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Kellogg, Steven,
JOHNNY APPLESEED: A Tall Tale.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket. (FICTION: ages 10 to
14). (Harper Collins). Bibliography, afterword. 208 pages
~~~ From
Publishers Weekly: Johnny Appleseed (his real last name was Chapman) is
reintroduced in this succinct rendition of the life of a beloved American folk
hero, from his birth in Massachusetts in 1774 to his death in Indiana in 1845.
Kellogg chronicles Johnny's travels throughout the land, his legendary
scattering of appleseeds (originally culled from the orchards he frequented as a
child) and his storytelling of Bible and adventure stories to the children and
adults he meets along the way, which were embroidered as they were passed along
by word-of-mouth). Kellogg's illustrations illuminate a man that all
schoolchildren know, in a polished blend of fact and fiction. All ages.
$17.00
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Durrant, Lynda,
THE SUN, THE RAIN, AND THE APPLE SEED: A Novel of Johnny
Appleseed's Life.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket. (FICTION: ages 10 to
14). (Houghton Mifflin Company). Bibliography, afterword. 208 pages
~~~ From
Publishers WeeklyDurrant's (The Beaded Moccasins: The Story of Mary
Campbell) well-crafted fictional account of Johnny Appleseed's life reads
like an adventure tale. "One for doubt under the hoe, / One to sprout, and one
to grow." Johnny's father might have been a drunk ("Nathaniel Chapman's very
soul stank of applejack") and an army deserter, but with this homily he plants a
seed of inspiration in his son, who lights out for the wilderness to start apple
orchards for pioneers. As he crisscrosses the Midwest, "Johnny Appleseed's"
fervor about his mission and his ascetic lifestyle (he owns only the clothes
upon his back, a saucepan that doubles as a hat and cornmeal, and his seeds and
a Bible given to him as gifts) quickly makes him the stuff of legend. "You're
all the talk of the Ohio, upstream and down," says a settler near Cincinnati.
Though his mystical religious beliefs (he considered himself betrothed to a pair
of stars he called "spirit-wives") make some folks nervous, they're won over by
his sincerity and bravery (during the War of 1812, he ran for three days and
nights to warn settlers of impending native attacks). Durrant weaves history and
politics into her chronicle of Appleseed's colorful life, along with generous
helpings of suspense, including a run-in with bears when Johnny inadvertently
tries to share their hollow log. Lively, homespun descriptions ("Whenever he
tried to reason it out, his brain would get as muddled as a corn-and-cranberry
pudding") and an informative afterword round out the tale.
$15.00
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Auden, W.H.,
PAUL BUNYAN.
NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Faber & Faber). With an essay by Donald Mitchell.
150 pages.
~~~ is is the lively, witty and often moving text of W.H. Auden's libretto for Benjamin Britten's operetta about the giant logger of American folklore. The idea was first floated in 1939, soon after Britten's arrival in New York, and Paul Bunyan proved to be his first full-length work for the musical theatre. The words are now part of the canon of Auden's early verse.
$10.95
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Shepherd, Esther,
PAUL BUNYAN: Twenty-One Tales of the
Legendary Logger.
NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Harcourt, 2006).
Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. Ages 9 - 12. 233 pages.
~~~ Paul Bunyan was never "stumped," and no job was ever
too big for him and his blue ox to handle. From Michigan to
Minnesota, from North Dakota to the Pacific Northwest, wherever
Paul went, he liked to do things in a big way.
~~~
In Esther Shepard's classic collection, originally published in
1924 and now available in this handsome new edition, the Paul
Bunyan stories are superbly told in folksy narrative and
robustly illustrated with Rockwell Kent's line drawings.
These twenty-one tales about the super lumberjack are a unique
American contribution to the world's folklore.
.
$5.95
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Dance, Daryl Cumber (ed),
FROM MY PEOPLE:
400 Years of African-American Folklore.
VG/VG, hardcover with dust jacket. (WW Norton, 2002).
736 pages.
~~~ "What an astonishingly rich collection of African American folklore Dance has
produced! A major contribution to African American scholarship." -- Henry Louis
Gates, Jr.
