to hear that! 🙂
Thank you for the “I See Apples” book! I can’t wait to share it with my preschoolers.
You’re so welcome! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Loved this reader! Thank you so much!
Glad you’re happy with it!!! 🙂
Our sight words this week are I /see . Thanks for sharing this perfect resource.
I’m so glad you found it helpful! 🙂
You have beautiful materials, I teach ESL in Beijing and these could be very useful . Is the apples emergent reader free? If so could you Would you be able to email it to me .
Thank you
Ursula
Hi Ursula, thanks so much for the sweet words! I love hearing where my readers are and what they’re teaching. Yes, the apple reader is a free printable available to members of my free email community. You can find the form to join at the very bottom of the post, before the long image. I’d love to have you join us. 🙂
I love this book. It look perfect for my PreK kids. Thank you.
So glad to hear that, Stacy! Thanks. 🙂
my daughter likes it so much
I’m so happy to hear your daughter enjoys the emergent reader, Sarah!
I am looking forward to using this book for harvist month with my TK kiddos! We are hoping to get them interested in reading. Quick question- would the 4/5 year olds be able to assemble this or should staff premake them?
Glad to hear that! Be sure to let me know what your students think. 🙂 I prefer to assemble the books ahead of time (I’ve never had the kids help assemble them).
I just downloaded the I see apples reader, however it is password protected. How do I get it so I can print it off for my students? I would love to have this for them to do this week!
Hi Jennifer! It’s only password protected in terms of editing the book – clipartists ask that we secure printables that way so people cannot easily just grab the clipart without purchasing it themselves. The password doesn’t apply to printing (I just double-checked now). Hope that helps!
Edited to add – Make sure you’re opening the file in the most up-to-date version of Adobe Reader. Sometimes other PDF programs (or trying to print from the web preview) can cause printing issues.
These books are perfect for emergent readers! I like to make a”Big Book” to read together, then I like to make little books for each child to color and read with each other! Then they can take the book home and read it everyday with parents! Great predictable text!
Yes, I love making “big books” with the kids too! Thanks so much for the kind words. 🙂
Thank you!
You are very welcome! I hope you and the kids enjoy the book!
Thank you for doing all the work for me! My first graders will love reading this book!!
I’m so happy to hear your first graders will enjoy it! 🙂
Nice reader for all levels.
Thank you!
Hi Karen, There’s a large teal button close to the bottom of the post. It’s under the heading “Grab Your Free Printable Apple Book” 🙂
I could really incorporate these in my daily plans
Let me know how it goes if you try the book with your students!
Great projects for kindergarteners!
Yes, my former kindergarten and preschool students definitely enjoyed it. 🙂 Thank you!
A lot of fun materials!
Thank you!
I signed up but im not getting the freebie book
Hi Andrea! To get the printables, you need to enter your email in the forms at the bottom of the individual posts. It doesn’t look like you requested this one, but I entered your email in the form just now. So the download link should be showing up in your inbox soon.
Hi,
I was hoping to get a copy of the free apple mini book. I signed up with my email but didn’t get it sent to me. Is there any way you could email me?
Anastasia
Hi, Anastasia! It’s showing that you were sent 2 emails with the download information for the “I See Apples” book already. Please check your spam, promotions, and other folders. Then feel free to email me if you need further assistance. Thanks!