Paul Bunyan: un cuento fantástico

A Tall Tale

by Steven Kellogg

Recounts the adventures of the great American folk hero, Paul Bunyan, and his big blue ox, Babe, as they dig out the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Grand Canyon

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Folklore, Fiction, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales

44 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Steven Kellogg is an author and illustrator who has contributed over 90 books for children. He is best known for writing books about animals, for which he credits his grandmother .

Reviews

[Mariah Roze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I discovered this book because I will be taking my summer class to the Paul Bunyan Logging Camps this summer for a field trip. This book was great and explained the Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan.

"Who was the largest baby ever born in the state of Maine? Who dug the Great Lakes? Who gouged out the Grand Canyon? Why, Paul Bunyan, of course, America's finest, fastest, funniest lumberman and favorite tall-tale hero."

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had not heard of Paul Bunyan so I don't know how accurate the story is but I found this unpleasant and confusing. Building skyscrapers out of wood, a giant pancake machine that flipped the pancakes on top of the skyscrapers and people playing some game that looked like ice hockey with bacon strapped to their feet left me wondering what on earth was going on.

Like the Pinkerton book I have just read every page was full of frantic action and disaster. Too much for me and I really didn't like the way this author draws faces, every one manically smiling with big cute eyes. I wouldn't want to read this to a child before bed.

Read on open library

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the tall tale genre! Steven Kellogg's text and illustrations are delightful. I recommend this book as a read-aloud for primary school-aged children!

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, I have definitely not all that much enjoyed Steven Kellogg's Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale and actually mostly because I have visually simply despised his accompanying artwork, which I have found from page one to be too frenetic, too frustratingly overly detailed and at times even quite annoyingly anachronistic. For even though Paul Bunyan is a character of American folklore and perhaps as such also bit removed from a totally specific time frame, I for one will always think of him more as a person of the American past and not of the present or future. And ergo, aside from my general aesthetic displeasure with how overly convoluted and busy Steven Kellogg's pictures for Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale are, to and for my eyes, Paul Bunyan being depicted as constructing houses that look like contemporary skyscrapers and that silly illustration of the lumberjacks playing an inside arena game of what appears to be broom ball, well aesthetically, this just feels like a visual assault on my eyes (as something removed from reasonable time) and certainly in no way even remotely a personal viewing pleasure.

Now the narrative of Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale seems to represent a rather typical tall tale storyline (with gigantic main characters who both look and act larger than life, who wrestle with monsters and tame and subjugate both flora and fauna). However, as I am not all that personally familiar with the Paul Bunyan legend (except for the fact that he was a lumberjack and had a blue ox named Babe), I also and sadly have no way of knowing which of the presented scenarios of Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale are based on tradition and which have been (or might have been) added by Steven Kellogg as something novel and invented (for there is also no author's note included and yes, I do very much desire to know in particular whether the part about Paul Bunyan's axe creating the Grand Canyon is part of the general Paul Bunyan legend or whether this is just something that reteller, adapter Steven Kellogg has made up and added because it sounded interesting and fun).

[Sara A · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really funny

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny Appleseed was better.

This is definitely a tall tale. How tall is Paul? Who knows. But he seems more like a giant than a character from a tall tale. The destruction of forests is painful -- the loggers seem to be cutting trees just for the fun of it. (This is a pet peeve of mine.) And when is this supposed to be set? According to this tale, Bunyon was extremely long-lived, remaining young and strong for several centuries.

Not a favorite.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve heard of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, but did not know the folklore. I enjoyed learning about them: known for logging, creating the Great Lakes for access to Vermont maple syrup, and the Grand Canyon. The artwork itself told a story with “look and find” detail, similar to Where’s Waldo, intended for older kids to appreciate. I enjoyed the whimsical artwork, but also found it a bit confusing. Skyscraper buildings, parachutes, and sports jerseys clash with the times of Paul Bunyan.

This is a Reading Rainbow Book.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of the art style. The front cover made me think there was a tale in here I hadn't heard before that involved mountain lions and an eagle, but that tale never materialized.

[♥♣Mary♦♠ If She So Pleases · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan. A nice story time read.

