Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale

by Steven Kellogg

Paperback, 1988

Status

Available

Call number

634.110924

Collection

Publication

Scholastic (1988), 32 pages

Description

Presents the life of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, describing his love of nature, his kindness to animals, and his physical fortitude.

User reviews

LibraryThing member StephBecker
This book has beautiful illustrations and is well written. This would be perfect as a teacher read a loud to a classroom. There is a lot of text, however, it is a great story and really brings out Johnny Appleseed's character. I love this story and would recommend it to others to read!
LibraryThing member LaceyM
This book has beautiful pictures! The story of Johnny Appleseed has always been a favorite and Kellogg retells it very well.
LibraryThing member meallen1
This book is informational. The art in this book is illustrations that were done in both pen and ink and watercolor. The content in this book includes the life of John Chapman who later became know as Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed was born in Massachussetts and wanted to move out west. On his
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way he planted apple tress along the way for the settlers who were also moving out west. The reading level for this book is second or third grade. It would also be a good book to read aloud in front of a class. The topics for curricular connection is history. because Johnny Appleseed was alive during the Revolutionary War and he helped the new settlers move west. The illustrations in this book is paint and pen and ink.
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LibraryThing member Charitas
This is a book about a boy named John Chapman who came to be known as Jonny Appleseed. He was from Massachusetts and wanted to move out west. The story is about how he traveled around planting appleseeds for new settlers and about his kindness to all nature. He reached out to animals, Indians,
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woodsman, and the new settlers, showing them kindness.

This is a wonderful story when teaching about being kind to others, helping others, or even sharing. The books also has very nice pictures to go along with the story.

In the classroom I would have the students think of ways that they could show kindness to others like how Johnny Appleseed did. It would make a nice reflective writing topic. It would be fun to have an apple desert for everyone also.
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LibraryThing member kefoley
This book is an adaptation of Johnny Appleseed. When Johnny was young he found a love for nature from picking apples from the apples trees that were by his home. As soon as he was old enough to leave home he went out to explore the wilderness. He made friends with Indians and experienced nature
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first hand by living in a cave underground. One day he ran into a band of men who like to hunt. This band of men were shocked to hear that Johnny would never hurt an animal. Johnny Appleseed challenged these men to a tree chopping contest. Johnny won and continued on his way to more adventures. Everywhere Johnny Appleseed went he told his stories. His stories are still told to this day.
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LibraryThing member malinacoulter
This book tells the tale of Johnny Appleseed. As a young man he went off into the wilderness to live. Along his way he planted apple trees for others who came across them to enjoy.

This is a great story for young children. There are stories within the book because everywhere Johnny went people who
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met him always had tales to tell about him. I love all the adventure found throughout the book.

