Tall Tales
Tall Tales have long been a staple of American folk literature, often featuring stories of legendary figures such as Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Daniel Boone, Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, and John Henry. These stories, told as if they are factual, all have unbelievable elements. While some are exaggerations of actual events or persons, many are fictional tales. Also popular today are Original Tall Tales, most often set in contemporary settings but maintaining the same structure as a traditional tall tale.
Tall Tale Checklist:
- The story has many exaggerations in it.
- The main character has a problem to solve.
- The main character is bigger than life and has super-human abilities.
- The plot of the story is funny and impossible.
- In the end, the main character solves a problem, overcomes an obstacle and/or defeats a “bad guy.”
- The story includes lots of action.
(Taken from http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2267)
Browse through these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students.
Contributor: Emily Griffin
Reviews
The Great Texas Hamster Drive: An Original Tall Tales
Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley
This clever story with it humorous storyline and eye-catching illustrations is sure to please early elementary readers. Set in early West Texas, it features a young ranching family of four boys and a girl. The girl, Slue Foot Sal, announces at the dinner table that she would like to have a pet hamster. Her brothers find this amusing, but her sympathetic father phones a friend in Chicago who owns a mail order catalogue business and soon, two hamsters arrive by train. The two males that were ordered turn out not to be two males. Soon, the ranch is overrun with hamsters--thousands of them. Dad calls his friend again, and he suggests rounding them all up and herding them to Abilene to catch the train back to Chicago. Sal is comforted by the fact that they all will get good homes with families in Chicago. Well, the hamster drive begins, but not without incident. The cowboy lingo and the mere thought of driving thousands of hamsters as if they were cattle will make both adults and young readers chuckle. 2007, Marshall Cavendish, $16.99. Ages 6 to 8. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780761453574
ISBN: 0761453571
The Gum-Chewing Rattler
Joe Hayes
Illustrated by Antonio Castro L.
Veteran storyteller Hayes masterfully spins a kid-pleasing tall-tale from the Arizona desert. From the first line, “When I was a kid growing up in Arizona, I used to love to chew bubblegum,” he shows his gift for connecting with young readers, who will completely accept his report of gum-inspired scoldings from a stern teacher and gum-caused laundry woes, and then--why not?--his story of how his trusty wad of bubblegum saved him from a rattlesnake: the snake’s fangs get entangled in the gum and then the snake blows the world’s biggest bubble which explodes in the world’s biggest pop. Mexican artist Antonio Castro’s hyper-realistic illustrations complement the text perfectly. Young Joe is depicted with such meticulous attention to detail, from the gum bulge in his cheek to the hole in the bottom of his boot, that the gum-chewing rattler seems just as convincing: if a snake did chew bubblegum, this would be exactly how he would look. A brief illustrator’s note at the end shows how Castro uses models to achieve his realistic effects. A surefire storytime pleaser. 2006, Cinco Puntos Press, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780938317999
ISBN: 0938317997
Little Old Big Beard and Big Young Little Beard: A Short and Tall Tale
Remy Charlip
Illustrated by Tamara Rettenmund
The tall, narrow size of the book perfectly suits this cowboy tale of Old Big Beard (who is little) and Young Little Beard (who is big), who are best friends. Each evening they would camp at the top of the hill with their cow, Grace, and eat their favorite meal--beans, of course. One night, Grace was missing and so they went in search of her. They were so distraught at losing her they began to cry. Their tears formed puddles around their feet. But then they heard a familiar sound. Lo and behold, they had found Grace. Or at least she had found them. They returned to the top of the hill and the cowboys broke out in song, in a parody of a familiar hymn: "A-grazing Grace/ How sweet/ You Found/ Such wretched/ souls/ as we...." The tall tale aspects of this story will make it a popular choice for the primary grade curriculum. The interactive aspects, such as finding the hidden animals on the hillside and using a finger to follow the trail up the hill will appeal to the young readers. The cartoon-style illustrations are full of expression and humor befitting a tall tale. Background colors vary with the time of day. The intended audience may not understand the parody, but adults will laugh out loud. 2003, Marshall Cavendish, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780761452881
ISBN: 0761452885
Pancakes for Supper!
