A collection of American tall tales featuring such legendary characters as Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan, and Pecos Bill.
Big Men, Big Country : A Collection Of American Tall Tales
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
Ella Enchanted (Newbery Honor Book)
In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow
A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy farmer’s daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman.
Paul Bunyan
Retells the story of the legendary American folk hero Paul Bunyan, the lumberjack hero who found no job too big or too small to handle, and his Big Blue Ox, Babe.
Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters
This is a collection of African American short stories. McKissack based the stories on those she heard as a child while sitting on her grandparents’ porch.
Whoppers: Tall Tales And Other Lies
A collection of tall tales involving animals, the weather, narrow escapes, and many other topics.
The Thief and the Beanstalk: A Further Tales Adventure
Everyone knows the story of Jack and the beanstalk. Everyone also knows that Jack’s little adventure made him a very rich man. But what they don’t know is what happened a long time after Jack…. That’s where Nick comes in. Orphaned and desperate, Nick joins a rugged band of thieves in hopes of a warm meal and a little protection. In exchange Nick must help them break into the lavish white castle rumored to belong to an old man named Jack. Legend says it’s full of riches from Jack’s quest up a magical beanstalk decades ago. When Nick’s dangerous mission leads him straight to Jack, he sees a chance to climb the famed beanstalk himself. But what Nick doesn’t know is that things are different from when Jack made his climb. There are new foes at the top now. Ones with cruel weapons and foul plans — plans that could destroy the world as Nick knows it. Will Nick come down the beanstalk a hero? Will he come down at all?
The People Could Fly
Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.
When Birds Could Talk And Bats Could Sing
Based on African-American folktales told in the South during the plantation era, a collection of stories originally gathered by journalist Martha Young pays tribute to the human spirit in the face of terrible hardship.
Stockings of Buttermilk: American Folktales
This handsome volume brings together eighteen American stories from eleven states, all of which are based on traditional tales of the European cultures that had the earliest influence on this country-the British Isles, France, Spain, and Germany. Some stories are variants of familiar favorites like “Snow White” (“A Stepchild That Was Treated Mighty Bad”), while others, like “The Little Bull with the Golden Horns,” are less well known; some are funny, some poignant. All share a characteristic freshness, energy, and informality that mark them as purely American. Vividly colored illustrations in the style of American folk art add humor and charm to this collection of lively, colloquial tales-tales that just beg to be read aloud. An authoritative introduction and notes place each in its folkloric context.