$35.00
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Nelson, Scott Reynolds,
STEEL DRIVIN' MAN: The Untold
Story of an American Legend.
NF/NF. (NY: Oxford University Press, 2006).
25 b&w illus. 224 pages.
~~~ From Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. According to the ballad that made him famous, John Henry did battle with a steam-powered drill, beat the machine and died. Folklorists have long thought John Henry to be mythical, but while researching railroad work songs, historian Nelson, of the College of William and Mary, discovered that Henry was a real person—a short black 19-year-old from New Jersey who was convicted of theft in a Virginia court in 1866. Under discriminatory Black Codes, Henry was sentenced to 10 years in the Virginia Penitentiary and put to work building the C&O Railroad. There, at the Lewis Tunnel, Henry and other prisoners worked alongside steam-powered drills, and at least 300 of them died. This slender book is many-layered. It's Nelson's story of piecing together the biography of the real John Henry, and rarely is the tale of hours logged in archives so interesting. It's the story of fatal racism in the postbellum South. And it's the story of work songs, songs that not only turned Henry into a folk hero but, in reminding workers to slow down or die, were a tool of resistance and protest. This is a remarkable work of scholarship and a riveting story.
$25.00
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M. Jagendorf,
NEW ENGLAND BEANPOT:
American Folk Stories to Read and to Tell.
VG/VG. Jacket in mylar protect. Gift inscription (not from
author) on front pastedown. (Book given as gift to a library,
but library never processed it, so there are no other
marks anywhere on book). (NY: Vanguard Press, 1948). 6th Printing. Illustrated by Donald McKay.
Introduction by B.A. Botkin. 272 pages.
$25.00
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Peck, Catherine (ed),
A TREASURY OF NORTH AMERICAN
FOLK TALES.
VG/VG, hardcover with dust jacket. (WW Norton, 1998).
380 pages.
~~~ "Like an old, old coin . . . bearing the sweat and palm oil of millions who've
handled it, these anonymous stories and yarns, legends and myths, distill the
collective experience of mankind." --Charles Johnson, from the Introduction A
Treasury of North American Folktales is a celebration of the voices that make up
America. Ranging from American Indian love stories to Davy Crockett's account of
killing a bear with a knife, from Brer Rabbit's mischief to Johnny Appleseed's
good deeds, from hilarious yarns about killer mosquitoes to eerie encounters
with the devil, this collection of over 100 tales overflows with the richness of
American tradition. This bountiful harvest of folklore contains tales from
Alaska's Kodiak Island, the Cajun bayous of Louisiana, the Ozark hill country,
the Hispanic Southwest, and much more. Here you will find American Indian tales
of how the world was made; tall tales, brags, and lies; legendary heroes,
heroines, and villains like Casey Jones and Annie Oakley; mythical characters
like Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Pecos Bill; tricks and tricksters; romantic
tales; and scary ghost stories. This striking anthology is a book to keep, to
linger over, and to read aloud to every generation.
$29.95
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C.G. Knoblock,
ABOVE BELOW:
Tales and Folklore of the Fabulous Upper Peninsula.
VG/Poor. Book is tight & clean. Jacket is in very poor
condition with tears. SPINE OF JACKET COMPLETELY GONE.
Jacket (front & rear panels only) in mylar protector.
(Norwood, Mass: The Plimpton Press, 1952).
Second Printing. SIGNED BY AUTHOR on front flyleaf, just
abover owner's signature. Illustrated by author.
238 pages.
$25.00
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Harris, Joel Chandler,
UNCLE REMUS: His Songs & Sayings.
NEW copy, trade PAPERBACK. (Penguin American Library).
Penguin Classics.
222 pages.
~~~ Here is a collection of black folktales, proverbs, songs, and character sketches
based on stories Joel Chandler Harris, a white Southern journalist, had
heard as a child.
$12.00
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Leonard Roberts (compiler),
OLD GREASYBEARD:
Tales from the Cumberland Gap.
VG--/Poor. Slight waterstain along edge of opening pages: book
otherwise tight and clean. Jacket in poor condition with tears
and water-rippling. Jacket in mylar protector.
(Detroit: Folklore Associates, 1969). With an essay by Donald Mitchell.
215 pages.
$25.00
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