American Tall Tales

The main idea behind compiling all these traditional folktales into one was to simply establish a written published legacy for them. I liked the book mainly because it brought back my childhood as I read the famous stories of the bravest and strongest fictional characters of traditional literature. I remembered the stories but the illustrations brought them to life which added to my feelings towards the book. The illustrations weren't your typical picture drawings that made a book look pretty. These drawings were wood engravings, colored and designed just to honor these traditional stories. The engravings add to the stories historical background and gives off the feeling of being in the era Davy Crockett came to life or Johnny Appleseed show more himself. For example, before the stories even start, within the first pages, there is a picture map of America with the engravings of each folktale hero that had a story within the book. The key to the right of the map indicates what each picture/symbol on the map meant or stood for. On the map, these pictures/symbols are located on or near the area in which the story originated; such as Paul Bunyan's ax in the far north. I also liked the mini introduction Osborne included on the beginning of traditional literature and how they originated as oral stories. This is a great help for children who decide to read the book without knowing any background knowledge of folktales. I also liked how a "notes on the story" section was included before every story giving a quick summary or some background knowledge on what story was about to be told. This would also help a reader who wasn't too familiar with folktales. Osborne includes the language and dialogue from each characters time period which aids in each stories' development. Overall good book. show less

I chose to read this book for the genre aspect of it. I wanted to gain more fantasy books in my collection. This book goes through all the American Tall Tales. Osborne's stories reveal a wide range of geographical settings, and illustrate the many different occupations pioneer settlers, backwoodsmen and women, farmers, volunteer firefighters, sailors, cowboys, laborers, and loggers that contributed to the development of America. Osborne's focus is on the absurd humor, vulnerability and compassionate aspects of her tales, despite their, at times, prejudiced and violent leanings. Through one of the collection's female characters, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, Osborne portrays an outrageously bold and ingenious frontier woman who can show more match any of her male counterparts and more. The bigger picture of this book is to open up a world of silliness and mystical creatures to have young children explore their imagination. show less

The wood engravings really add an old timey feel to this book, which is so appropriate. I do like the way she focused on the humanity of the characters and am glad she was able to add one of her own. Sally Ann Thunder was a delightful character, and there was not a huge focus on her beauty; the focus was on her strength. "Johnny Appleseed" and "John Henry" were my favorites. "Johnny Appleseed" because it was a good mix of John Chapman, the real man, and Johnny Appleseed, the folk hero. "John Henry" I loved because I had forgotten his story from when I was little and re-reading it I realized what a fine man he was and it made me so sad when he died.
I can see myself reading this in class and coming up with many follow up activities. With show more Johnny Appleseed we could use it for science and start growing an apple tree to plant somewhere. We could use Stormalong to learn about the sea. Quite frankly John Henry could be read in a high school history class or government class to have them debate about technology driving away blue collar jobs, and the benefits and detriments that causes. Its a great book. show less

This book contained nine different folk tales. Each folk tale had a different occupation like pioneer settlers, backwoodsmen and women, farmers, volunteer firefighters, sailors, cowboys, laborers, and loggers that contributed to the development of America. Since they're were such a wide variety of characters occupations it truly allows you to pick and choose. Your not forced to only read about one era or time period. It's a great book to have in a classroom because it contains 9 stories in just one book. The organization of the book was easy to follow and it flowed very well. Another thing I absolutely loved that Osborne did was how she provided bibliographies for each story with primary sources and helpful articles. She truly made show more reading this book as easy as she could and for you to get the most out of it. I also love the illustrations and how the pictures really show the exaggerated parts of the tall tales. Like the tall tale that talked about a giant baby three fathoms tall or eighteen feet. The baby is literally bigger than the entire town and it looks realistic on the page. I really enjoyed this book and I would not have picked it up off a shelf on my own, but I'm now glad a friend introduced it to me. show less

I enjoyed this book, the main message of the entire book was that no matter who you are you can achieve amazing things. One of my favorite things about the book was that it included tall tales that are not commonly known such as Sally who is Davy Crockett's wife. I believe that this was an important part of the book because it makes it different than most collections of tall tales. One part of the book that I believe could have been improved upon was the amount of stories, I feel as if the author almost put too much into one book that at times it became overwhelming so I was not able to read the book in one sitting.

Mary Pope Osborne does a fantastic job when retelling the famous American tall tales. This book includes stories on Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and more. The stories are short but they are packed with so much information. The stories are much like their originals however they are humorous. Mary Pope Osborne does a good job with capturing moments that can be turned into funny matters. For example, in the story about Johnny Appleseed, it was talking about everything he had seen on his journey. One of the people he saw was "a man names Lincoln giving speeches in a field. 'Keep it up! John Shouted. 'Maybe you'll be president some day!'" I thought this was funny because I can hear Johnny'e tone of voice in my show more head when I am reading it. It uses foreshadowing to capture that moment and students reading that are going to make connections and realize that Abraham Lincoln was in fact a famous American President. show less

I've grown up like many Americans knowing the stories of Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Pecos Bill, and Johnny Appleseed. A new tall tale for me is Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind. This is a fun and exaggerated tale about a woman who will become the wife of Davy Crockett. Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind makes the best of any situation. Even when she's afraid, for instance having a bear in her house, Sally Ann makes the most of the situation by asking the intruder to dance and churning butter all at the same time. The story is full of metaphors which include her future husband's old coconut getting stuck in the crotch of a tree. Sally Ann uses her natural resources and makes a rope out of tied together snakes to lasso a tree branch to free his show more head. The story is very entertaining with both Davy and Sally Ann trying to out-exaggerate each other. show less