Customer Reviews

Paul Bunyan 20th Anniversary Edition (Reading rainbow book)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a very enjoyable story retold with the most captivating illustrations. The vocabulary telling this story is wonderful and is a great book to read to the young and an excellent book for the early reader. Children will enjoy this enhanced version! This is not a book to miss.

Students are sure to enjoy this hilarious account of how many of our nation's wonders were created. This tall tale has been "spruced up" with a rich and colorful vocubulary, and is combined with illustrations that will keep the reader coming back for discovery time and time again. Steven Kellog's series of tall tales are invaluable in the classroom as students experience various literary elements such as: genre, author/illustrators, and theme related impressions.

This book is very funny and entertaining.It was funny to see how Paul Bunyan, who was gigantic as both a baby and an adult, delt with all of the people and monsters who were much smaller than him. This book has great pictures and will make you laugh.

I ordered this book for my Grandchildren who are 3,5,7. It is too advanced for this age group. It would be better suited for a 5th grade student.

This book has great illustrations and highlights bits out of many of the Paul Bunyan stories. However, I wished it had more tale to it.

We enjoyed this book a lot, but my kids kept saying "that's not real", "that didn't happen". They couldn't keep quiet. They did laugh and think it was totally silly though.

I liked the illustrations although they are quite busy. Using more muted colors helped though to not give a headache. The kids looked through it several times after reading it.

I overheard one of the boys telling an adult at church that Paul Bunyon's ax made the Grand Canyon and then laughed and said, "it didn't really, I'm tricking you." I knew then that they'd understood the "tallness" of it and enjoyed it enough to talk about it.

Even my little guys liked looking at it. A good telling of the tale.

*taken from my review at goodreads

Paul Bunyan is a great book to entertain anyone. You'll love it! When I first read it I didnt want it to finish it. Can you believe it?! Paul Bunyan is the greatest character ever! Paul Bunyan gets raced in the Wild West fighting through anything that gets in his way. So watch out and dont run into him because he'll knock you off your feet!

Paul Bunyan. Sheesh, where do I even START?

Well, let's start in the past. Paul Bunyan was a traditional story in folklore, right? Um... maybe not.

Actually, way way waaaaay back in the past, people in jobs such as lumberjacking DID tell these sorts of tall tales. But they weren't coalesced around Paul Bunyan yet. Instead, they told these tales about themselves or about "you know, those anonymous lumberjacks we don't know" or "a friend of a friend". And those of you complaining that this book of Bunyan is "too sweet", well, be careful what you wish for - one notable story I recall has a group of lumberjacks trapped up a tree in winter all peeing together to make a pole to slide down! (Ew!)

Early in the 20th century, around 1910, a journalist had the bright idea to write down a few of these tall tales and pretend they were all about the same person, a Paul Bunyan. And he invented a few things too - there's no evidence, for example, of Babe prior to his invention.

And then 75 years later Steven Kellogg took the seeds from "folklore" and wrote a whole new story using some "traditional" elements (not that traditional - remember, anything that's specifically Bunyan was made up by writers, not by lumberjacks around a campfire!) and some things out of whole cloth.

And that's this book. It's not traditional or authentic - if you want that, go to google and you'll rapidly find yourself with more logging stories (and riverboat stories and mining stories and tall tales of all shapes and sizes) than you know what to do with. It *is* a funny book about the new and old adventures of Paul Bunyan, suitable for kids and classrooms and a great introduction to the wider world of these tales.

And after all - isn't making stuff up what folktales have always been about?

What happened to the Paul Bunyan I remember from my childhood? This version has been dumbed down, sweetened up and turned into drivel. There is virtually nothing left of the stories I remember from my youth. Since when did Paul fight Gumberoos, make a popcorn blizzard or put green lensed glasses on Babe? I borrowed this book from the library because my boys and I were reading about the mid 1800's when the American tall tale originated, but this book was a not a good representation of that heritage.

Saccharine cotton candy. About the only "real" thing left from the folk tales is Babe being found during a blue snow and staying blue. My grandkids' great great grandparents came from a logging past. Am I going to use this book to introduce them to heir own history? Absolutely not.