Anne Isaacs
Illustrated by Mark Teague
Isaacs moves the old tale of Little Black Sambo to maple sugar country, giving it a whole new look. Young Toby is singing a happy song about her beautiful new clothes when she is suddenly bounced out of her family’s wagon up into the sky. When she crash lands in the snow, she is confronted by a very hungry wolf. To save herself, she offers her brand new coat, to make him “the grandest beast, West or East!” Next she encounters a cougar, who takes her lovely sweater to be the grandest. When a skunk takes aim, she trades him her boots. A porcupine settles for her dress, a bear her mittens. As the animals come back together, she fearfully climbs a tree. But their fight over who is the grandest ends in a golden-brown puddle at the bottom of the tree, from which there is soon maple syrup for pancakes and a happy ending. Teague’s oil paints create large, double-page scenes of action. The animals and people are all solidly sculptural; the animals seem to have had acting lessons as they threaten Toby and parade proudly in her clothes. Her fear and ultimate joy are also expressed with expressive gestures. The broad comedy is written with gusto. A recipe for “Animal Pancakes,” complete with imaginative possibilities and a warning about parental help, makes a neat ending on the back cover. 2006, Scholastic Press, $15.99. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780439644839
ISBN: 0439644836
Pecos Bill
Stephen Krensky
Illustrated by Paul Tong
Pecos is a larger than life character along the lines of Paul Bunyan and John Henry. What is particularly good about this chapter book is the introductory information explaining what a tall tale is and how it may or may not be based on the life of an actual person. Pecos Bill fell off his family’s wagon train as they headed west and ended up joining a pack of coyotes who raised him. One day he is found by a cowboy and learns that he is human, but he has abilities beyond any normal person. He rides a mountain lion and uses a rattlesnake as a lasso. He out rides, out snores, out eats and drink everyone and leads a gang of cowboys out on the range. Then one day he meets Sluefoot Sue and his life is changed forever. The story is well told. The illustrations are realistic and depict scenes and people that one would expect to see in the old west. 2007, Millbrook Press, $25.26. Ages 7 to 10. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781575058894
ISBN: 1575058898
Peggony Po: A Whale of a Tale
Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Ever heard the story of Peggony-Po? It’s a story that begins with a whale, ends with a whale, and has a whole lot of whale in its middle.” Peggony-Po tells the story of a sailor boy who can swim faster than any fish in the sea and can stay underwater for as long as he likes because he is not your average sailor boy. Peggony-Po is made of wood! His father creates him out of a piece of driftwood that has saved his life after he tries to catch Cetus, the most feared whale in the sea. Peggony-Po soon sets out on an adventure to catch Cetus for his father, but the crewman on the ship he is on do not believe he is capable of this. Peggony-Po nevertheless believes in himself and is determined he can capture this beast. Brian Pinkney’s scratchboard illustrations fully capture the story that Andrea Pinkney tells. His use of color and placement perfectly compliment this tale and help bring it to life. This maritime story teaches children that they can achieve anything as long as they believe in themselves. This is a story that people of all ages can learn from and enjoy. 2006, Hyperion Books for Children, $16.99. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Tony Webb (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780786819584
ISBN: 0786819588
Rabbit Ears American Tall Tales: Volume Four: Annie Oakley, Pecos Bill
Rabbit Ears
Where does the fact end and the fiction begin? Devotees of American tall tales delight in the speculation. When did Phoebe Ann Moses first pick up a rifle and impress the world? Was it love at first sight when Frank Butler was outshot in competition by Annie? What words passed between Annie and Sitting Bull during the Wild West Show? How could an esteemed cowboy like Sourdough be outwitted by a coyote-turned-cowpoke riding a cougar? Keith Carradine and Robin Williams provide distinctive narration. Carradine's reading is briskly paced and straightforward. Williams brings his signature multiple voices for crafty Bill, coyotes, and cowboys. He is as animated or as deadpan as such tall tale exaggeration warrants. The background scores for each tale support the escapades richly. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine 2007 (Orig. 1991), Listening Library/ Rabbit Ears, One CDs, $20.00. Ages 8 up. Reviewer: Ann Ritchie (Audiofile, February/March 2008).