I would like to read another story about Johnny Appleseed and compare and contrast them in the class. I would also have the students draw me a picture of what they believe Johnny looked like.
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LibraryThing member cejerry97
"Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale Retold" is a book about the life of Johnny Applessed. The story includes what Johnny Appleseed liked to do and his contributions to the world, including caring about nature and helping others through sharing and positive communication. This book could be used for a
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social studies or language arts lesson, and definitely has multiple ways to make different subject connections with activities!
Type: Picture book - intermediate
Genre: Informational Narrative
Pictures: Painted, pencil
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LibraryThing member Jenlovely
The legend of Johnny Appleseed is actually the exaggerated story of the life of John Chapman. Born during the Revolutionary War, he made a life out of spreading apple ochards throughout the land and telling stories of what he faced on his journies. He was a lover of nature and that came through in
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his gentle relationship with animals and love of planting apple orchards. He met many friends along the way including Indians and other settlers. He would help them establish a life in the new land and always was willing to lend a hand. He loved to tell stories to the children about his adventures as well as the bible. As time went on, the stories of Johnny Appleseed seemed to take on a life of their own becoming bigger and more grand as they were being told by others. It was through the generations that the legend began and he took on a superhuman persona. This tale is a simplistic look at a large character with great illustrations to support. I especially enjoyed the illustration towards the end that showed Johnny in many unbelievable situations that were being told as believable tales. After John Chapman's death, the stories continued as did the embellishments of the character Johnny Appleseed.
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LibraryThing member lhendrix9983
I lovThe this story because Mr. Kellogg uses history and fiction in telling this charming tall tale. The illustrations are wonderful. However, because there are so many facts and information in this book I find that it would be difficult to retell. The book is part of my private collection. I teach
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a whole unit on tall tales, folk tales, fables, and fairy tales in due to fourth grade standards.
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LibraryThing member mrindt
This picture book tells about John Chapman, the man who headed west to explore the uncharted territory of the West. This book does a good job of telling the facts as well as the legend. The book is actually split into two parts (the real information and the exaggerated stories).
LibraryThing member kls058
Very colorful pages, a good way to inform students of Johnny Appleseed. Not a difficult text. Tells a lot of information about Johnny Appleseed.
LibraryThing member bad019
This book would be good for a younger history class. It has good illustrations and good facts about Johnny Appleseed. This book walks through Hohnnys life from beginng to end. It talks about his family, how he got the name Johnny Appleseed, and how he was with animals and all. This is a book that
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could be extended for higher grades as well as lowered for lessons in the lower grades.
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LibraryThing member Kathdavis54
This was a fun retelling of the Johnny Appleseed story. The pictures and story are both very engaging. I think that young readers might be bit confused because while this story does tell a mostly true tale of a man, it is also legend. This is not explained well in the story.
LibraryThing member HopeMiller123
This book is about Johnny Appleseed, who went around the west countryside making clearings for apple orchards. He knew new settlers were coming to America and that they would need these orchards and also the path that he left helped them as well. He was helped along by friendly indians and
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continued on planting until he died. People claim to still see him to this day.
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LibraryThing member MrJPenguin
Summary: This book tells the story of the famous American historical figure John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. This spans Chapman's entire life and his journeys across the country, spreading his seeds and growing his orchards. Though Chapman was a real person, his story has been told
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and retold a countless number of times.

Personal Reaction: This book was a warm reminder of my childhood and I praise Steven Kellogg for retelling it as he has with many other famous traditional stories in the past. As to be expected of his books, the illustrations are to be admired and the way his words make the story simply flow are to be respected.

Classroom Extension Ideas:

1. Have the children plant their own apple seeds outside and periodically see how much they grow.

2. Have a day where children bring in dishes of any culture that involve apples and have everyone share and try each dish.
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LibraryThing member Jennifer_Brown
Beautiful illustrations but lengthy text... would be good to listen to on tape!
LibraryThing member jake.stover
Johnny Appleseed is about a young boy, Johnny, who sets out on an adventure when he was old enough to leave home. He left to explore the wilderness out west. He stops quite a few times along the way and plants an apple orchard. He makes many friends along the way and throughout the book, he meets
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up with them again. They are with their families, and he is still moving west, planting trees.

I loved the artwork in this book. It was very detailed. I think the book was very good and very descriptive. It had very good adjectives and I could really visualize what was going on. I feel this book is meant for children on a more advanced reading level due to some of the vocabulary in it.

This would be a good book to use when talking about westward expansion. Johnny meets a lot of different people who one might have actually encountered on the plains. This would also be a good book to use on a unit about trees.
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LibraryThing member smyers
The story begins in 1774 when John Chapman was born in Leominister Massachusetts. His father was away fighting in the Revolutionary War, and his mother and brother both died before John turned 2. John was raised by his father and step mother and 9 brothers and sisters. The forest is where John
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would find peace and tranquility and friendship amongst the animals. When John was old enough to leave home, he headed west planting apple seeds as he went along. Along his travels to Pennsylvania, John met and lived with Indians with whom he befriended. John cleared land and planted apple seeds. John was now known as "Johnny Appleseed". John met many families and settlers along the way and shared his seeds and trees with them all.
I enjoyed the book as it was part of my library as a child. I remember having this story read several times to me as a child and doing reports on him as well. The illustrations in the book are great, very vibrant and appealing to the eye.
As a class extension, I would have the children plant apple seeds and watch them grown. The children could make apple cider, and apple pie or have apple snacks. Art work can be done with paint and sliced apples, as well as a nutritional lesson on the benefits of apples.
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LibraryThing member bb121789
Johnny Appleseed

