In this Appalachian variant of the Cinderella tale, old Granny helps Ashpet attend the church picnic where she charms Doc Ellison’s son but loses one of her fancy red shoes.
Ashpet
Primary (ages 6-9)
Material appropriate for primary age groups
The Bunyans
Paul Bunyan, his wife, and their children do some ordinary things which result in the formation of Niagara Falls, Bryce Canyon, and other natural monuments.
The Three Witches
Three hungry witches set out to eat two orphaned children while their grandmother is away at the market.
Callie Ann and Mistah Bear
A bear disguised as a fine, handsome man comes courting Callie Ann’s widowed mother and Callie Ann must outwit the bear to prevent her mother from marrying it.
Three Little Cajun Pigs
In this rhyming version of the familiar folktale, a big bad gator comes after the three pig brothers, Ulysse, Thibodeaux, and Trosclair, in the Louisiana bayou.
Swamp Angel (Caldecott Honor Book)
Along with other amazing feats, Angelica Longrider, also known as Swamp Angel, wrestles a huge bear, known as Thundering Tarnation, to save the winter supplies of the settlers in Tennessee.
Jack Outwits The Giants
In this Appalachian folktale, Jack outwits two giants who want fresh meat for breakfast.
Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett
Sally Ann, wife of Davy Crockett, fears nothing–and proves it when braggart Mike Fink tries to scare her. On the day she is born this amazing baby proudly announces she can out-talk, out-grin, out-scream, out-swim, and out-run any baby in Kentucky. Within a few years Sally is off to the frontier, where she stuns a hungry grizzly bear, makes a lasso out of six rattlesnakes, and is more than a match for the mighty Mike Fink. And when Sally Ann rescues Davy Crockett from a pair of ferocious eagles, even her hornet’s-nest bonnet and skunk perfume don’t stop him from proposing marriage. You won’t find Sally Ann in any history book, but that hasn’t kept her from becoming an authentic American frontier legend and the unforgettable heroine of Steven Kellogg’s most delightfully rip-roaring tall tale.
The Talking Eggs
A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman and is duly rewarded.
John Henry
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut through a mountain.