Paul Bunyanretold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg
published by Morrow and Company, NY, 1984
Summary: Recounts the life of the extraordinary lumberjack whose unusual size and strength brought him many fantastic adventures.
picture from amazon.com
The tale of Paul Bunyan is well known to me after countless summers spent visiting Paul and Babe in Bemidji, Minnesota and screaming in a log chute on the Paul Bunyan ride at the Mall of America. The dynamic illustrations of this book provide details and compliment the easy-to-read sentences. This story would be great for teaching geography by giving students the opportunity to follow Paul's path and discover the tall tales of how different landmarks are made. For example, students could find the Grand Canyon when reading that it was made by Paul dragging his ax.
Cendrillon
by Robert D. San Souci
illustrated by Brian Pinkney
published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, NY, 1998
Summary: A Creole variant of the familiar Cinderella tale set in the Caribbean and narrated by the godmother who helps Cendrillon find her true love.
The colorful and bright illustrations of clothes, landscape, and architecture in this book provide insight into the culture and landscape of the Caribbean. I really liked reading this traditional story from the perspective of the godmother and learning the history and connection between the godmother and Cendrillon. The French Creole words and phrases are explained and defined at the end of the book.
The Way Meat Loves Salt
by Nina Jaffe
illustrated by Louise August
published by Henry Holt & Company, NY, 1998
Summary: In this Eastern European Jewish variant of the Cinderella story, the youngest daughter of a rabbi is sent away from home in disgrace, but thanks to the help of the prophet Elijah, marries the son of a renowned scholar and is reunited with her family. Includes words and music to a traditional Yiddish wedding song.
I love the use of white space on the pages of this book with blurry borders of different colors on white pages. I also really liked the patterns on the traditional clothes of the people in the story. The illustrations and words share a lot about traditional Jewish customs and traditions. I liked that this story was very different from the "Disney" version of Cinderella and that the boy left the wedding first.
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