12 Tall Tale Mini Books

12 Tall Tale
Mini-Books by Jeannette Sanderson
Johnny Appleseed Davy Crockett

Pecos Bill Paul Bunyan
Febold Feboldson John Henry Mose Humphreys Joe Magarac
Sam Patch Slue-Foot Sue

Gib Morgan Alfred Bulltop
Stormalong
New York Toronto London Auckland Sydney Mexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Buenos Aires
12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

For Catie and Nolan—
I didn’t lasso a cyclone,
or jump Niagara Falls;
I didn’t plant an orchard,
or answer fire calls.
I didn’t ride a catfish,
or sail the ocean blue;
instead I wrote this book,
which I dedicate to you.
Acknowledgment
I would also like to thank my editor,
Sarah Longhi, who worked especially hard
to make this the best book it could be.
Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the reproducible pages from
this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in
whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to
Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Cover design by Kelli Thompson
Cover and interior illustrations by Margeaux Lucas
Interior design by Ellen Matlach Hassell
for Boultinghouse & Boultinghouse, Inc.
ISBN: 0-439-30963-8
Copyright © 2002 by Jeannette Sanderson
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Contents
Introduction
About This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About Tall Tales and Suggested Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Background and Teaching Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Mini-Books
Johnny Appleseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pecos Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Paul Bunyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Davy Crockett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Febold Feboldson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
John Henry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Mose Humphreys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Joe Magarac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Gib Morgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Sam Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Slue-Foot Sue and Pecos Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Alfred Bulltop Stormalong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Introduction
About This Book How to Make
This collection of 12 mini-books will put some of
America’s best-known and best-loved tall tales into
the Mini-Books
your children’s hands, hearts, and memories. Easy to 1. Make double-sided photocopies of the mini-book
make and easy to read, these books will bring history pages. (Carefully tear along the perforation to
and humor to all of your students, even those who remove the pages from the book.) Most mini-
are not confident readers. Written in a comic-book books consist of 6 letter-sized pages; only the Gib
style, the illustrations, dialogue, and narrative text of Morgan mini-book (pages 59–62) consists of 4.
each mini-book are inviting to readers of all levels Note: If your machine does not have a double-
and interests. sided function, first make copies of mini-book
A brief overview of the tall tale genre and a list of pages 1/3. Place these copies in the paper tray
books for further reading is on page 5. with the blank side facing up. Next, make a copy
Background information on each tall tale mini- of mini-book pages 2/4 so that page 2 copies
book is included on pages 6–10. This section will directly behind page 1 and page 4 copies directly
include the following features for each mini-book: behind page 3. Make a test copy to be sure the
Background This section gives the origin of each tall pages are positioned correctly. Repeat these steps
tale. It tells whether the tall tale is based on fact or is with pages 5/7 and 6/8 and finally with 9/11 and
entirely fictional. It also includes any background 10/12.
information that might help students better under- Regardless of how you make the double-sided
stand the tall tale. copies, you may need to experiment to be sure
the pages are aligned properly, and that page 2
Vocabulary Potentially difficult or unfamiliar words appears directly behind page 1.
in each mini-book are highlighted here. You might
also consider pronouncing names and locations for 2. Cut apart the mini-book pages along the dashed
students before they begin reading. line.
3. Place the pages in numerical order and then sta-
Teaching Activity An easy classroom activity for each ple along the mini-book’s spine.
mini-book is included to help reinforce the lesson.
4. Invite students to color the illustrations.
seed his p ssion. .
pple
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ny ap
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apple n it.
know
even
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as ap
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ost as cu
ed alm . He could re injured.
ny lov m we
g John ed hi they
e only thin And they lov them when
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imals sick,
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th
when apple er.
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uld he e Mi ple ea s
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ny de trees s
John ing apple ndred year early fronti so many ap
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apple n it. W nt.
know to pla
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eds to s doned hi ing
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4 12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

About Tall Tales Suggested Reading
The dictionary defines a tall tale as a story that is
For students:
exaggerated and difficult to believe. Most fans of tall
tales would add that they’re just plain fun! Gorham, Michael. The Real Book of American Tall
Exaggerated storytelling has been around forever, Tales. New York: Garden City Books, 1952.
though most of the tall tales retold in this book origi- Lisker, Tom. Tall Tales: American Myths. New York:
nated in America in the 1800s. They were born to sat- Contemporary Perspectives, 1991.
isfy two needs that people have always had but that Osborne, Mary Pope. American Tall Tales. New York:
were especially great in nineteenth-century America: Knopf, 1991.
the need for entertainment and the need for inspira-
San Souci, Robert D. Larger than Life: The
tion.
Adventures of American Legendary Heroes. New
In the 1800s, people didn’t have radios, televi-
York: Doubleday, 1991.
sions, and computers to provide entertainment to
while away the hours between work and sleep. One of Stoutenburg, Adrien. American Tall Tales. New York:
the most popular ways to spend a long evening was Viking, 1966.
telling stories. Some of these stories started out as For teachers:
truth, some as pure fiction, but with many retellings
Blair, Walter. Tall Tale America: A Legendary History
most became taller and taller tales.
of our Humorous Heroes. New York: Coward,
While entertaining, many of these tall tales also
McCann & Geoghegan, 1944.
provided inspiration. The sailor setting out to sea, the
pioneer setting out for distant lands, the freeman set- Botkin, B. A. A Treasury of American Folklore. New
ting out to an unknown future—all these and more York: Crown, 1944.
needed courage to help them face the challenges Brown, Carolyn S. The Tall Tale in American Folklore
ahead. In The Real Book of American Tall Tales, and Literature. Knoxville: University of Tennessee
Michael Gorham writes that tall tales “tell . . . that Press, 1987.
there’s almost nothing a human being can’t do if he Coffin, Tristram Potter, and Hennig Cohen. The
sets his mind to it.” These stories that showed what Parade of Heroes: Legendary Figures in American
extraordinary people could do also hinted at what Lore. New York: Doubleday, 1978.
ordinary people might accomplish. Dorson, Richard M. America in Legend: Folklore
Most of these tall tales were first told orally and from the Colonial Period to the Present. New York:
were later written down; some originated in print. We Pantheon, 1973.
are lucky to have them today. Even in our fast-paced
world with more entertainment options than the Dorson, Richard M. Man and Beast in American
West once had trees, tall tales can entertain—and Comic Legend. Bloomington: Indiana University
inspire. Press, 1982.
Haviland, Virginia. North American Legends. London:
William Collins, 1979.
The Life Treasury of American Folklore. New York:
Time, Inc., 1961.
Malcolmson, Anne. Yankee Doodle’s Cousins. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1941.
Shay, Frank. Here’s Audacity. New York: Macaulay,
1930.
12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources 5

Background and Teaching Activities
patterned Bill after Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, and
other legendary heroes. While O’Reilly had Bill being
Johnny Appleseed raised by coyotes, riding an Oklahoma cyclone, and
Background This tall tale is based on the life of an inventing many cowboy skills, the legend did not end
actual person, John Chapman, an American pioneer with him. After the story was written, many others
who planted apple orchards in the wildernesses of added their own twists to it. Pecos Bill has since
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Chapman was born in become the subject of books, articles, poems, record-
Massachusetts about 1775, moved to the Ohio River ings, and plays.
Valley as a young man, and for nearly 50 years trav- Vocabulary
eled alone, planting apple orchards as the settlers bleak: without hope
moved westward. When he died in 1845, General Sam brand: to burn a mark on an animal’s skin to show that the
Houston spoke about him before Congress: “Farewell, animal belongs to you
dear old eccentric heart,” he said. “Your labor has corral: a fenced area that holds horses, cattle, or other
been a labor of love, and generations yet unborn will animals
rise up and call you blessed.” cyclone: a storm with very strong, destructive winds that blow
While Chapman was a real person, many of the around a quiet center; a tornado
tales told about him are purely fictional. These tales drought: a long spell of very dry weather
began to be widely circulated after an 1871 article lasso: a length of rope with a large loop at one end that can
about him, “Johnny Appleseed, a Pioneer Hero,” be thrown over an animal to catch it
appeared in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. pasture: grazing land for animals
Vocabulary rope: to catch with a lasso or a rope
frontier: the far edge of a country, where few people live varmint: an undesirable animal
mission: a special job or task Activity Ask students to make a baseball-like trad-
Activity You can help students grow their own apple ing card for Pecos Bill, with his picture on one side
trees. Cut several apples in half crosswise, so that the and what they believe is the most important informa-
stem is on one half. Take the seeds out of the apple tion about him on the other side.
core and put them in a cup of sand or dirt. Put the
cup in the freezer for one month to trick the seeds
into thinking it’s winter. At the end of the month, Paul Bunyan
take the seeds out of the cup and plant them in a
flowerpot filled with soil. Place the pot in a sunny Background No one knows how the legend of Paul
spot, water the seeds regularly, and watch them begin Bunyan began, but the public first heard about this
to sprout. When the seedlings are big enough, you mythical lumberjack in 1910, when he was men-
can transplant them outdoors. Plant two near each tioned in a Detroit newspaper story by James
other, as a lone apple tree won’t bear fruit. Tell stu- MacGillivray. MacGillivray may have heard Paul
dents to be patient, though: It takes many years for Bunyan stories from lumberjacks, many of whom
apples to grow on the trees. were French-Canadian and may have been embellish-
ing French folktales of giants. When the Red River
Lumber Company of Minneapolis began using Paul
Bunyan in the company’s advertising in 1914, the folk
Pecos Bill hero earned his place in American history. Since that
Background Pecos (pronounced PAY-kuhs or PAY- time, Paul Bunyan has been the subject of stories,
kohs) Bill is a purely fictitious character. The story of books, plays, and even ballets and operas.
this legendary American cowboy started with a maga- To help students understand the context of this
zine article written by American journalist Edward tall tale, tell them that the legend of Paul Bunyan
O’Reilly in 1923 in Century Magazine. The author began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth

