Jonathan Winters narrates the exploits and adventures of American folk hero and logger Paul Bunyan, Babe the big blue ox, and other outrageous characters.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
The outrageous adventures of the quintessential American hero represent the very best in the proud tradition of American storytelling. Heroes on the scale of Paul Bunyan don't happen along every day. He wasn't just big. He was mighty big, and smart and honest and modest-all at the same time. Paul Bunyan knew darned well that he was the best lumberjack ever to stomp through the great North American forests, but it wasn't something to brag about: it was just a fact. Why else would Teddy Roosevelt have asked him and his little crew of ten thousand men to clear off the Dakotas by the spring thaw? And when the work was all done, only a hero like Paul Bunyan would have the gumption to say: "I chopped a billion-trillion trees. Now I'm fixin' to plant a billion-trillion." All the larger-than-life characters in Paul Bunyan's supporting cast are here in Brian Gleeson's jubilant adaptation: Babe the blue ox, eating her ton of grain a day; Johnny Inkslinger, the overworked paymaster; and Hotbiscuit Sally, with her acre-and-a-half griddle. Rick Meyerowitz gives flesh and bone to all the players in his illustrations, and on the accompanying cassette, Jonathan Winters gives them souls and voices. Guitarist Leo Kottke scored the soundtrack, and his music infuses just the right stride and swagger to the tale. In 1991 the audio was honored with a Grammy nomination in the category of best recording for children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not My Favorite "Rabbit Ears," but well done.,
By
This review is from: Paul Bunyan [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I remember reading "Paul Bunyan" stories in grade school. I find this video rendition a bit less charming than other Rabbit Ears stories, but I have to admit that it's very well done. One of the things that the Rabbit Ears series does very well is to match the actor/reader to the story, and Jonathon Winters--who is himself rather larger than life--is certainly the perfect choice to narrate the stories of Paul Bunyan and his giant blue ox, Babe. What's particularly amusing is the political correctness of this video. After all, the Paul Bunyan stories are really meant to glorify the clear cutting of forests and to promote the idea that the frontier is something to be tamed and used by white settlers. (One of the stories concerns Teddy Roosevelt ordering Buyan to clear the Dakota territory for white settlers.) Rabbit Ears was clearly uneasy with the politics of these stories, and the ending has Paul Bunyan feeling sorry for his deeds and planting new forests. This is a nice environmental message for children, but it distorts what loggers actually did--rather like Disney's Pocohontas ending with the English and the Indians deciding to live together in peace and mutual understanding. Nice sentiment, but that's not quite what happened. Still--a triumph of storytelling if not of history.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paul Bunyan lore at its finest,
By A Customer
This review is from: Paul Bunyan (Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics) (Hardcover)
This version of some of the tales about Paul Bunyan is the finest I've heard. Jonathan Winters is a master at this type of story telling and he is in peak form here. Our 8-year old boy and 5-year old girl were enthralled with this story and frequently asked us to rewind the tape so they could hear the parts missed while laughing. I've lost track of the number of times we've listened to this tape. My only regret is that there weren't even more stories included. The accompanying music is also excellent.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
yet another politcally correct tall tale,
By Laurie J. Neverman "The Common Sense Woman" (Denmark, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Paul Bunyan (Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics) (Hardcover)
What happened to just looking at history for what it was? This book ends with Paul feeling sorry for cutting down all those trees and going off to plant new ones. How very PC. While now we know that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to clear cut and rape the land, at the time these legends emerged it was seen as a sign of progress. I would have much preferred simply enjoying the rough and ready, log chopping, flannel covered, pancake eating fun. That era is gone forever, and books like this detract from it rather than pay tribute to the hard work and ingenuity required to build our nation. Add an addendum if you must at the end of story, explaining how and when the logging was done and how we now do things differently, but don't change the original story.
I also felt the text itself was somewhat patronizing with its contrived language and overuse of hyperbole.
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