ISBN: 9780739360934
ISBN: 0739360930
Railroad John and the Red Rock Run
Tony Crunk
Illustrated by Michael Austin
We are back in the Old West, where Lonesome Bob and Granny Apple Fritter are waiting at the Sugar City station to board the Sagebrush Flyer to Red Rock. Railroad John assures them that the train has never been late, so Lonesome Bob will be on time for his two o’clock wedding to Wildcat Annie. But first the train is stopped and they are robbed of their coal by Bad Bill and his outlaw gang. Fueled by Granny’s special muffins, they go “cahooting down the tracks” only to find a bridge washed out by a storm. Using his guitar strings, Bob lassos a lightning bolt to cross the creek. Out of fuel again, they are picked up by a whirly-wind and deposited right on time. Wildcat Annie has even captured Bad Bill, for a really jolly wedding. The text is enlivened by songs in the vernacular of the West, and the ridiculous recipe for Granny Apple Fritter’s Hard-Shell Chili-Pepper Corn Pone Muffins explains how they fueled the engine. Full-page acrylic paintings in tones of brown are filled with appropriate details, all stylized to enhance the comic melodrama of the tall tale. Austin’s characters are sculpturesque, and even the engine has an engaging personality. The scene of an astonished cow flying past the train, eyes popping, adds an exclamation point to the jaunty visuals. 2006, Peachtree Publishers, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781561453634
ISBN: 1561453633
The Rumour
Anuskha Ravishankar
Illustrated by Kanyika Kani
“Deep in the Sahyadri Mountains…” begins this charming fable from Anushka Ravishankar, best-known for Tiger on a Tree. In a prosperous village, people pass the time by telling tall tales. Hyperbole and extended metaphor characterize the humorous text about an ill-tempered man named Pandurang who “scowled at stories and snorted at jokes.” That is, until the day he coughs and spits out a feather. He makes his wife promise she won’t tell anyone. Naturally, the tale grows and grows, until it is every bit as tall as the book’s opening promised us it would be. Illustrator Kani employs ink and color pencils. Her vivid palette, interesting slants of perspective, and whimsical decorative elements join together to complement the text perfectly. The rural setting is engagingly quirky, and the expressions on the characters’ faces are hilarious. An enormous centered illustration cleverly helps to bring the tall tale to a climax in a spread that sends all the villagers off to look for Pandurang himself. What happens next is a clever turn of story that brings the book to a conclusion both surprising and inevitable. Between the well-voiced text, the arresting illustrations, and the many layers of narrative, readers are sure to feel invited to return for repeated readings. 2009, Karadi Tales, Ages 4 to 8, $9.99. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-81-8190-165-1
Stagecoach Sal: Inspired by a True Tale
Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by Carson Ellis
There is nothing that Sal likes to do more than help her Pa with his stagecoach route. She helps collect the fares, keep the “grown-ups from brawling and the babies from bawling.” She finally gets her chance to drive solo--with her feet not even touching the floorboards--when her Pa is injured. As Sal sets out, her ma worries that she may encounter that no-good outlaw Poetic Pete who conducts his holdups in rhyme. When she picks up a stranded, fancy dressed passenger she is not fooled at all. Inviting him to ride shotgun, Sal regales him in a booming voice with all the songs she knows from Polly Wolly Doodle to Sweet Betsy From Pike. Verse after verse she sings until she is hoarse and puts Poetic Pete to sleep. As morning dawns, she pulls up in front of the jailhouse and leads the desperado inside. This is a rollicking, lively tale with a spunky heroine sure to bring a smile to the lips of the reader. While the story has the feel of a tall tale, it is inspired by the true adventures of Delia Haskett Rawson, the first and possibly only woman stagecoach drive to deliver U.S. mail. Pen-and-ink with watercolor illustrations in sepia with touches of red and green lend an air of the old West. Just like the jarring stagecoach ride, the text bounces and winds its way across the pages and begs to be read aloud. For kids not familiar with these old chestnuts, there is a website listed to hear Sal’s favorite songs. Here is a wonderful addition to units about Westward Expansion and Women in History. 2009, Hyperion, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781423111498
ISBN: 1423111494
The Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan: The Graphic Novel
Martin Powell
Illustrated by Aaron Blecha
The tall tale of Paul Bunyan is hilariously retold in graphic novel format, giving new life to the story of the biggest woodsmen who ever lived. In this retelling, Paul wears wagon wheels for shirt buttons, hires seven assistant woodsmen, all named Elmer, and pulls his companion, Babe, the blue ox, out of a frozen pond. He nurses Babe back to health and the two enormous pals make their way across the United States. Paul and Babe walk through Minnesota, and the footprints they leave become the state's famous ten thousand lakes. In the Tennessee hills, Paul stops to smoke his pipe, and the hills become known as the Smoky Mountains. In the far south, Paul and Babe help the residents rid themselves of “bee-skeeters,” which create the giant southern bayous. Finally, the two visit the desert, start roughhousing, and make the Grand Canyon. On their way back home, Paul wrestles with Old Man Winter, who has Minnesota completely buried in snow. Paul holds up Old Man Winter closer to the sun, where Old Man Winter melts and becomes Lake Superior. This loony depiction of the quintessential American tall tale is fun, funny, and likely to get the most reluctant reader more interested in both American history and geography. Also included in the book are a glossary, writing prompts, and discussion questions. It is recommended for ages 8 and up. 2010, Capstone Publishing Company, Ages 8 up, $22.65. Reviewer: Lauri Berkenkamp (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781434218971
ISBN: 9781434222688
To read reviews of Tall Tale books from previous years, click on the following links:
2008
2005
2003
Added 06/28/10
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