Johnny Appleseed

by Eric Blair Narrated by Capstone Press

Overview

Relates episodes from the life of Johnny Appleseed, a peaceful man who roamed the West for fifty years planting and tending to the trees that bore his favorite fruit, the apple.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Each of these titles is part of a series of tall tales designed to generate enthusiasm for reading in newly independent readers. The problem with the books is that the subjects actually lived and had an impact on American history. Facts about their lives are documented in many resources, and Blair never distinguishes fact from fiction. He presents these figures as caricatures, never really commenting on their accomplishments. He confuses Daniel Boone with Davy Crockett, known for telling wild stories about wrestling with a grizzly bear, and doesn't mention the significance of the Wilderness Road that went through the Cumberland Gap. Johnny Appleseed didn't travel throughout the West, just the Ohio River Valley. And Annie Oakley likely didn't buy ice-cream cones for all the kids in Texas. The illustrations, digitally rendered in Appleseed and in acrylics in Oakley and Boone, add to the books' cartoonlike flavor. Stephen Krensky's Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig (S & S, 2002) is a fine example of a biography for newly independent readers. It focuses on one event, generating interest in reading more about Lincoln's life. While well-written and competently illustrated curriculum-based materials are always welcome, these seem more like a badly produced television show than quality children's books.-Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database Newsletter

Author Eric Blair tells the tale of the boy who grew into a man and sprinkled apple seeds on his travels from the East Coast to the West. Blair begins the story of Johnny Appleseed as a young boy picking apples from an apple tree because he loved apples and apple trees. The reader can almost smell and taste apples as Johnny smells and takes a bite out of a juicy apple. When Johnny grows older, he begins to travel around the country with a cooking pot on his head and a sack of apple seeds around his neck. Johnny's mission is to plant seeds in good places so everyone can enjoy apples. His trees grow big and strong. Johnny makes friends with animals and people as he travels around the country. He is a good story teller and has lots of tales to tell. The years pass by and Johnny Appleseed grows old, but he still travels to far-off places wearing his cooking pot hat and planting apple seeds so that others can enjoy the taste of a juicy, red apple. Johnny Appleseed is a thirty-two-page picture book illustrated with bright colorful pictures. The language is easy with only one, two, or three sentences per page. Author Blair has written an entertaining book for a beginning reader.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172641510
Publisher:	Capstone Press
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Language:	Spanish
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

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