centuries, when the United States was younger. At Davy Crockett has been the subject of countless
that time, forests covered most of the northern songs, books, plays, television shows, and movies.
United States, from Maine to California. Lumberjacks
Vocabulary
cut down billions of trees to make lumber for houses,
comet: a bright heavenly body with a long tail of light
barns, churches, town halls, schools, bridges, wagons,
crisis: a time of danger and difficulty
and ships, among other things. They also cleared the
double-barreled shotgun: a shotgun that has two barrels, or
land to make room for farms and villages. It was a
tubes, from which bullets are discharged
time when little or no thought was given to conserva-
frontiersman: someone who lives on the far edge of the
tion of forestland.
country, where few others live
Vocabulary smithereens: bits, pieces
bellow: to shout or roar
Activity Tell students that Davy Crockett created
burlap: a tough, course material used to make bags that will
some of his own tall tales when he engaged in “back-
hold heavy objects
woods brag,” a type of country exaggeration. Ask stu-
hotcakes: pancakes
dents to think of something they’ve done and
log: to cut down trees
exaggerate it into their own tall tales. Have students
lumberjack: someone whose job is to cut down trees and get
write, illustrate, and share their tall tales.
the logs to a sawmill
sawmill: a place where people use machines to saw logs into
lumber
timberland: wooded land Febold Feboldson
Activity Ask students to choose a scene from the Background This tall tale of a giant Swedish pioneer
tall tale to illustrate as if for a newspaper of the day, in the Great Plains is based on a character whose
and to write a caption to go with it. name first appeared in print in 1923 in the
Gothenburg, Nebraska, newspaper the Independent.
Later stories about Febold were published in the
Gothenburg Times from 1928 to 1933. The stories
Davy Crockett have been collected and retold many times since.
Background Davy Crockett, a real person, was born Where did Febold come from? Nebraska lumber
in the mountains of Tennessee in 1786. Like other dealer Wayne Carroll is credited with inventing
frontiersmen of his day, Davy spent most of his time Febold, though the tall tale character may be based
hunting, trapping, clearing land, and building home- on an actual Swedish pioneer of the 1800s. Real or
steads. He was a U.S. Army scout and fought in the not, Febold’s tale echoes the stories of many actual
Creek Indian War. Davy became a local politician and pioneers, people who tried to make a life for them-
eventually went on to serve several terms in the U.S. selves farming a land where drought, dust storms,
House of Representatives. When Davy lost his reelec- grasshoppers, and extremes of hot and cold were all
tion bid in 1835, he decided to move to Texas for a too common. These people had to learn new ways to
fresh start. He died at the Alamo in 1836, fighting to do things to survive life on the Great Plains. Febold
help Texas win its independence from Mexico. was the kind of hero who used his brain, and occa-
While Davy Crockett was real, most of the legends sionally his brawn, to face down the elements.
told about him are pure fiction. Davy was the origina-
Vocabulary
tor of some of these tall tales. The man was an expert
drought: a long spell of very dry weather
at a type of country exaggeration called “backwoods
gizzards: innards
brag.” One of his own tall tales was that a raccoon,
irrigation: system of supplying water to crops by artificial
aware of his skill with a gun, surrendered to Davy one
means, such as channels and pipes
day when the frontiersman was hunting. After Davy
vaporized: turned into fine particles of mist, steam, or smoke
died, several books were published that told other
varnished: given a clear coating to protect and finish; usually
exaggerated stories of the frontiersman’s early life.
done on wood
These “Davy Crockett Almanacks” were just the
beginning: In the nearly 200 years since his death,

Activity Divide the class into pairs. Ask each pair to
write and then illustrate a two-page insert for the
mini-book. The spread should show how the students Mose Humphreys
imagine Febold Feboldson would have coped with Background Mose Humphreys, America’s first urban
another challenge—a dust storm, extreme hot or folk hero, was, fittingly, born on a Broadway stage.
cold, or any other natural disaster—he might have Mose was the hero of A Glance at New York by
faced on the Great Plains. Share these spreads with Benjamin A. Baker, which opened at the Olympic
the class and compile them to make a sequel mini- Theater in 1848. The star of the show, Mose, the
book, Further Adventures of Febold Feboldson. “Bowery B’hoy,” was based on an actual man, Moses
Humphreys. Much like the character and legend he
was to become, Moses was a printer on The New York
John Henry Sun, a fire boy on the Lady Washington No. 40, and
a notorious Bowery brawler.
Background According to some historians, this tall The play was a huge success and other plays
tale is based on an actual event involving an African- about Mose followed. The character even appeared in
American steel driver named John Henry. The contest a ballet and in the circus! Mose Humphreys quickly
that culminates the tale is said to have taken place in became part of the popular culture. There were pam-
the 1870s, during the excavation of Big Bend Tunnel phlets, booklets, and posters about him. As one writer
for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in West Virginia. of the time wrote, “It is now impossible to write or
The tunnel had to be blasted right through a moun- talk of life in New York without a Mose.”
tain. This is how it was done: Steel drivers like John Mose was a character of his time. He was a true
Henry hammered steel drills into the solid rock of the “Bowery B’hoy,” the term New Yorkers used to
mountain. The holes made by these drills were then describe lively and playful men who hung out on the
filled with explosives to blast away the rock for the Bowery between 1846 and 1866. They were surly,
tunnel. talked in slang, and dressed extravagantly. They also
According to a ballad based on the event, when a did good deeds—keeping gangs in line and serving as
man brought a new steam drill to the site, claiming it the city’s volunteer firefighters.
could drill faster then a whole crew of men, John
Henry stepped up and agreed to race the steam drill, Vocabulary
to prove that man was mightier than machine. In muss: a fight
the ballad, John Henry wins the race but dies of prospectors: people searching for gold
exhaustion. tenement: a run-down apartment building, especially one that
After the actual event, the story took on a life of is crowded and in a poor part of the city
its own. Ballads, songs, and stories were written and trolley: a streetcar; a means of public transportation
sung about the man who first stood up to a machine. wharf: a dock
John Henry has been a hero to African Americans and Activity Discuss with students how Mose
all laborers ever since. Humphreys was just one of many people who were, in
Vocabulary some ways, replaced by machines. (You may want to
steel driver: a man who uses a hammer to drill steel spikes discuss “John Henry” here also.) Ask students to
into solid rock brainstorm a list of jobs done by machines that were
previously done by humans. Then ask each student to
Activity Tell students that just as John Henry did in pick one machine and imagine they are the person
the tall tale, most railroad workers sang work songs who is being replaced by that machine. Have them
to help them get through the day. Most of these were write a diary entry telling that person’s feelings about
short and repetitive, with pauses in between for the being replaced and what they plan to do next.
stroke of a pick or hammer. Ask students to write
their own work song, either for a railroad worker or
for themselves, to help them get through chores they
have to do at school or at home. Encourage students
to share these songs with their classmates.

derrick: a tall framework that holds the machines used to drill
oil wells
Joe Magarac divining rod: a forked stick that some people once believed
Background Stories about Joe Magarac, the leg- could magically locate oil or water
endary hero of steelworkers, originated with dry hole: a well that doesn’t have any oil
Hungarian and other Eastern European immigrants flapjacks: pancakes
who became steelworkers when they settled the steel- prospect: to explore or search for something, such as oil or
making region of western Pennsylvania. The stories gold
of this incredible man of steel have been passed down Activity Tell students that the real Gib Morgan was
orally and have also appeared in print. called “the Münchhausen of the oil fields.” Explain
Vocabulary that Baron Münchhausen was an eighteenth-century
boardinghouse: a lodging house where meals are provided German hunter, soldier, and raconteur, or storyteller,
ladle: a large, deep spoon with a long handle who told exaggerated stories about himself in much
furnace: a large enclosed metal chamber in which fuel is the same way that Gib Morgan later did. Then ask
burned to produce heat students to think about something they’ve done in
molten: melted by heat their lives that they can exaggerate into a tall tale.
They may wish to make notes on this event. Then
Activity Ask students to bring in the obituary divide students into pairs and have them interview
page(s) from a local newspaper, or provide it yourself, each other about the event. Ask the partners to write
and have students read the longer, more detailed a brief—one- to two-page—summary of each other’s
obituaries to see what kinds of information they pro- exploits. Share these stories with the class.
vide. Then ask each student to write an obituary for
Joe Magarac. You might want to ask students to illus-
trate a photo of Joe Magarac to include with the
obituary. Sam Patch
Background According to most sources, Sam Patch,
a real person, was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island,
Gib Morgan in 1807. As a boy, he worked in a cotton mill just
above Pawtucket Falls, where he took his first jumps.
Background Gilbert Morgan was born on July 14, He later went to work at a cotton mill in Paterson,
1842, in Callensburg, Pennsylvania. Gib’s family New Jersey. He made his jumps over the Passaic Falls
home was not far from Titusville, where the first oil during this time. These jumps made him famous,
well was drilled in 1859, when Gib was 17. After serv- leading him to leave the cotton mills for a jumping
ing in the Civil War, Gib Morgan became an oilman, career.
adopting the industry that had seemingly sprouted in Sam Patch was invited to jump the Niagara Falls
his backyard. Like the oilmen of legend, the real Gib in the fall of 1829. He became a national hero after
Morgan traveled all across the country drilling for oil. jumping there. One newspaper commented, “The
The legend of Gib Morgan came from the man jump of Patch is the greatest feat of the kind ever
himself. Gib, whom his biographer called “the effected by man.”
Münchhausen of the oil fields,” was a storyteller as Not content to rest on his laurels, Sam Patch
well as a driller. Gib made himself the larger-than-life decided to build a twenty-five-foot scaffold on a rock
hero in the numerous tales he told throughout his overlooking Genesee Falls, in Rochester, New York, to
travels. Because he was such a good storyteller, his prepare for his highest—125 feet—jump yet. Posters
tales have survived more than a century, making Gib eerily announced Higher Yet! Sam’s Last Jump. . . .
Morgan the tall tale hero more famous than Gib Some Things Can Be Done as Well as Others. There’s
Morgan the man. No Mistake in Sam Patch.
Vocabulary It was November 13, 1829. Sam made a short
cable: a thick wire or rope speech, then jumped. People later commented that he
cable drill: a cable with a heavy drilling tool called a bit on wasn’t in his usual form, that he seemed to have been
the end of it drinking. Whatever the reason, it was Sam Patch’s