[Kirsten Little]

Paul Bunyan, a Tall Tale, is written by Steven Kellogg and is a great book for children of any age. This book tells the story of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. Paul Bunyan is known for his extraordinary size and strength that he obtained during his whole life. The story begins by taking us through Paul Bunyan's adventures as a child and continues to tell the audience the stories of Paul Bunyan and the other lumberjacks as they make their way across the United States. It even includes tall tales of Paul's involvement in creating the Grand Canyon, Great Lakes, and Rocky Mountains.
This book can be described as a tall tale because it focuses on a character and a storyline that is "larger than life." The character of the book himself has indescribable strength and size which creates more interest in the readers. It can also be described as a tall tale due to its historical background to it. Although the character and the story itself may seem blown out of proportion, it grabs the reader's attention and keeps them interested. This book would be great to read to children because it is extremely fascinating and also pushes kids to make a change in the world. We are obviously not able to do many of the things Paul Bunyan was able to, but it shows that even after being neglected, we can still make a difference in the world. I think as a teacher, this is definitely a must have in the library in the classroom.

[Madison Siegle]

This book was a tall tale category book, and I’m really glad I read it. I’ve seen it on shelves before and have heard the name, but never actually the story. The exploits were interesting, it was cool to finally know what everyone was talking about and one of the world's greatest lumberjacks in the U.S.’s history.
The story was engaging. The illustrations were humorous and added to the story which I liked a lot. I think kid’s books, even when read by adults, should still have nice images in them to move the story along. But what was most intriguing to me of all and what made me love the story is the way Paul bonded with the animals. When he found Babe the Ox and all the other times he’s kind, it made my heart warm. I love when stories con make coexistence between humans and animals, especially in children’s books or stories.

[Gabriella Bruno · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. It really was not my favorite. The illustrations were hard to look at. The colors and amount of details made the illustrations really busy and hard for the eye to follow. I probably would not read this version of Paul Bunyan again but instead find a different version of this folklore.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

how he bonded with the animals
amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so ridiculous! It’s an entertaining introduction to tall tales. I remember reading it as a child, and enjoying its silliness. Re-reading it with my children is fun too.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read some references to Paul Bunyan, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a book to introduce the character to my kids. Unfortunately, this doesn't hold up to modern sensibility. In this book Paul Bunyan's primary job is deforestation in order to facilitate the United States's westward expansion.

The book aims for silly. As a child Paul Bunyan's innocent shenanigans wreck whole towns. As an adult, he digs the Great Lakes in order to get maple syrup to his logging crew, and he digs the Grand Canyon because reasons. And in California, he playfully lifts a whale out of the ocean.

I have no idea how much of this was existing folklore and how much the author invented.

[Austin W · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love it when he finds babe the ox

[Bobby W · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was funny

[Carterl · Rating 4 out of 5]

very funny

[Lizette Bernardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun interesting picture book to read! The author writes about the character Paul and his intriguing life starting as a baby growing into a man. This story can be used in a traditional read aloud to model reading to students. The book as an interesting spread revealing Paul with his family in their community. A great piece of fantasy to share!

[Emma VanBuskirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This folklore book is Steven Kellogg's version of Paul Bunyan. The endpaper at the back of the book shows a map of the United States, and within that map, it shows everywhere the giant lumberjack's adventures took place! Just when the story reaches its climax, you're not sure what Paul Bunyan is going to do next! You will have to finish this picture book yourself to find out the resolution!

[Jolene Aho]

“Paul Bunyan” by Steven Kellogg is a tall tale about the folk hero Paul Bunyan. The illustrations in the book are very detailed and humorous. The story tells about how Paul was born in Maine, but the family ends up moving west, because young Paul’s strength and enthusiasm for logging are causing problems in town. Paul saves an ox from a blizzard and names him Babe. The story chronicles Paul and Babe’s adventures as they travel across the United States with a logging crew. Some of the incredible feats that Paul is credited with include digging the Great Lakes and Grand Canyon and “shaving” the slopes of the Rockies.
This book is an example of traditional literature, because it is a story that has been passed down and adapted over many years. It is a tall tale, because the main character is a hero who accomplishes outlandish feats. For example, it says “Paul took a few days off to dig the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes”.
This book has a grade level equivalent of 3.8 and would be most appealing to Kindergarten to 2nd or 3rd grade students. Because the illustrations are so detailed and integral to the story, it would be important to make sure students could all see them. A doc cam could be used, or the book could be read to small groups of students. When reading this book, a teacher could show students a map of the United States and help them locate the places mentioned in the book. Students could also explore the character traits of Paul Bunyan or compare him to a character in another story. It would also be interesting to compare and contrast different versions of stories about Paul Bunyan.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steven Kellogg has always been a wonderful author to read whether he is covering just a regular children story or one of the many tall tales of this country. What helps to make his work so endearing is his whimsical artwork that mixes the silly with the interesting.

