Here's a whimsical and very useful look at the life cycle of the apple tree. With two helpful tree sprites as guides, readers travel from spring, when the apple tree blossoms, through summer, when the fruit grows, to fall and the harvest. Along the way, you'll learn about the life of the tree and the animals that visit - from insects that pollinate the flowers to deer that eat the fallen fruit.
Görel Kristina Näslund was born in 1940 and grew up in a village outside Umeå, a town close to the northern east coast of Sweden. Görel was a home economist when she and her husband at that time moved to St. Paul, Minnesota,in 1961. In Twin Cities she studied journalism at the University of Minnesota and wrote her first book called Foods and Festivals Swedish Style (Dillon Press, Minneapolis). After leaving St. Paul she stayed for two years in Denver, Colorado. During this time Görel taught Swedish and French cooking in her own cooking school. In weekends, she enjoyed downhill skiing in the mountains. After more than 40 years she still is in contact with Francie, one of the students, and the two of them have travelled together in Europe.
Back in Stockholm in 1970, Görel, now divorced, worked for some years at Expressen, a large evening newspaper, and then for nearly a decade at the weekly magazine Vi. In 1982 it was time for another move. She left journalism to study psychology. Today, Görel is a psychologist and doctor of medical science having presented a thesis at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm.
Since that first book published in Minneapolis, Görel has written about 30 more books in subjects such as psychology, cooking, and pomology. Apples happens to be her great favorite. What is so special about apples? Their beauty, their delicate smell, their taste, as well as their important place in mythology and legends, is her answer. The climate helps to give Nordic apples an outstanding goodness.
Today Görel lives with her partner Gullmar in a house surrounded with apple trees just north of Stockholm. Gullmar too is a fan of apples. And he makes a fantastic Tarte Tatin, the famous French apple cake.