final jump. He never reemerged, and his body was Activity Ask students to write a poem that they
found four months later at the mouth of the Genesee think Pecos Bill might have written and given to
River. Slue-Foot Sue before he asked her to marry him.
Even after his death, stories about Sam Patch
lived on. Poems, ballads, rhymes, anecdotes, newspa-
per articles, tall tales, and plays celebrated this jump-
ing hero. In many of the stories, Sam Patch’s death
Alfred Bulltop
was called a hoax. Some said he used a dummy for
the final jump, or made the jump and hid on a shelv-
Stormalong
ing rock until the crowds dispersed. One story even Background The legend of Alfred Bulltop
said he jumped and came up on the other side of the Stormalong dates to the time of the great wooden
earth! clipper ships, which sailed the seas from the 1840s
until the 1860s, when they were replaced by
Vocabulary steamships. The giant sea captain of New England
applause: approval shown by clapping hands folklore made his first appearance in “Old
basin: a large bowl used for washing Stormalong,” a popular sea chantey sailors sang while
festivities: activities that are part of a celebration they worked. This work song and other stories about
guide rope: a rope used to direct the placement of something Stormy emphasized his size and his adventures on
span: to reach over or stretch across the seas, especially on the Courser, the last ship on
spectator: someone who watches an event but does not which he sailed.
participate in it
Vocabulary
Activity Ask students to research some of the tallest alter: to change something
places in the world. Then have each student make a bow: the front of a ship
poster advertising Sam Patch’s leap from that place. cauldron: a large, rounded cooking pot
clipper: a fast sailing ship with three masts, built in the United
States in the 1800s, and used to carry cargo
Slue-Foot Sue crow’s nest: a small platform used for a lookout, found on top
of the mast of a sailing ship
and Pecos Bill douse: to throw liquid on
fathom: a unit for measuring the depth of water; one fathom
Background This tale is an adaptation of one of the
equals six feet
many Pecos Bill (see above) stories.
first mate: a ship’s officer
Vocabulary hammock: a piece of strong cloth or net that is hung up by
bareback: without a saddle each end and used as a bed or a place to relax
brand: to burn a mark on an animal’s skin to show that the mast: a tall pole that stands on the deck of a boat or ship and
animal belongs to you supports its sails
buck: when an animal jumps in the air with its head down stern: the back end of a ship
and all four feet off the ground unfurl: to unroll
buckskin: a strong, soft material made from the skin of a deer weigh anchor: to pull up the anchor in preparation for sailing
or sheep
Activity Ask each student to choose an event in the
bustle: a pad or frame worn by women in earlier times to puff
story and to write an imaginary interview with
out the back of a long skirt
Stormalong about that event. Then ask each student
courtship: attempts by one person to win the love of another
to write a newspaper article about the event, being
lariat: a lasso (see below)
sure to include portions of the interview with Stormy.
lasso: a length of rope with a large loop at one end that can
Remind students to include a headline, byline, and
be thrown over an animal to catch it
dateline. You might also want to ask students to illus-
rope: to catch with a lasso or a rope
trate their articles. Share these newspaper stories
shoe: to fit a shoe or shoes on a horse
with the class.
slue: turned sideways
whirlwind: very quick and sudden

Johnny Appleseed
Two hundred years ago, Johnny Appleseed planted hundreds and hundreds of
apple trees along the early frontier. You may have eaten one of his apples and not
even known it. Why did he plant so many apple trees? He was on a mission. . . .
The only thing Johnny loved almost as much as

apples was animals. And they loved him. He could
cure them when they were sick, fix them when
they were injured.
Here you go. And stop

chasing those mice!
11
™ 3
12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeannette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources
John Chapman was born in Leominster, Johnny was a good baby, so long as you knew how
Massachusetts, in 1775. The day he was born, a to keep him happy. And it wasn’t mother’s milk or
rainbow arched from one end of the sky to the lullabies that made Johnny smile. It was a branch
apple tree outside his house. When Johnny saw the of apple blossoms.
rainbow tree, he fell in love—with apples.
Don’t cry now.
Look at the beautiful rainbow! Look Here are your
how it colors the apple blossoms! apple blossoms.
Ga-ga ga-ga!
As Johnny grew, so did his

love for apples. When he Take them. And be sure
realized that not everyone to plant the seeds when
had apples to enjoy, it gave you get home.
him something to think
about.
I’d like to bring a sack of

apples home to my family
in the Ohio Territory.
12
4 ´
Johnny decided he would help the settlers by
spreading apple trees all over the Midwest.
I am going to plant apple

trees all over the new frontier.
What do you mean

you have a mission?
Johnny gave thousands of apple seeds to others to plant.

But he wanted to plant some, too. He abandoned his
canoes and headed into the forest. He wore his cooking
pot on his head and his sacks of seeds over his shoulder.
I will search for sunny places

where I can plant apple orchards.
13
™ 7
Johnny collected thousands of seeds. He dried them in the
sun. Then he packed them into deerskin sacks, loaded them
onto canoes, and paddled down the Ohio River. He gave
apple seeds to settlers he saw along the way.
Thank you!
Apple seeds! Take them and
bless your land with beautiful,
sweet-smelling orchards.
Thank you!
Whenever Johnny found a sunny clearing, he planted apple

seeds. The forest animals would gather ’round to watch
him. They were not afraid of him, nor he of them.
Don’t go eating these seeds,

little brothers. Be patient.
Wait for the apples.
14
8 ´
Johnny traveled across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He was a strange
sight with his cooking-pot hat, his old sugar-sack shirt, his bare
feet. But settlers and Indians alike befriended him. They called him
Johnny Appleseed. He planted apple seeds and he gave them away.
He also helped in the orchards.
We will have apples How can we repay you?

in the fall. Share the seeds from your
apples so that others may
plant apple trees.
Johnny walked for years and years. He planted

hundreds of apple trees. He gave away hundreds
of seeds for people to plant their own apple trees.
Take these seeds! Plant them!

They’ll bring you pretty
blossoms and juicy apples.
15
™ 11
Johnny usually slept outdoors. One bitter, cold night he wanted
shelter. He started to crawl into a big, hollow log. A loud grunting Don’t be afraid, brother
and two big eyes told him it was already taken—by a bear! Johnny
wolf. I’ll help you.
apologized, backed out of the log, and slept under the stars that
night. Another night, Johnny heard a strange cry. He followed the
sounds until he nearly tripped over a huge wolf. Its leg was caught
in a steel trap. Johnny freed the wolf and bandaged its leg. The two
became best friends.
10
In 1845, Johnny Appleseed went to sleep in a barn

in Indiana and never woke up. Some say his spirit
still lives. Many of his apple trees do.
16
12 ´
Pecos Bill
Cowboys wouldn’t be cowboys if it weren’t for Pecos Bill. It was about 150 years
ago that Pecos Bill invented roping, branding, and all sorts of cowboy skills.
Why, he even invented cowboy songs. Who was this cowboy of all cowboys?
When Bill was two years old,

another family settled about 50
miles away. Bill’s father decided The varmints and wild animals
the place was getting too Our Bill is out there among the wild will have to fend for themselves.
crowded. So they packed up and animals and rattlesnakes and such! Let’s move on.
headed west. When their wagon
hit a big bump near the Pecos
River, Bill bounced out. He hit
the ground so hard the wind was
knocked out of him. He tried to
shout, but couldn’t. With all
those kids, his mother didn’t
notice him gone ’til the next day.
17
™ 3
Pecos Bill was born in eastern Texas in the 1830s. Right away he
stood out from his 17 brothers and sisters. He teethed on horseshoes
instead of spoons. He drank the milk of a mountain lion instead of
cow’s milk. And he wrestled bears instead of brothers. OK, OK. Bill, you go
easy on that bear!
I’m worried about him!
Bill quickly found another family. He joined a pack Bill grew up thinking he was a coyote. He might
of coyotes. They taught him everything they knew. never have become a cowboy if Bowleg Gerber
He taught them everything he knew. hadn’t come along and set the ten-year-old straight.
What do you mean, I’m

not a coyote? I have
Keep practicin’, you’ll get it. fleas and can howl.
Now, like me, A-woooooh!
A-woooooh!
All Texans have fleas and can

