Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale Retold and Illustrated By Steven Kellogg

Reading Level: 2-5
Genre: Folktale
Awards: Reading Rainbow Book

This book tells the story of Paul Bunyan and his adventures with his lumbering crew as the cross the United States.  Along the way Paul and his men create some of the natural wonders that the United States is known for like the Grand Canyon. The illustrations are very bright and have many details.

I would use this in the classroom as a way to connect either geography or the study of the formation of natural wonders to literacy and tall tales.  I would first read Paul Bunyan and then talk about tall tales and how the genre explains how things were created in exaggerated and improbable way.  Then I would be able to move into the science content for the day and contrast what the story said Paul Bunyan did to what actually happened.