Author/Illustrator: adapted by Stephen Krensky/Craig OrbackPlot Summary: A re-telling of the classic tale of Paul Bunyan, the lumberjack, and his blue ox, Babe. The comparisons to depict his size for the reader are clever as is Paul himself. When he noticed that his cows would not eat grass in the winter because it was brown and not green, he gave them green sunglasses. The illustration of this will make even older children giggle. This version of the story also uses Paul Bunyon's immense size to explain natural phenomenon such as the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.
Comments: This rendition of the tale is presented in format appropriate for independent readers without having an overwhelming amount of text. The pictures appropriately supplement for a visual of Paul Bunyan's size relative to the things around him.
Extensions:
1. For third through fifth grades, during a study of folklore and fables, students would come to the Media Center for a Paul Bunyan webquest where the Media Specialist would have a number of websites(and books) providing various versions of Paul Bunyan'ts life. Students would pin point on a map the locations he visits in that version. They will highlight the main points of the story. Working in groups, pairs or along, students will come together and compare what they found. Are similar are the tales? How different are they.
2. Student would pick, or be assigned, different characters from folklore including Paul Bunyan. They would draw a cartoon sequence depicting the life of their person.
3. Students would read a story about Paul Bunyan together with the class or individually. Either with the class, or writing their own piece, they will volunteer, or explain, what was real about the story and what was not. They might also include what they are not sure about.
Themes/keywords: Bunyan, Paul, Folklore, tall tales
Age/Reading Level: K-3; ATOS - 4.1; Follett - 2.2
Standards:
ELA4R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a
warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational
texts.
For literary texts, the student identifies the characteristics of various genres
and produces evidence of reading that:
h. Identifies themes and lessons in folktales, tall tales, and fables.
ELA4R2 The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.
ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from grade-level text.
Publisher's Info: Millbrook Press, Inc. Minneapolis, MN 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1-57505-888-7
ISBN-10: 1-57505-888-X
Awards/Review Sources:
Wilson's Children 10/01/07 | School Library Journal 08/01/06 |
| Horn Book 04/01/07 |
Genre/Dewey: 398.2
Websites:
American Folklore
Folktales - College of Education at the University of Missouri
Author's website - he has written many books that I recognize including some other folktales
Illustrator's website
Notes for Booktalk: Vast discrepancy in reading levels - ATOS versus Follett
Vocabulary: flapjacks,
Comments