howl. But all coyotes have
tails, which you don’t have.
18
4 ´
Once Bill realized he wasn’t a coyote, he decided to horse, he rode a mountain lion instead. Bill
become a cowboy like Bowleg Gerber. When Bill was a followed Bowleg’s directions to the cowboy camp.
young man, Bowleg gave him directions to a cowboy He was about halfway there when a 30-foot
camp down yonder a ways. Since Bill didn’t have a rattlesnake started shaking its tail at him.
Do I have to beat the poison

out of you so you learn to
behave yourself?
Bill became a great cowboy. He and his men had a ranch

so big that they used New Mexico as a corral and Arizona
as a pasture. Bill invented all sorts of things to make
being a cowboy easier and more fun.
I’ve made so many inventions,

including this here branding iron,
that I’m going to have to invent
cowboy songs to tell about them.
19
™ 7
Bill rode into the cowboy camp toward nightfall. He slid off
his mountain lion and threw the rattlesnake, which he had
been using as a whip, over his shoulder. The other cowboys
stared at him with their mouths wide open.
Who’s the boss

around here?
I was. But from now on,

I reckon you’ll be.
One day Bill decided he wanted a horse. Not just any horse.
He wanted the wildest, strongest, most beautiful horse he
could find. It took a week to find him, a month to catch him,
and nearly a year to break him! But Bill did break him.
Widow Maker!
We figured on a name for

that new horse of Bill’s.
What? The cowboys loved Bill’s new horse. Texas Jack even tried
to ride him. But the horse threw him so fast and so hard,
the cowboy landed on top of Pikes Peak. Bill had to use
his lasso to get him off the top of the mountain.
20
8 ´
Bill and Widow Maker traveled all over the West
rounding up cattle. Bill’s ranch grew and grew. Then
came the terrible drought. The grass dried up. The
animals panted with thirst. The future looked bleak.
You got to do This whole country’s about

something, Bill. to up and blow away.
Leave me think about it.

I’ve never had to make
rain before.
Bill roped that cyclone, pulled her down, and climbed onto her
back. The cyclone twisted and turned like a wild bronco across
four states, trying to throw Bill off. But Bill held on with his legs
while he squeezed all the rain out of her.
Yippee! I’m makin’ rain!
21
™ 11
Bill rode all over the Southwest thinking about
the problem. He kept looking for rain clouds. All
he saw was clear sky until he reached Oklahoma.
There he saw a big, whirling cyclone. The tornado
frightened Widow Maker.
It’s just a cyclone, Widow Maker!

Why, it’s not nearly as wild as you!
And if I can ride you . . .
10
Bill let go of the rained-out cyclone in California. He fell so

hard he made a giant hole in the ground. Today we call the
place Death Valley. Bill didn’t die there, though. It was a
city man in a fancy cowboy suit that eventually killed Bill.
Bill took one look at him, and he died laughing.
22
12 ´
Paul Bunyan
T-I-M-B-E-R!
Paul Bunyan was the greatest lumberjack who ever lived.

He was a giant of a man who cut down trees as easily as you
or I pick flowers. With the help of his great blue ox, Babe,
Paul Bunyan logged most of the United States.
Paul was so big that every time he rolled over in Paul’s father built a boat shaped like a cradle. He
his sleep he would knock down trees, barns, even tied a rope to it and let Paul float out to sea. That
houses. Paul’s folks were crazy about their new seemed like a good solution until Paul got the
baby so they hardly noticed the trouble this caused. hiccups. Then the boat rocked so hard it sent huge
The neighbors weren’t so forgiving. They told Paul’s waves crashing toward shore. The people who
parents they had to do something about him. weren’t drowned hurried to Paul’s folks.
You’ve got to get that huge

child away from here!
The farther away He’s doing too much

the better! damage to our homes!
23
™ 3
Paul Bunyan was born in Maine, at least most of
him was. He was such a big baby, some people say
he was born in several states and part of Canada.
Paul’s parents took him deep into the woods of Maine. They found
a huge cave for him to live in. Paul’s father gave him a giant cloth
sack. His mother gave him a giant sandwich and a kiss.
I’m sorry we have to do this, Son.

But everyone is safer this way.
Always remember you’re Mama’s

little boy and I love you.
24
4 ´
Paul cried a river of tears when his folks left. When he
stopped crying, he opened the burlap sack. In it was the
biggest, shiniest ax he had ever seen. Paul picked up
that ax and swung it. He easily cut down three trees!
This is fun! I’m going

to be a lumberjack!
Paul and Babe became a team. They left

Maine, which was too small for them, Pull, Babe! You can do it,
and headed out to Michigan. There I know you can!
Paul set up a logging camp on the Big
Onion River, where he headed a group
of mighty lumberjacks.
The main logging road in the north
country was crazy crooked when Paul
first got there. With all its twists and
turns, it took hours to drive just a
short distance. Paul straightened this
problem out: He hitched Babe to the
road and told him to pull until it
was straight!
25
™ 7
Paul grew up to be the best
lumberjack in Maine. He loved his
work, but it was lonely having an
ax as his only friend. Then, during
the Winter of the Blue Snow, as You big, beautiful, blue babe!
Paul walked through the woods, I’m going to take you home
and care for you.
he heard a bellowing from the
frozen river. A baby ox had fallen
through the ice! Paul sat on the
riverbank and used his long arms
to pull the ox out of the water.
Paul noticed two things right
away about the ox: It was as blue
as the snow, and it was bigger
than a full-grown bull!
Paul even figured out a way to avoid having to carry trees to the
sawmill. He hitched Babe to a square mile of timberland and had him
pull it to the sawmill. Paul and his crew chopped down the trees right
there. Then Babe dragged the cleared land back into place.
Let’s bring that on down

to the sawmill, Babe.
26
8 ´
Paul also used Babe to fight forest fires. Whenever there was a
fire, Paul would take Babe to the river for a long drink. Then
Paul would tickle the animal in the ribs. Babe would laugh so
hard, the water would squirt out of his nose and put out the fire.
Once the Midwest was pretty well cleared, Paul and There aren’t many trees here, but
Babe headed west to find more work. As they passed I’m told there are a lot in California.
through Arizona, Paul let his giant ax drag behind
him. That’s how the Grand Canyon was made.
27
™ 11
The men at Paul’s camp worked
up big appetites! Making enough
hotcakes for so many loggers was
no easy task. Paul got a dozen
cement mixers to stir the batter.
He built a griddle as big as a
football field. And he hired 500
cooks to man the griddle. The
loggers ate at mile-long tables. There’s nothing a logger
Men on bicycles rode down the likes to eat better than
center of these tables delivering a pile of hotcakes!
the hotcakes while they were still
hot. The bicycle riders had to be
very careful not to skid on maple
syrup and molasses! Hurry, I like my
hotcakes steaming!
Stop here with
those hotcakes! Look out, maple
syrup spill ahead!
10
Paul and Babe logged their way north through California

and Canada until they eventually found themselves in Alaska.
Today, if you happen to be in the great woods there, listen T-I-M-B-E-R!
closely. You just might hear Paul’s mighty cry.
28
12 ´
Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett was the most famous frontiersman who ever lived.
The great Tennessean could shoot sharper, run faster, jump higher, squat
lower, dive deeper, and come out drier than any man in the whole country.
Davy’s childhood revolved around animals. He With all that fresh air and exercise, Davy grew fast.
loved to climb onto his sheepdog, Butcher, and By the time he was eight years old, he weighed
chase bears that had just woken from their naps. more than 100 pounds. He couldn’t ride Butcher
You’ve never seen bears run so fast! anymore, but he still liked to chase sleepy bears.
Come on, Butcher, we can catch him!
Faster, Butcher, faster!
29
™ 3
Davy Crockett was born in the mountains of Tennessee in 1786.
No one could agree if he was more like his mom or his dad.
Like his mom, Davy could leap over a seven-rail fence—backwards!
Like his dad, Davy could grin a hailstorm into sunshine.
He’s got your strength!
He’s got your smile!
Davy was so good with a gun he did most of the

family’s hunting. One day, he went down to the
How do you like that, one shot
and I’ve got us food for the week!
river to hunt with a double-barreled shotgun.
He set his sights on a flock of geese in the
sky and a big buck in the distance. Then he
fired, sending a blast from each barrel. Davy hit
the buck and the geese! The gun kicked so hard
it knocked Davy into the river. Davy didn’t mind:
He came out dry, with his pockets full of fish.
They were so heavy two coat buttons popped off.
One killed a bear, the other a squirrel.
30
4 ´
Davy was such a good shot that all the animals tried to stay
clear of him. Once a raccoon saw Davy walk by with his
favorite gun, Brown Bess, over his shoulder. The raccoon
called down to Davy not to shoot, that he surrendered.
Don’t shoot! I surrender!
Davy’s grin proved as powerful as his gun. One day he saw a

big raccoon sitting in a tree. As Davy aimed Brown Bess, he
gave the animal his biggest grin. Didn’t that raccoon fall
dead right at Davy’s feet, before Davy even took a shot at it!
5
That panther turned out to be a fine pet. Davy trained him to

sweep the porch with its tail, rake the garden with its claws, and
light his way to bed with its glowing eyes. The panther never killed
again, though he was good at scaring away mice and strangers.
31
™ 7
One night Davy was hunting and ran into the biggest, meanest
panther this side of the Mississippi. Davy wanted to fight this
fine animal fairly, so he dropped his gun, and the two began
to wrestle. Before long, the panther was begging for his life.
Stop! Stop!
If you promise to stop killing,

