Folks Call Me Appleseed John [Hardcover]

Andrew Glass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1995 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

There are many tall tales about Johnny Appleseed. Most tell of his courage, generosity, and potent green thumb. Many people don't know that the real Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman, was a tale spinner himself.

One story John loved to tell was about the time his half brother, Nathaniel, came to live with him. Nathaniel, who was used to a comfortable life in Massachusetts, was not exactly well suited for rough living in the wilderness of northwestern Pennsylvania with his free-spirited brother. He certainly did not expect to find John dressed in a burlap sack with a mush pot on his head, living in a hollow sycamore tree. John had to bail Nathaniel out of trouble more than once.

This homespun, comical story brings out the compassion, humor, and independent spirit of this quintessentially American hero. Andrew Glass's exquisitely rendered oil paintings capture the dramatic beauty of western Pennsylvania in the early nineteenth century and the pioneer spirit of the people who opened the American West.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Johnny Appleseed himself narrates this tall tale of some winter adventures on the frontier with Nathaniel, his young half-brother from Massachusetts. Low on food, he leaves Nathaniel snug in the hollow sycamore tree that serves as home, and sets off in his canoe. A journey among ice floes leads to other dramatic incidents, among them an encounter with a wounded wolf. Upon his return, he meets some Indian braves, who, it turns out, have been helping Nathaniel. Glass's (Charles T. McBiddle) pleasing vernacular breathes atmosphere into his tale: when he meets the wolf, for example, she gives him a look full of "hatred and suspicion," but, says Appleseed John, "I personally have always been on the best of terms with God's wild creatures, and my name, it seems, is widely known among them." He matches the rough-hewn tone with oil paintings that have been scraped and drawn on. Their homespun, almost unfinished appearance notwithstanding, they express a variety of moods, and their energy rises to the level of Glass's dynamic subject. A substantial note on the life of John Chapman-a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed-concludes this robust volume. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2 Up?Glass retells, in the voice of John Chapman, a series of incidents relating to Appleseed John and his half-brother, Nathaniel, who joined him in western Pennsylvania at the age of 14 or 15. The embellished account comes from Robert Price's Johnny Appleseed (Peter Smith, 1954; o.p.), which quotes from William Glines's recollections (ca. 1922) of stories told to him by Chapman's brothers and sisters. John sets out by canoe for Fort Pitt to buy supplies for the winter, leaving his brother in the shelter of a hollow sycamore tree. Pulling his canoe atop an ice cake in order to rest, he falls asleep and floats far past the fort. When he returns weeks later with provisions, he finds that four Senecas have saved Nathaniel from freezing and taught him to hunt small game with bow and arrow. The action-packed, large-figured cartoon illustrations are done in oils in earth tones and turquoise. Young Appleseed has a rough, scuzzy, backwoods look, admitting in the text that he expects he "smelled worse than a wild pig" after his river adventure. The text presents him as a plain, sensible, religious man. A two-page endpaper map shows the region where this folk hero traveled. Three pages of biographical notes are appended. A good read-aloud with historical content that will make the tale useful in classrooms.?Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition, First Printing. edition (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385320450
• ISBN-13: 978-0385320450
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,432,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "Folks Call Me Appleseed John", January 24, 2006

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Folks Call Me Appleseed John (Hardcover)

My children and I seem to be on a Johnny Appleseed binge. We have read versions of John Chapman's life by Aliki, Andrew Glass, and Stephen Kellogg. Or rather we have read the other two and only I read this one all the way through.

Not that there is anything wrong with this book, but suffice it to say that the reviewers for "Publishers Weekly" and "School Library Journal" are correct and Amazon is mistaken about the age range. It is not a good book for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Story line: Fictional tale about a visit by Johnny Appleseed's little brother Nathaniel. See the professional Editorial Reviews for details.

Pros:
-- good yarn (tall tale) that should keep older children interested.

-- There is a nice Author's Note at the end of the book which gives some facts about John Chapman that can remind we parents/caregivers of the real story.

Cons:
-- while a good yarn, it does not have as much `teachable/learnable' material as Glass' tale about Daniel Boone.

--The artwork is impressionistic and some younger children might not like it. [My 5 yo didn't mind, but it was too much for my 3 yo.]

--The story is told in first person which takes some adjustment for some younger children who are used to the third-person.

Three Stars for us. A fictionalized tale of Johnny Appleseed that is in our read later stack. Older children might really appreciate the author's different take on this folk hero.