legends & tall tales book list

Picture:

• Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums,   Grapes and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains by Deborah Hopkinson

• The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Steven Kellogg
  (Steven Kellogg has a whole series of classic legends and tall tales, including Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed, Mike Fink, etc.)

• John Henry by Julius Lester

 
 

Primary:

• Animal Folk Tales of America by Tony Palazzo

• Paul Bunyan and Other Tall Tales by Jane B. Mason

• By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman

Middle Grade:

There seems to be a big gap here. I have been able to find legends and tall tales rewritten for children and for adults (which older teens are able to read), but I have yet to find quality re-tellings appropriate for both the reading level and maturity level of tweens. I will update the list as I discover appropriate selections.

 

Young Adult:

• Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam
  (This is a modern story with tall tale flavor. It does contain some adult themes.)

• Glastonbury: The Novel of Christian England by Donna Fletcher Crow
  (This novel, divided into sections, is based on several historical legends from the British Isles.) 

• Taliesin by Steven Lawhead