I’ll bring you home with me.
The young ’uns have been
begging for a kitten.
Another day when Davy was out hunting he fell into an earthquake
crack. A big brown bear pulled him free. Davy was so happy he Off we go, Death Hug! This should
hugged the bear. The bear hugged him back. Next thing you know, be an adventure! I heard some of
Davy had saddled the bear and was riding him like a horse. them politicians are real animals!
Davy was so good at taming animals that his neighbors

figured he’d be a good politician. They sent him to the U.S.
House of Representatives in 1829. Davy was probably the
first representative to ride “bearback” into Washington, D.C.
32
8 ´
When Davy arrived in Washington, the country was in a crisis! A
huge comet was headed for Earth. The president didn’t know how
to stop it from crashing into and destroying the United States. Then
he saw Davy Crockett riding Death Hug down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Davy Crockett! I need you Anything you ask, boss.

to stop this comet from
blasting us to smithereens.
One winter morning, back home in Tennessee, Davy was watching

the sun rise over Daybreak Mountain. The sun got only a little way
up and then froze. Davy hiked to the mountain’s peak and saw that
the sun had gotten jammed between two cakes of ice.
Tarnation! Something must

be done, or everyone will
freeze to death!
33
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Davy rode Death Hug to the top of the tallest mountain. When the This’ll teach you to
comet got close enough, Davy reached out and grabbed the comet’s bother Americans!
tail. Then he swung it around and around and let it go. That comet
flew away from Earth faster than you can say, “Tennessee.”
10
Davy poured bear grease over the sun and kicked

the cakes of ice. The sun broke free, thanked Davy,
and rose with the most glorious colors imaginable.
Then Davy headed home, with a piece of sunrise
in his hand and a smile on his face.
I can shoot sharper, run faster, jump higher,

squat lower, dive deeper, and come out
drier than any man in the whole country.
I can even make the sun rise.
34
12 ´
Febold Feboldson
Febold Feboldson was a giant of a man. But it was smarts rather

than size that made this Swedish pioneer a hero of the Great Plains.
Febold seemed able to outwit Mother Nature no matter what she threw at him.
Then drought set in. There wasn’t a drop of rain for weeks. The corn
shriveled up and the cows about did the same. Febold had to tie No, wait. Let me think on this.
weights to the cows’ tails to keep them from blowing away. Febold’s
family began to think it had been a mistake to settle in Nebraska.
It never rains here! Maybe we should see what the

weather’s like in California.
35
™ 3
Febold Feboldson settled in Nebraska by accident. His family
was halfway across America, on their way to California, when
Grandfather took ill. While waiting for the old man to get
well, Febold built a house, plowed a field, and planted a crop.
In short, he made the Great Plains his home.
Why travel all the way to

California? This land suits
me just as well for farming.
Febold thought and thought about how to make rain.

Then he lit on an idea. He built a big bonfire by the
lake. The fire burned so hot that the water in the lake
vaporized and turned into clouds. Once these clouds
started crashing into each other, it began to pour.
That’s what you

Rain! asked for, isn’t it?
36
4 ´
Febold’s family didn’t have long to celebrate the Febold thought and thought about how to get rid
change in the weather. That’s because the ground of the fog. Then he lit on an idea. He parted the fog
was so hot after the drought that none of the rain with his hands to find his way to the barn. Once
hit the ground. It just turned to steam. Soon the there, he grabbed his giant pair of clippers and
Great Plains was covered with the greatest fog the began slicing the fog into long strips.
area has ever known.
What do you plan to
do with all that fog?
You’re going to have to do
something about this fog.
Why, I’ll just bury it by
the side of the road.
Now what? Let me think on it.
When the turkeys arrived, the grasshoppers ate them, gizzards and
all. Febold decided the only animals fierce enough to get rid of They’ll just get small and turn
these grasshoppers were wolves. He went up to Canada and into prairie dogs.Then they
brought back several packs and, sure enough, they did the job. won’t need much to eat.
What will those big wolves eat now

that the grasshoppers are about gone?
37
™ 7
After the rain and the fog, Febold’s crops sprang back to
life. They grew so big so fast that Febold became known
as the best farmer in Nebraska. The next year his crops That’s not rain, those
looked even better. He and his family were out in the are grasshoppers!
fields admiring them when the sky turned black. What are we going to do?
Did you make it

rain again, Febold?
Febold thought and thought about how to get rid of the Let me think on this. . . .
grasshoppers. It was hard to concentrate, because while he I have it, I’ll send back east
for a flock of turkeys.Turkeys
was thinking, the grasshoppers were munching away on
like to eat grasshoppers.
Febold’s beautiful crops. Finally, Febold lit on an idea.
6
Of course, since the grasshoppers had destroyed their

crop, Febold’s family didn’t have much to eat, either.
But Febold wasn’t worried. He decided to go fishing.
He brought Grandfather along with him.
How do you plan to catch

fish without a rod or a net?
Easy. I’ll just feed the fish raisins, which

are loaded with iron.Then I’ll use my
magnet to pull them right out of the water.
38
8 ´
The next year there was another drought, even worse than
the first. Febold didn’t want to make it rain again because
the sides of the road were already pretty muddy from where
he’d buried the fog last time. But he had to do something.
Let me think on it.

What do you plan to do
about the drought this time?
Febold did more than take care of

droughts, fog, and grasshoppers. Is there anything you
Why, he even caught a few cyclones I married the cleverest
man on earth. can’t do, Febold?
and sent them back where they
came from. Febold did such a good
job outwitting Mother Nature that
more and more people came to live
on the Great Plains. Now that they
had neighbors, they needed fences.
But there was no wood or stones to
build with. Febold set to thinking
again. Febold thought and thought.
Then he lit on an idea. He dug a
bunch of holes in the ground, filled
them with water, and let them
freeze all winter. He dug the ice
poles up in the spring and
varnished them. Then he put them
partway back in the ground and I’ll have to think on that.
strung them with barbed wire.
39
™ 11
Febold thought and thought. Then he lit on an idea. He would
have to invent irrigation. He went all the way to the Platte River
and, with the help of his pet buffalo, dragged the river back to his
farm. Then he spread the water over his land through little ditches.
You did it
again, Febold! I just don’t know why I didn’t
invent irrigation sooner.
We’ll have the tallest
corn in Nebraska!
10
Febold’s wife sent a letter to a friend in California telling

her all the great things Febold had done in the Great
Plains. This friend wrote back asking if Febold could come
to California and help the people there get rid of droughts
and earthquakes. Febold and his family decided to go.
Have you figured out how

to stop earthquakes?
I’m thinking on it.
When Febold arrived in California, he went straight to work.

He made rain and taught Californians his irrigation invention.
The earthquake problem is taking a little longer to figure out.
People there are pretty confident, though: If anyone can figure
a way to tame Mother Nature, it’s Febold Feboldson.
40
12 ´
John Henry
Imagine a contest between a man and a machine, a contest between a strong,

powerful steel driver and a brand-new steam-powered drill. Would the man or
the machine win? That depends on the man. If it was John Henry, well . . .
John Henry was an easy baby. All he needed to keep

happy was a pile of food to eat and a pile of rocks to
hammer. Johnny wasn’t two years old when he was Will you look at him eat!
hammering rocks into powder finer than cornmeal!
Will you look at him hammer!

He’s going to be a steel-driving man!
41
™ 3
The night John Henry was born, lightning lit the sky and
thunder hammered the air. Folks wondered if this new
baby was going to be as big as the storm that welcomed
him. As it turned out, he was bigger!
He’s bigger than all our other babies

combined—he must weigh 44 pounds!
No wonder! Look—he was born

with a hammer in his hand!
John Henry worked on a plantation with his family.

He mostly picked cotton, but whenever there was
hammering to be done, John did it. Often, while
John Henry worked, he would hear trains whistle
in the distance. And he would dream.
I’m going to take my hammer and be

a steel driver for the railroad one day.
42
4 ´
One evening, as John Henry was
I’ve dreamed of being a steel driver You can’t go, John Henry!
hammering down a few loose nails
on the railroad my whole life.
on the porch, a stranger named
Little Bill stopped by. John’s mother
gave the man something to eat and
asked him why he was traveling in
their neck of the woods. Little Bill
told them he was on his way to work
for the railroad. When John Henry
heard where Little Bill was headed,
he nearly dropped his hammer! This
was his chance to do what he’d been
dreaming of all his life.
We must let him go. John Henry

is a steel-driving man.
5
The railroad boss pointed to some hammers and drills.