Within this tall tale relating to Paul Bunyan and the big blue ox Babe readers are introduced to one of the world's greatest lumberjacks that United States knew of. Bits of the story I had heard before in the legend of this mighty man while there are others that I am not quite sure they were a part of the story or not but it makes it even better to enjoy.

The best thing out of the book like many of his is noticing the details of his illustrations. Some of the details are funny such as the cow seems to have an extra teat when he is milking her and if you look closely at the cats gathered underneath (why so many cats?) then you will see one that looks like it is a drunken bliss. Kellogg also included a library in the moving camp of Bunyan and the naming of the Screach sisters was also a good pun.

This is one book that children will definitely enjoy as they get a chance to learn about some of the tall tales that were once told within this country.

[Claire Morton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a good version for younger children. Its more of a cartoon version, with pictures popping off the pages, as well as the text that go well with the images. Paul Bunyan is a good tale about a very large man who helps clear paths for trains and other people to go through. He also helped create the Grand Canyon and other National monuments.

This is a good book to read with your older children. I wasn't exactly a fan of this particular story. It didn't really have a huge meaning to it, and the pictures and text kind of fell flat for me. If you really want to learn about Paul Bunyan, I would recommend a different more fun version

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of this version of Paul Bunyan. The illustrations were neat, until the story became unbelievable or too modern, for my liking. I liked the traditional stories about Paul Bunyan and Babe, not the parts in this book where it states that Bunyan built tall bunkhouses where the workers had to parachute to breakfast, or where the griddle was so large men wore bacon on their feet to grease it. Maybe it's coupled with the childish illustrations, but this story wasn't for me.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a funny story and the art work is great.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kellogg, Steven. Paul Bunyan (1984). This 20th Anniversary Edition of Paul Bunyan is a tall tale retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. It’s in picture book format which optimally relates the tall tale of folk hero Paul Bunyan, through the beautifully and detailed illustrations that showcase the exaggerated adventures and his extraordinary strength from his childhood in Maine to his adult life across the country. As a child he began contributing to the family business by ripping out trees from the ground with his bare hands and lifting them into the lumber wagons. He had amazing speed and agility too that allowed him to race with deer and wrestle with grizzlies. We learn about him rescuing and adopting his ox calf named Babe that accompanies him in his many adventures in the early 1800s. For example, he takes a few days to dig the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes so that Babe can pull barges of Vermont maple syrup that would feed his giant flap jack eating lumber crew. These wonderful meals fueled their work and helped them level the Great Plains and shave the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. All along, as they travelled west, they cleared the way for people to settle towns across the United States until they reached the Pacific Ocean. The tall tale ends with Paul Bunyan travelling north in search of new areas of untouched wilderness and possessing an unusual and extraordinary longevity. The last two pages are a map of the United States that recount Paul Bunyan’s adventures and tremendous feats throughout the country. I recommend this to teachers and parents of children of the ages 6-9 years old. They will find Kellogg’s version of this tall tale and illustrations both enjoyable and informative. Teachers can use it as an example of tall tales and American folklore, as well as character development and even geography.

