Rabbit Ears Treasury of Tall Tales: Volume One: Davy Crockett, Rip Van Winkle, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan (Rabbit Ears)
by Rabbit Ears
from Listening Library (Audio)
The Rabbit Ears Treasury of American Tall Tales features the larger-than-life characters of America's favorite folk stories--read by your favorite stars and featuring original music by some of today's greatest artists.
Davy Crockett
Read by Nicolas Cage
Original Music by David Bromberg
Follow the escapades of America's ultimate backwoods hero as he travels the frontier in his trademark coonskin cap in search of adventure and brags his way into history at the Battle of the Alamo.
Rip Van Winkle
Read by Anjelica Huston
Original Music by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
This Washington Irving classic tells the story of likeable but lazy Rip Van Winkle, who shared a strange brew with some mysterious strangers and fell into a deep sleep for 20 years. He discovers when he finally wakes that things are considerably different than he remembers, providing a cautionary tale about making the most of life.
Johnny Appleseed
Read by Garrison Keillor
Original Music by Mark O'Connor
Here is the touching tale of the good-natured naturalist who traveled through the Ohio Valley in the early 1800s planting apple orchards, making friends, and spreading goodwill. Walk the miles with this barefoot explorer who never met an apple pie he didn't like.
Paul Bunyan
Read by Jonathan Winters
Original Music by Leo Kottke with Duck Baker
The larger-than-life lumberjack swaggers through the forests of North America with his faithful companion, Babe the Blue Ox, by his side. Hear about the pancake griddle that's over an acre wide and the truly tall tale of how the Great Lakes and Grand Canyon were created.
Rainbow Crow (Dragonfly Books)
by Nancy Van Laan
from Dragonfly Books
Illus. in full color. This story of how the Rainbow Crow lost his sweet voice and brilliant colors by bringing the gift of fire to the other woodland animals is "a Native American legend that will be a fine read-aloud because of the smooth text and songs with repetitive chants. The illustrations, done in a primitive style, create a true sense of the Pennsylvania Lenape Indians and their winters."--School Library Journal. Â
Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time
by James Cloyd Bowman
from NYR Children's Collection
“Pecos Bill had the strangest and most exciting experience any boy ever had. He became a member of a pack of wild Coyotes, and until he was a grown man, believed that his name was Cropear, and that he was a full-blooded Coyote. Later he discovered that he was a human being and very shortly thereafter became the greatest cowboy of all time. This is how it all came about.”
A Newbery Honor book in 1938, James Bowman’s PECOS BILL is the perfect introduction to a great American comic hero and to the delights of the American tall tale. Jolted off the back of his westward-bound pioneer family’s covered wagon, four-year-old Bill is left in the dust by his eighteen wawling and brawling siblings and never-suspecting mom and dad. Raised by coyotes as one of their own, Bill retains a natural innocence while developing a host of supernatural powers. When he finds out that he is a man, not a coyote, and returns to confront the often inhuman human world, those powers will come in handy. Bill never uses them maliciously, always for good, or simply to amaze and amuse.
James Bowman was a fine folklorist and an outstanding storyteller and he relates Pecos Bill’s wild deeds in a plainspoken voice that highlights their wonderful swagger and charm. With lively color and black-and-white illustrations by Laura Bannon, Bowman’s PECOS BILL remakes bedrock American myth into a novel full of high adventure, outrageous fantasy, laughter, and sheer fun.
Spirits Dark and Light: Supernatural Tales from the Five Civilized Tribes
by Tim Tingle
from August House
The term Five Civilized Tribes is the name commonly given to the five major tribes of the southeastern part of the United States: the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. These tribes came into contact with Europeans early in American history and adapted quickly to new conditions. In the Native American tradition, there is a strong connection between the spirit world and the natural world. What happens in one has a definite impact on the other. In this collection, Native American storyteller Tim Tingle draws from the rich heritage of the Five Civilized Tribes, and brings tales from the spirit world into our world.
Raccoon's Last Race
by Joseph and James Bruchac
from Dial
Long ago, Azban the Raccoon loved to race on his long legs. He was the fastest of all the animals, but he was also the most conceited. When the other animals grew tired of his attitude, Azban chose Big Rock as his next opponent. But, busy taunting instead of running, Azban tripped . . . and Big Rock flattened him--splat! Only the ants would help stretch Azban out again--as long as he promised to be their friend. Did Azban keep this promise? Is the raccoon still the fastest of all the animals?
In this lively, funny romp, the team that created How Chipmunk Got His Stripes and Turtle's Race with Beaver once again captures the fun and energy of traditional Native American stories. This time, they have chosen an Abenaki tale that warns against arrogance and honors the importance of keeping your promises.
Way Up and Over Everything
by Alice McGill
from Houghton Mifflin
My great-grandmama's mama told her and she told me this story about a long time ago . . .
So begins this account of the author's great-great-grandmother Jane, and how she meets a slave new to the plantation, a slave who would prove to have magical powers . . . created by the wish for freedom. Alice McGill remembers this story, passed down in her family through the generations, from her childhood and how her greatgrandmother told it to her "as if unveiling a great, wonderful secret. My siblings and I believed that certain Africans shared this gift of taking to the air—'way up and over everything.'"
One-Hundred-and-One African-American Read-Aloud Stories
by Susan Kantor
from Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
The newest volume in the popular Read-Aloud series, this engaging collection features the best African-American short stories and excerpts to read to children in under ten minutes. The diverse tales, selected for their rich histories, spiritual writings and adventurous characters, offer the perfect bed-time--or any other time--activities for parents, grandparents, siblings or babysitters. The book includes 50 beautiful drawings that capture the spirit of these tales, legends, lore and fables. The narratives are faithful adaptations of the oral and written stories passed down through the centuries. They include Langston Hughes, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and Paula Fox.
El baston magico (I Love My Mommy)
by Maria Celeste Arraras
from Scholastic en Espanol
When an old woman approaches Karmelo and Moconoco, Moconoco steals her golden walking cane. He wickedly breaks the cane into three pieces as Karmelo helps her up. The old woman curses Moconoco with three of everything-- three eyes, three ears, three noses. She rewards Karmelo for his kindness with the broken cane, promising happiness when the three pieces are united.
Moconoco grows up to be an evil emperor and Karmelo grows up to be a poor slave. He gives the pieces to his three children and with the help of the cane, they must save their land from the cruel emperor!
En esta encantadora fabula original, la reconocida periodista y estrella de television, Maria Celeste Arraras, narra una historia magica sobre la importancia de la union familiar. Tres hermanitos, cada uno poseedor de un don extraordinario, deben salvar un imperio de las maquinaciones de un malvado gobernante. Los dones del fuego, el viento y el agua, sin embargo, no bastan para detener al cruel emperador. Gracias al amor de sus padres y a un baston magico proveniente de una ancianita, los ninos descubren que no hay nada mas poderoso que el amor de una familia y que unidos pueden acabar con el odio y la codicia.
Tales from the Keeper of the Myths: Cherokee Stories for Children
by Shirley G. Webb
from AuthorHouse
The Enchanted Moccasins and Other Native American Legends
by Henry R. Schoolcraft
from Dover Publications