John Henry found the heaviest hammer. When Little
Bill had the drill in place, John Henry reached back and
swung that hammer hard. When the sparks settled, you I told you, I’m a
could hardly see the drill, it was so deep in the rock! steel-driving man.
You’re hired!
How did you do that?
43
™ 7
Little Bill took John Henry to West Virginia, where the
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was cutting straight through
a mountain to make the Big Bend Tunnel. John Henry First you have to show
and Little Bill went to the railroad boss to ask for work. me what you can do.
I’m a steel-driving man

and I want a job.
John Henry was the best steel driver in the whole country.
Little Bill had to use buckets of ice water to cool John’s
hammers down. When other steel drivers were sick, tired,
or hot, John Henry did their hammering as well as his
own. Sometimes he even used two hammers!
I’m just a man, a

Thanks, John Henry. steel-driving man.
44
8 ´
For a long time, John Henry’s best friends were his hammer
and Little Bill. Then he met Polly Ann. When John Henry
looked into Polly Ann’s coal-black eyes, his heart pounded
I will!
like a hammer. When Polly Ann smiled at John Henry,
sparks lit the air around them.
Will you marry this

steel-driving man?
The next day, folks came from all over to watch the contest
between John Henry and the steam drill. Polly Ann sat
right up front. She wore her best blue dress and the smile
John Henry loved. She tried not to look as scared as she
felt. The contest went back and forth all day. First the
machine was winning. Then John Henry. Then the
machine. John Henry sang to keep his rhythm.
The hammer am a-ringin’

And the steel am a-singin’
I’ll put the hole
On down, boys,
I’ll put the hole on down.
45
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John Henry was very happy—he had work and a wife he loved.
Then one day a city man came to the worksite. He was trying
to sell a new invention, a steam drill, which he claimed could
drill faster than a whole crew of men.
My John Henry can outdrill If your man is faster than my machine,

any machine ever built! I’ll give you the machine for free!
That’s right!
I ain’t nothing but a steel-driving

man. And I’ll beat that steam drill,
or die with a hammer in my hand.
10
Just before the sun set, the steam drill sputtered to

a stop. John Henry gave one final swing with his
hammer, then collapsed to the ground. While Polly
Ann rushed to John Henry, the railroad boss and
the city man measured the holes: John Henry’s was
20 feet deep, the steam drill’s was 19!
You won, John Henry! You

beat that old steam drill!
My hammer, I need my hammer. Little Bill handed John Henry his hammer. John
Henry smiled one last time and died. Polly Ann,
Little Bill, and the whole crew wept as the four
strongest men carried John Henry’s body to a
hillside overlooking the train tracks. There they
buried John Henry just as he’d lived and died: with
a hammer in his hand.
46
12 ´
Mose Humphreys
New York City in the mid-1800s was home to a group of lively young men
called the Bowery Boys. The Boys had two jobs: fighting street gangs and
fighting fires. Their leader in both was a big guy named Mose Humphreys.
Mose and his Boys spent part of each day fighting After a muss, Mose usually headed over to his
gangs like the Plug Uglies and the Dead Rabbits. favorite soup house for a plate of pork and beans.
When fists weren’t enough to get the gangs to toe He was a big man and had a big appetite.
the line, Mose would hurl lampposts and paving
stones at them. The usual pork Yeah. But make it a large
and beans, Mose? piece of pork, and don’t
Ain’t I just doin’ stop to count the beans.
Thank you for
my duty?
saving me, Mose.
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Mose was 12 feet tall. He had hands as big as hams and feet as big
as barges. He could swim the Hudson River in two strokes and
circle the island of Manhattan in six. When he wanted to get from
Manhattan to Brooklyn, he just jumped across the East River!
The only thing Mose loved better than fighting gangs was
fighting fires. He belonged to Engine Company No. 40
and spent much of his free time polishing the Lady
Washington, the fire company’s shiny pumper engine.
I love this engine better

than my dinner.
LADY
WASHINGTON
48
4 ´
Whenever the bell from City Hall tower sounded the fire alarm, all
the volunteers rushed to the firehouse. Mose was always there first.
After he put on his red shirt and hat, he would pull the pumper to
the fire, while the other men rushed to catch up.
Come on, Boys! I can tell by the

bells the fire’s on Broadway.
Mose put out fires at mansions, tenements, soup houses,

and churches. He rescued barbers, bankers, bakers, and
babies. Mose especially loved to rescue babies.
Thank you so much! Ain’t I just doin’ my duty?
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The streets of New York were busy and crowded, and the road
to the fire was not always clear. Sometimes a trolley blocked
the way. Whenever that happened, Mose just set the fire
engine down while he moved the trolley out of the way.
Don’t drop us, Mose!
Have I dropped a trolley yet?
Mose’s most famous rescue was of a baby trapped on

the fourth floor of a burning tenement. When the
baby’s mother told the firefighters her baby was up Man the pumps, Boys.
I’ll get her!
on the fourth floor, the Boys got their longest
ladder. But it reached only the third floor!
My baby! My baby!
50
8 ´
Mose quickly piled three whiskey barrels one on top of the other.
Then he put the ladder on top of the barrels. The ladder reached
high enough, but it looked mighty shaky.
I’m going up! That ladder’s not steady!

It will spill him!
Mose loved fighting gangs and fighting fires. He loved

being needed. Then, one day, he found out he wasn’t
needed anymore. He and his Boys answered a fire alarm
on the wharf. When they got there, a new horse-drawn
steam engine was already putting out the fire.
Say good-bye to
the old pumpers.
When Mose saw how quickly the steam engine put out the
fire, he knew the men were right. But he couldn’t stand
the thought of the Lady Washington sitting around
collecting dust. So he picked up the old engine and, after
Your old pumper’s no
giving her one last kiss, tossed her into the Hudson River.
match for that machine!
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The ladder swayed and the crowd gasped while Mose made his way
to the fourth floor. He was just inside the window when the ladder
caught fire. Everyone gasped. Then Mose reappeared, fire hat
clutched to his chest, and leaped out of the window.
My baby! She’s right here, ma’am.

Where’s my baby? She’s safe in my hat.
Three cheers for Mose!
10
Mose still fought street gangs, but

he missed fighting fires. He missed
You are one brave man, Mose!
having a big, fierce, dangerous
enemy. Then he read a newspaper
headline about bears attacking gold Ain’t I just doin’ my duty?
diggers in California. Bears and
gold! California sounded like the
place for Mose. So he moved to
California and quickly found
enough gold to fill his old fire hat
and then some. Finding gold made
Mose happy, but fighting bears
made Mose even happier. The bears
were big and fierce and dangerous,
and all the prospectors were glad
to have Mose around.
52
12 ´
Joe Magarac
Imagine mining inside a mountain and discovering a giant man of steel buried
beneath tons of iron ore! That’s what one Pennsylvania miner did some 100 years
ago: While mining for iron ore, he uncovered a steel giant named Joe Magarac!
One by one, the young steelworkers came forward to lift

the first weight, a 350-pound bar. The audience cheered
and Mary smiled when Pete Pussick lifted it easily over
his head. Most of the others lifted it easily, too.
The next bar is heavier. Let’s see

how many of you can lift that!
53
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Joe climbed out of the mountain and hopped a freight train to
Pittsburgh. When he smelled stuffed cabbage, he jumped off the
train and followed his nose to a picnic. At first no one noticed him; I hope it’s Pete Pussick.
all eyes were on a platform where a man stood with his beautiful
18-year-old daughter.
Whoever does the best job lifting
these steel bars will marry Mary
this very afternoon.
Each man came forward to try to lift the second bar.

There were grunts and groans and enough sweat to make Now we see men with a little
a small saltwater pond, but only three men managed to muscle. Let’s see who can lift the
lift the 500-pound bar of steel. They were Pete Pussick, third bar, and marry my Mary.
Eli Stanoski, and a big stranger from Johnstown.
Please let it be Pete.
54
4 ´
Pete tried to lift the bar, but nothing
happened. Then Mary smiled at him
and, in a burst of strength, he lifted
the bar two and a half inches. Eli
stepped up to the bar. Try as he might,
Ho ho ho.
he could only lift it an inch. All eyes
turned to the Johnstown man. The
Who is that laughing at me?
big stranger bent and reached for the
bar. He grunted and groaned but
couldn’t lift the bar off the ground.
He looked at the audience, as if daring
them to laugh. But nobody dared.
Nobody, that is, except Joe Magarac.
Mary knew a deal was a deal so, although she was still crying,
she walked over to Joe Magarac and offered him her hand.
Now I must marry you.
Marry? I don’t want to marry.

All I want is to eat and to
work in the steel mill.
Then Mary will marry Pete, the

second-strongest steelworker.
55
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Joe Magarac took several giant steps to the wooden platform.
He lifted the 850-pound bar with one hand and the stranger
from Johnstown with the other. The crowd gasped, Steve
gulped, Pete frowned, and Mary burst into tears.
You’re the strongest man here,

but are you a steel man?
Of course I’m a steel man!

Aren’t I made of steel?
Everyone was happy. Mary married Pete, and Joe got

a job at the local steel mill. He worked day and night
at the number seven furnace. He left it only once a
day to go to Mrs. Horkey’s boardinghouse to eat.
No, ma’am. I work
Joe, don’t you ever sleep? and I eat.That’s all.
56
8 ´
Joe was an amazing steelworker. The other men watched in
awe as he stirred boiling metal with his bare hands, tasted
hot steel for flavor, and squeezed warm steel between his
fingers to make eight perfect steel rails at a time.
Did you see what Yes! He’s going to put

he just did? us all out of work!
All of the steelworkers put their furnaces on a slow Three days later, the mill boss called the
burn to keep them warm before heading home to steelworkers back to the mill. The men were happy
their families. All except Joe Magarac, that is. Joe to be back to work. They wondered what Joe had
sat and stared into number seven furnace, done while the mill was closed. They went to
dreaming of a bigger steel mill. number seven furnace to ask him, but he wasn’t
there.
Where’s Joe Magarac?

