Customer Reviews

Paul Bunyan (Imagination Series: Tall Tales)

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I rather like this Tall Tales from the Imagination Series and this addition, Paul Bunyan by Bill Balcziak and illustrated by Patrick Girouard is no exception.

Folktales and Folk heroes are an important part of our culture; as they are in any society, and we here in America most certainly have our share of them. Children need to learn these tales, or at least be exposed to them. I came from a pre-T.V. generation and these mythological characters were an important part of my early reading.

This is a rather large book with large, bold and bright pictures and the simply text make it a perfect group read. In this work we are given the history of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox from birth through several of his adventures. This duo of larger than life heroes probably originated in Canadian lumber camps and the tales are many. The author has done a very nice job of retelling several of these stories and specifically written them for the younger child. There are little side-bars throughout the book that are delightful. As an example we have Paul's typical breakfast he had as a toddler growing up in the woods - Paul's mother fed him:

"Ten gallons of milk.

Twenty pancake.

Thirty pints of berries (He cried for more!)

Thirty pounds of oatmeal.

Fifty slices of bread.

Sixty strips of bacon.

Seventy sausages.

Eighty eggs.

Ninety crackers.

and

One hundred spoonfuls of applesauce.

That was just for breakfast!"

(Actually, I sort of shuddered when I read this because it is not far off the mark of what my grandsons have for their morning meal).

This story relates how Paul and Babe formed our country (Their foot-prints created the thousand lakes in Minnesota) and created many of our other lakes and rivers.

This is a well told tale that kids find fascinating. In addition, the author has given us a very nice recipe for "North Woods Pancakes," included a very nice glossary of words and terms and provided us with a resource page so that further Paul Bunyan stories and histories can be found.

This is a nice book and most certainly should be in all school libraries.

Don Blankenship

The Ozarks