[Manjun Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Bunyan is a tall tale retold by Steven Kellogg. Paul Bunyan, the book's protagonist, is the biggest, strongest and smartest baby born in Maine. Using simple sentences and pictures, the author depicts the adventures of Paul and a blue bull in the United States. The exaggerated characters and impossible feats of the story are undoubtedly reflected that this is a tall tale. It is clear that Paul is not a real person, as readers can see from the first page of the book.
I personally like this book. First of all, the character is interesting because none around us are as amazing as Paul. This kind of character setting makes readers very willing to read on. Secondly, the illustrations in the book make it easier for readers to understand the progress of the story. Meanwhile, the use of illustrations makes the whole story more real than a single boring paragraph. Finally, the book has its own idea. Paul used his ability to create a series of natural geographical landscape in the United States, such as the Great Lakes, the Rocky Mountains, and the Grand Canyon. It reminds me of a character in Chinese myth, Pan Gu. In ancient Chinese mythology, Pan Gu was the creator of all things in the world. Although we all know that both Paul and Pan Gu were imaginary in the long history of human civilization, however, the existence of these person represents the continuous exploration of nature and human beings.
For the above three reasons, I am very glad to use or recommend this book to my students in future classroom, as well as the tall tale genre. Although the stories in tall tales seem absurd, they actually give children a good chance to develop their creativity and fantasy. If students are willing to accept the existence of Paul, that means they believe that human power is great, which will make them more confident and strong.

[Teegan Hite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Bunyan, a Tall Tail, by Steven Kellogg, is an example of traditional literature and it tells the story Paul Bunyan, the biggest baby ever born and how he helped level and prepare the land for people to travel west. This book could be classified under the subgenre of a tall tale because its main character, Paul Bunyan, and all of his accomplishments are exaggerated far out of reason, but this makes the story interesting. The book is also based on a "larger-than-life" character and story, which may have some historical truth to it.
This book was enjoyable to read and it would also be a good book to read to children. Paul Bunyan and the way his character is explained would captivate students because his size and accomplishments simply are not realistic, but they are presented in a matter-of-fact way in the story. This makes the reader assume and imagine these exaggerated facts are true, pulling the reader into the story line.
I also really enjoyed the illustrations used in this book. The pictures are very realistic and full of rich details. They work well with story and not only help the reader picture what is happening, but they also help show the extreme size of Paul Bunyan. I also enjoyed looking at the pictures because the illustrator hid in many small, but often times humorous details. Overall, Paul Bunyan, a Tall Tail, by Steven Kellogg, is an enjoyable children's book to read.

[Jcraig2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: Paul Bunyan, a Tall Tale
Author/Illustrator: Steven Kellogg
Reading Level: LG
Book Level: 5.7

Book Summary:
This is the legend of an enormous lumberjack named, Paul Bunyan, and his adventures.

Bookshelf Mentor Writing Trait:
Word Choice- I would use this book to teach students about word choice in their writing. Specifically, this book has a lot of similes and metaphors with adjectives that really paint a picture for the students. I would define metaphors and similes prior to reading this book. I would have students first listen to the story read aloud without showing them the illustrations. Next I would have students write down words or phrases that really helped them picture what was happening in the story by using visualization techniques. Next, I would have them partner share the words/phrases they chose and then share them with the whole class. I would make a chart that listed the phrases and words chosen. Then, I would re read the story aloud and show the illustrations. At the end I would have them partner talk about whether their visualization matched the illustrations. Then I would have them revise a piece of writing they were working on to include metaphors, similes, and descriptive adjectives to help them become better writers. I would conclude with an exit ticket that included three changes they made to their own writing and why.

[Doreydi Valadez · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. An observation that automatically caught my eye was the size of Paul Bunyan, in comparison to the animals. On the cover of the book, Paul Bunyan's overall height and size is much larger than that of the ox and mountain lions.
2. As I read the book, a strong connection I had was to Hercules the Greek God. I couldn't help but compare Paul Bunyan's strength and overall characteristics to those of Hercules. Hercules is known for his strength and so is Paul Bunyan, which was the primary reason I connected the both.
3. A question I had while reading the book revolved around how Paul Bunyan helped the Pioneers build their camp. My question is, by including the pioneers in the book, is the tall tale of Paul Bunyan trying to introduce the history behind the first pioneers of America to children?
4. I was thoroughly surprised by how Paul Bunyan's character is represented within the book. Paul Bunyan, along with the help of other men is creating significant elements of the Earth. In the book he is the creator of the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and even the Rocky Mountains.
5. I enjoyed reading the book, Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg. It is a great book that several children would enjoy reading, as well as learn from because of the information it includes. The book touches base on pioneers and the creation of several other significant elements of the Earth.