I thought he’d be the
first one back to work! Over here!
How’s the steel look?
I want it to be the biggest and

best steel mill in the world.
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Pete was right. Soon the mill yard was filled with rails. The
mill boss told the steelworkers that he had to close the mill
for a few days. The yard was too small to hold any more rails.
It’s all Joe’s fault!
Joe’s a good guy, but We need a bigger mill

he works too hard. with a bigger yard.
10
Pete and the others followed the voice to a big bucket ladle filled
with boiling steel. In the center of the giant pot was the smiling
head of Joe Magarac. I want you to use my
I think he wants to melt! steel to build the biggest
You’d better get out steel mill in America.
of there, Joe.
Before anyone could talk him out of it, Joe Magarac ducked
down and disappeared into the pool of molten steel. After his
bubbling laugh died away, the men poured the steel and
rolled it out. Soon Joe Magarac’s wish came true: He became
the foundation of the biggest steel mill in America.
58
12 ´
Gib Morgan
When Gib Morgan was 17 years old, the first oil well in the United States
was drilled near his home in western Pennsylvania. That’s a fact. As for the
stories about Gib’s life as an oilman, well, you can decide for yourself!
Back in the mid-1800s, when Gib was starting in Of course, divining rods were a better indication of
the oil business, most men looked for oil using wind than oil, and Gib Morgan knew that. He had a
divining rods. They believed that if the forked sticks better tool for finding oil—his nose! Gib prospected
they carried turned in a certain direction, it meant for oil by crawling across fields with his nose to the
they had found oil. ground.
I’ll get the fire going.
We’re going I don’t think so.
The stick turned! to be rich! This smells like a big one.
Looks like I’m going to
work up an appetite!
59
™ 3
Gib Morgan was a complete oil gang all in one. This giant of a man
prospected for himself. He built his own derrick. He did his own
drilling. The only helper Gib Morgan needed was a personal cook,
because all the work he did made him really hungry.
The next one’s almost ready, Gib!
Good! Building that derrick

today made me really hungry!
When Gib found oil, he quickly got to work bringing

in the well. First, he dug a hole. Next he shot a bullet
into the hole, to make it deep enough to drill. Then
he sent his cable drill deeper and deeper until he hit
oil. After that, he quickly built his derrick. Then he
built oil tanks to catch the oil. Gib wouldn’t stop to
rest or to eat until oil was flowing into the tanks.
Then you’ve never

seen Gib Morgan!
I’ve never seen anyone

work that fast!
60
4 ´
Even the few times his nose was wrong, Gib made One icy cold winter, Gib brought in a gusher that
the best of it. Once—it was before breakfast and froze as it sprouted out of the well. This might have
Gib was very hungry—Gib’s nose led him to drill. been a problem for some men, but not for Gib
Gib brought in a well of pure buttermilk! That find Morgan.
kept Gib’s cook busy for days.
You’ll never be able to get

that oil into a railroad tanker.
I’ve been craving flapjacks.
Looks like now I’ll get some.
You’re right! I’ll cut it, then ship

it east on flatbeds—which are
a lot cheaper than tankers!
5
Gib knew there were lots of snakes in the jungles of Gib tied the snake’s tail to the end of the cable.
South America. So he went in search of the longest Then he dropped the cable—and the snake—deeper
snake he could find. He soon came across a and deeper into the earth. When the snake was
sleeping snake that must have been a mile long. about halfway uncoiled, Gib hit oil!
Gib picked it up and carried it back to where he
was drilling.
Great job! Thanks to you,
Where did you find more
we’ve hit oil!
cable around here?
It’s not cable,

it’s a snake.
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Gib Morgan had drilled all over the United States As soon as they landed, Gib began drilling. He
when he got word that South America was dropped his cable lower and lower, but there was no
practically floating in oil. Gib packed up some sign of oil. Gib knew it was there, though, and he
supplies, then he and his cook sailed to South would keep drilling until he found it. The only
America. problem was, his cable ran out before he hit oil.
Now what are you You hold onto this cable.

going to do? I have an idea.
I can smell lots

and lots of oil!
Gib returned to the United States richer than ever. So, when he smelled
the world’s biggest oil field right smack in the middle of Oklahoma, he
gave the field to his friends. Well, they drilled and drilled and drilled,
but found nothing. Finally, Gib had to take over. He went down one
mile, two, three, four. Finally, when his drill hit the fifth mile,
there was a deafening whoosh. Oil shot up to the sky and
covered the entire state, making everyone happy—and rich.
I knew it was here, Please don’t say you’re hungry,

I just knew it! ’cause there’s nowhere to cook!
62
8 ´
Sam Patch
Sam Patch jumped over the Passaic Falls, Niagara Falls, and
Genesee Falls the way most people jumped over a puddle. There was
no mistake in Sam Patch—he always knew how to make a splash!
When Sam first started jumping, he didn’t realize he was going to

make a career out of it. He and the other boys who worked at the
cotton mill in Pawtucket Falls, Rhode Island, jumped off the bridge
into the Pawtucket River to cool off after a hard day’s work.
I’ll be the first one in—there’s

no mistake in Sam Patch!
63
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Sam Patch showed an interest in jumping early on. As a baby, he
jumped from his mother’s arms into a basin of soapsuds. As a boy, George Washington, father of our
his favorite game was leapfrog. When Sam got to school, he country, fought in the . . . War.
skipped over hard words when reading. At the time, his teacher
thought he was lazy. When she read about him in the newspaper
years later, she realized he had just been practicing jumping.
Sam grew tired of jumping from the bridge. He looked around

for something taller to jump from. His eyes fell on the mill.
Sam decided to jump from the roof of the mill into the river.
Spectators crowded the bridge to watch Sam jump. He did it—
and came up smiling!
Hooray for Sam Patch!
I love to jump!
There’s no mistake
in Sam Patch!
64
4 ´
After that, Sam Patch’s jumping career took off. He In Paterson, New Jersey, a man by the name of
leapt his way off bridges and cotton mills, into Timothy B. Crane was building a bridge that would
rivers, and onto headlines from Rhode Island to cross over the Passaic Falls. There was going to be
New Jersey. a big celebration the day the bridge was pulled into
place. Sam decided he would add to the festivities.
Just wait until the people see my

bridge being pulled across the falls!
Just wait until they see

me jump over the falls!
When the bridge had been pulled halfway across, the engineers lost
hold of one of the guide ropes. It fell into the river below the falls.
Sam knew this was his chance. He ran out from behind a tree,
shouted, and jumped. He came up holding the guide rope!
Hooray for Sam Patch!

He saved the day!
There’s no mistake
in Sam Patch!
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The big day came. Mr. Crane worried that Sam Patch would
take attention away from his new bridge, so he asked the
police to keep Sam from jumping. Sam knew the police
were looking for him, so he hid in the woods above the falls.
And now, the first bridge ever

to span the Passaic Falls!
Sam wondered if anything could top jumping into the Passaic Falls
and helping to pull the bridge into place. He tried jumping off the
bridge itself, but it just didn’t give him the thrill he was looking
for. He wanted something higher, something more exciting. Then
he thought of it—he would jump Niagara Falls!
This will be my highest jump yet!

There’s no mistake in Sam Patch!
Sam built a jumping platform on Goat Island, a large rock in the

middle of Niagara Falls. From the platform it was a straight drop of
more than 100 feet into the swirling waters below. An audience of
thousands watched in hushed silence as Sam climbed the platform.
66
8 ´
After a short speech, which was
drowned out by the falls, Sam
removed the handkerchief from Let me help you to shore.
around his neck and tied it
around his waist. This was the
signal that he was about to jump.
Then he kissed the American flag
and jumped off the platform. Sam
hit the water. A moment later a
sound that was even louder than I’ll swim! There’s no
the roar of the falls filled the air: mistake in Sam Patch!
It was the sound of applause as
Sam shot out of the water,
smiling!
The people waited and waited. After several hours,

they slowly started to leave. They had different ideas
about what happened to Sam Patch.
I bet that was just a dummy

up there on the platform.
No. I think that was the

jump that finally killed him.
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Some people might think a jump from Niagara Falls On the day of the jump, Sam drew his greatest
couldn’t be beat, but not Sam Patch. Less than a crowd ever. He made a short speech, which no one
month later, Sam decided to top his Niagara Falls could hear, then moved his handkerchief from his
jump with a 125-foot leap into the Genesee Falls in neck to his waist. He kissed the flag, then jumped
New York. Sam made posters announcing his jump. into the water. The people watched, and waited, for
Sam Patch to reappear.
Where is he?
It’s been a few minutes.

You don’t think . . . ?
He’ll show up,

just wait.
I’d better go see how that

platform’s coming along.
10
They were both wrong. Sam Patch jumped and survived, but the
jump took him so deep that he popped up on the other side of the
world. He settled in Australia and became a teacher. His students
were kangaroos. Can you guess what he taught them how to do?
I’ll make jumpers out of you yet.

There’s no mistake in Sam Patch!
68
12 ´
Slue-Foot Sue
and Pecos Bill
They say there’s someone out there for everyone. That may or may not be true.
But it was certainly the case for Pecos Bill and Slue-Foot Sue.
Of course, Pecos Bill had never met Slue-Foot Sue. Sue was
different from any other girl out West. Sure, she could kill a
rattlesnake with her bare feet. But she could do it while she was
shoeing a horse and singing a cowgirl song she wrote herself.
Bareback is how I love to ride.

I love to ride bareback during high tide.
69
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Before he met Slue-Foot Sue, Pecos Bill was just a famous cowboy.
He was so busy riding his horse Widow Maker, wrestling bears,
branding cows, and inventing roping, he had no time to think about
marrying. Besides, he’d never met anyone he wanted to marry.
When Pecos Bill first saw Slue-Foot Sue, she was doing
what she liked best. She was riding a giant catfish in
the Rio Grande. And she was riding it bareback!
That’s the girl I aim to marry.
70
4 ´
Bill waved and called to Sue. When Sue looked ashore, she nearly
fell off her catfish. Bill was the biggest, boldest cowboy she’d ever
seen. And Widow Maker was the handsomest horse. Sue steered Howdy! Name’s Pecos Bill.
her catfish to the riverbank. She slid off and nearly landed in
This here’s Widow Maker.
Where’d a girl pretty as you
Bill’s arms. Neither one seemed to mind much.
learn to ride like that?
Howdy! I’m Slue-Foot Sue.