By

Steven Kellogg

Johnny Appleseed is about a boy who had a love for apple orchards and the wilderness. When Johnny Appleseed grows up he sets out to clear land for apple orchards and hopes to supply the pioneer families with apple trees. Johnny Appleseed is very successful with his
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plan and makes a lot of new friends. Throughout Johnny Appleseed’s mission to supply apple orchards he has many great adventures along the way. Although, Johnny Appleseed’s life comes to end in his old age his stories and adventures still live on.

I love the story of Johnny Appleseed; I remember reading about Johnny Appleseed when I was younger. I think it is a great book to read to children. According to the text this story of Johnny Appleseed is considered an individual biography. The illustrations in the book really help explain where the place and time of Johnny Appleseed took place.

After reading the book to my second grade class the class will participate in Johnny Appleseed WebQuest. In the WebQuest the students will go on a journey to find different facts about Johnny Appleseed. The facts will include years, dates, and places that Johnny Appleseed traveled.

After all of the students have collected their facts they will write them down a paper apple. Each student will tell about the fact he or she found about Johnny Appleseed and the student will place the apple on the apple tree on the bulletin board.
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LibraryThing member mooste2
I really enjoyed this book and enjoyed it even more as a child. The book is a biography on Johnny Appleseeds life but the author does a great job at making the book interesting to children, as well as factual. Each page continues the story of Johnny Appleseeds life as he plants trees across the
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United States and lives in the wild. The text tells facts on every page and the pictures are drawn to represent the text. The pictures are interesting because they are very busy and there is a lot to look at. I enjoyed this because I was never bored while reading the book. The pictures in the book are also very large and although they are not actual pictures of Johnny Appleseeds life they closely depict what his life was based on the text. I really like how the author told the story of Johnny Appleseeds life and kept the information to the point instead of adding unneccesary facts that might make the book boring.
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LibraryThing member KellyLPickett
In this book, Kellogg recounts the tale of John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed as he was better known. Based on the life of a real man born in Massachusetts around 1774. When Johnny was still very young he developed a strong fondness for nature, especially apple trees. As soon as he was old enough he
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decided to leave home to explore the wilderness toward the west and planted apple orchards along his way to help guide pioneers he knew would someday follow. As word of his life in the wild, befriending Indians and the animals, began to travel, fantastical stories about him began to arise and still live on today.
This is a very easy book not only to read to children, but also as a beginners book. The illustrations are large and colorful with a childlike feel. This could be used during an american history month to talk about how people migrated west from the coast or to introduce the idea of fairytales and other folklore.
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LibraryThing member JeniBenson
Johnny Appleseed is an American figure. In this tall tale Johnny Appleseed masters the wilderness chopping down trees and picking apples. Steven Kellogg takes this tale and adds beautiful illustrations to each page.

This would be a great read as a part of an American history unit discussing farming
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and homesteads. This book also touches on settlers and Native Americans, which can be used to tie to different pieces of American history, as well.
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LibraryThing member dukefan86
Fun tall tale about how apple orchards spread across part of the country! Steven Kellogg's illustrations lend themselves well to tall tales like Johnny Appleseed--lots of color and detail.
LibraryThing member dukefan86
Love the details of the illustrations in this book, and the story is a fun one!
LibraryThing member matthewbloome
This is one of those classic texts that I can remember from my childhood. It does a good job with Chapman's life and separating the fact from the legend. The illustrations are very nice as well, wonderfully entertaining.

Awards

Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee — 1991)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Picture Book — 1992)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades K-3 — 1990)

Language

Original language

English

ISBN

9780590426169
Page: 1.6496 seconds