Steven Kellogg

Steven Kellogg recounts the tales of Paul Bunyan more or less as we've all heard or read them before, but his illustrations are clever, full of detail, and add a lot to the story. For instance, the crew of bacon-shod griddle greasers is two hockey teams -- the Boston Brooms (hahaha) and the Minnesota Mops, complete with the pre-breakfast lumberjacks in the bleachers cheering on their teams, each team using the implement of their name, and a sweating umpire. The fun continues all the way to show more the rear endpaper, which shows a map of North America illustrated with Paul's exploits. This is by far my favourite rendition of the Paul Bunyan story.

My Italian grandchildren thought the story was freaky. Cultural differences! show less

In a small village in Maine, a gigantic baby is born with the soul of a lumberjack. He good-heartedly terrorizes the neighbors so his family moves to the midwest, where he can jack lumber to his heart’s content. He finds a calf in a snowstorm, blue from cold, and names her Babe. Paul and Babe grow up together into legend, shaping North America as we know it, both by chopping down forests and just generally being giant.

I have a very different relationship to US mythology now than I did when show more I last read this as a little kid. I never believed they were true, nor that they were a sign of American supremacy, but as an adult I can see them more clearly for the propaganda they are. The visuals of entire forests being leveled is quite shocking, and there’s no mention at all of the Native people already living in the places Paul Bunyan travels to, nor the rampant slavery going on in the lower half of the United States. The real myth is white ownership of the entire continent.

The book is very fun to read. Kellogg’s illustrations are delightful and goofy and so imaginative, and there’s nothing in the book that is more harmful than the myth itself. But I hesitate to introduce the concept of Paul Bunyan in general to yet another generation. show less

The plot of Jack and the Beanstalk by Steve Kellogg follows the story of a young boy who climbs up a magical bean sprout, only to find a giant's castle in the clouds. He sneakily steals a hen that lays golden eggs as a way to provide for his poor mother and himself, but when he realizes that he misses the adventure, he returns to attempt to steal a magic harp. However, the giant catches on, and chases Jack down. Jack runs to the beanstalk and cuts it with an axe, causing the giant to fall. show more With that, he and his mother live happily ever after. I wanted to review this particular book because, quite frankly, it has always irked me even as a young reader. It feels that the narrator is trying to paint Jack, a boy who breaks into a stranger's home and steals his belongings, as a hero. While it is to provide for his family, it has always rubbed off on me the wrong way, and gives me the impression that "stealing from mean people is good". Perhaps I have yet to read another perspective on this, but this story has been a source of frustration whenever I read it.

That being said, the fairy tale itself is quite enjoyable if you can look past the strange overall message (Which, I have gathered is 'take advantage of what life presents you', even if it is robbing other people ???). Young readers will enjoy the tension that the author builds while Jack hides from the giant or tries to escape from him, and may even relate to wanting to help provide for your own family. Overall, I believe the tale to be properly entertaining. show less

Gloria, a little witch who liked to smile, was always in disgrace at Miss Pestilence's Academy for Young Goblins and Witches. Forever muddling her spells, or coming last in her class, she wasn't much of a witch at all! But then one night, overhearing a stranger (looking suspiciously like an angel) telling a groups of elves the story of a wonderful holiday called Christmas, she decided that she too wanted a part in this season of magic and miracles - she wanted to be a Christmas Witch! show more Dispatched by the angel to a far planet (yes, you read that right), where two peoples - the Pepperwills and the Valdoons - were locked in a ceaseless war, Gloria is told that she must find a way to heal their wounds, and bring peace to their world.

Although the illustrations here were quite engaging - full of fun, with many little amusing details - I can't say that I was all that impressed by the plot of The Christmas Witch, which struck me as an odd mixture of Star Trek and Harry Potter, with a sentimental, "Precious Moments" style angel thrown in, for good measure. It's as if Kellogg couldn't decide whether he wanted to write a Halloween story or a Christmas tale! The result felt scattered and unsatisfying. Definitely not one I would recommend for holiday reading! show less