I taught myself.
It wasn’t much more than a week before Bill asked Sue

to marry him. The only reason she thought to say no
was that she hadn’t thought to ask first. But she figured
that wasn’t a good enough reason, so she said yes.
My pretty little coyote,

will you be my bride?
Will you marry me?
Of course I will.
You don’t need to ask twice!
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Bill fell so crazy in love he didn’t know what to with himself.
He was like a kid again, when he was raised by coyotes. He
went to Sue’s cabin every night, got down on all fours, and
howled under her window. Luckily, Sue understood Coyote.
A-whoooo!
A-whoooo!
I love you, too, Bill.

I love you, too.
If you don’t count bare feet and cowboy boots, Sue and
Bill had a fancy wedding. Sue wore a beautiful white dress What would you like for a wedding present?
with a steel-spring bustle. Bill wore a new buckskin suit. I’ll give you anything you want.
Everyone wore smiles. As soon as the ceremony was over,
Bill picked up Sue and gave her a big kiss. Their friends
whistled and cheered for them.
Anything?
72
8 ´
You see, ever since the day Sue first saw Bill and Sue did not like to be told no. When Bill refused
his horse, Sue had wanted to ride Widow Maker. her request, she jumped out of his arms and
But it had been such a whirlwind courtship, she stormed off toward the riverbank. Bill felt like she
had never had a chance to ask Bill if she could ride had a lasso around his heart and was taking it with
him. Now she had her chance. her.
I want to ride Widow Maker.
Oh, Sue. Anything but that.

You know that horse won’t let
any human but me ride him.
Wait, Sue! Wait! If you want

to ride Widow Maker, why,
you’ll ride him.
9
Sue bounced between the earth and the moon all day. Bill
kept running and trying to catch her. Finally, he got a better
idea. He took his lariat, which was as long as the equator,
give or take a couple of inches, and whirled it above his
head. He caught her and pulled her in.
Don’t worry, my sweet little coyote!

I’ve got you now.
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When Sue heard Bill’s words, she was back in a
flash. Bill hardly had time to ask Widow Maker to
go easy on his girl before Sue jumped on the horse.
As soon as she did, Widow Maker bucked so hard he
threw Sue as high as the new moon. Sue sailed
over the moon and then started falling back down
to earth. Bill ran to catch her. But before he got
there, Sue hit the ground on her steel-spring
bustle, and bounced straight back to the moon!
Sue! Sue!
10
After Sue’s adventures in space, Texas seemed small

to her. She and Bill took off to explore the world.
The last anyone saw of them, they were riding giant
crocodiles on the Amazon River.
The world is a mighty big place. I’ll go anywhere with you, sweet
I’m going to show it to you. Sue. Besides, the West was getting
a little tame for me.
74
12 ´
Alfred Bulltop Stormalong
When sailors put “A.B.S.” after their names, it doesn’t mean “Able-Bodied Seaman,” as most people
think. Sailors use the letters to honor the greatest sailor who ever lived—Alfred Bulltop Stormalong.
Stormy was a great sailor. He could scrub faster than

20 men, unfurl sails with his baby finger, and sing loud
enough to scare away almost any hurricane. All the men
on the Lady of the Sea loved him. All but the cook, that is.
That chowder was great.

What’s next?
Next? Did he ask what’s next?
75
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When he was 12, Alfred Bulltop Stormalong went to
Boston Harbor to sign on as a cabin boy on the Lady
of the Sea. Stormy chose the biggest clipper afloat
because, at three fathoms—18 feet—high, he was a
big boy, and he was still growing!
Alfred Bulltop Stormalong.
What’s your name?
You look like an able-bodied

seaman to me.You’re hired!
Soon Stormy won over even the cook.

After a morning of deep-sea fishing in
the tropical Atlantic, the captain asked What happened?
his crew to weigh anchor. They tried to
lift the heavy metal hook, but nothing
happened. Even Stormy couldn’t budge
it. They figured it must be a giant
octopus! Stormy decided to take
care of it. Stormy dove into the I tied every one of that octopus’s
sea, which immediately erupted arms in a different sailor’s knot!
like a boiling cauldron. Then it
grew quiet. The men felt sad, sure
Stormy was dead. The boat tilted, and I’ll never complain about
they prepared to meet their own watery feeding Stormy again!
graves. Then they saw Stormy climbing
up the anchor chain.
76
4 ´
Stormy loved the seafaring life. He would have stayed on the
Lady of the Sea forever, except for one thing: He outgrew
her. He was too big to sleep in a hammock like the other
sailors; he had to sleep scrunched up in a lifeboat.
I’m giving up the

seafaring life.
You can’t!
You have salt water
in your veins!
But Stormy kept his

word. When the ship dropped
anchor in Boston Harbor, Stormy
said good-bye to his friends. He took one long,
last look at the sea. Then, hoisting an oar over his shoulder, he
headed west. He hoped the West was as big as he’d been told it was.
5
Stormy and the sailors began

building the biggest clipper ship in I’ve come to relieve you.
the world. It took three years and
caused a lumber shortage all over
America, but the Courser was finally Is he going to steer
built. And what a ship she was! Her
all by himself?
masts were so tall, they had to be
hinged to let the sun and moon go He can steer the Courser
by. Sailors climbed to the crow’s with one hand!
nest as young men and returned
with gray beards. And the deck was
huge; the only way to get from bow
to stern was on horseback—and
even that took 24 hours!
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When Stormy reached the great open spaces of Despite his success as a farmer, Stormy couldn’t
Kansas, he settled down and became a potato stop thinking about the sea. He missed the smell of
farmer. That first year there was an awful drought. the salt air, the sound of the surf, the feel of the
Stormy worked doubly hard, watering his crops ocean breeze. The sea was his home; he couldn’t
with the sweat of his brow. He became the best stay away any longer. He sold his farm and returned
farmer in Kansas. to Boston.
Look! It’s Stormy!
But there isn’t a ship here

that’s big enough for him.
We’ll have to build it!
The Courser sailed the world over. The ship was too big to
get into any harbor, but this wasn’t a problem. The Courser
was equipped with regular-sized ships for lifeboats, and
these were used to ferry cargo to and from the mother ship.
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8 ´
Once, while sailing the English Channel between
the French coast and the dark cliffs of Dover, it
Now they’ll be called the
White Cliffs of Dover.
looked like the Courser might not make it. She
was too big. Stormy had his men soap the sides of
the boat. It worked! She slipped through the
channel, barely rubbing the cliffs.
Look at what
the soap did!
We made it!
The hurricane then blew the Courser to the Gulf of Mexico and
drove it straight toward the Isthmus of Panama. Stormy looked
over the jungle and saw water on the other side. He put on more
sail and plowed right through to the Pacific Ocean.
I thought we were goners!
Nah, just making a canal.
79
™ 11
The Courser made history again in the Caribbean. It was
hurricane season, which usually wasn’t a problem, since
hurricanes were like sunshowers to Stormy on his big ship.
But an especially violent hurricane surprised him, blowing
the Courser smack into an island.
Where’s that island going?

Looks like we knocked it
clear to the Gulf of Mexico!
10
After reaching the peaceful Pacific, Stormy decided to

take the ship around the world one last time. He told
his first mate that this would be his final voyage, that
the Courser was getting too small for him.
Not on any earthly sea.
Too small? But there’s no

bigger ship anywhere!
The night before they reached Boston Harbor, Stormy died in his sleep.
His shipmates doused his body with buckets of saltwater tears as they
wrapped Stormy in hundreds of yards of Chinese silk. Then they buried
him in the only place he ever felt at home, the sea, and said good-bye to
their friend and hero Alfred Bulltop Stormalong, Able-Bodied Seaman.
80
12 ´

12 Tall Tale Mini Books

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12 Tall Tale Mini Books

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12 Tall Tale

Mini-Books by Jeannette Sanderson

Johnny Appleseed Davy Crockett

Febold Feboldson John Henry Mose Humphreys Joe Magarac

Sam Patch Slue-Foot Sue

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

seed his p ssion. .

4 12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources 5

6 12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources 7

8 12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources 9

10 12 Tall Tale Mini-Books © Jeanette Sanderson, Scholastic Teaching Resources

The only thing Johnny loved almost as much as

Here you go. And stop

As Johnny grew, so did his

I’d like to bring a sack of

I am going to plant apple

What do you mean

Johnny gave thousands of apple seeds to others to plant.

I will search for sunny places

Whenever Johnny found a sunny clearing, he planted apple

Don’t go eating these seeds,

We will have apples How can we repay you?

Johnny walked for years and years. He planted

Take these seeds! Plant them!

In 1845, Johnny Appleseed went to sleep in a barn

When Bill was two years old,

I’m worried about him!

What do you mean, I’m

All Texans have fleas and can

Do I have to beat the poison

Bill became a great cowboy. He and his men had a ranch

I’ve made so many inventions,

Who’s the boss

I was. But from now on,

We figured on a name for

You got to do This whole country’s about

Leave me think about it.

Yippee! I’m makin’ rain!

It’s just a cyclone, Widow Maker!

Bill let go of the rained-out cyclone in California. He fell so

Paul Bunyan was the greatest lumberjack who ever lived.

You’ve got to get that huge

The farther away He’s doing too much

I’m sorry we have to do this, Son.

Always remember you’re Mama’s

This is fun! I’m going

Paul and Babe became a team. They left

Let’s bring that on down

Paul and Babe logged their way north through California

Come on, Butcher, we can catch him!

Faster, Butcher, faster!

Davy was so good with a gun he did most of the

Don’t shoot! I surrender!

Davy’s grin proved as powerful as his gun. One day he saw a

That panther turned out to be a fine pet. Davy trained him to