Johnny Appleseed

Title: Johnny Appleseed
Genre: Traditional Literature
Author: Steven Kellogg
Awards: N/A
Age Group: 6 to 8-year olds

Teacher Evaluation: I would use this in a second-grade classroom because I believe the story is a good example of a tall tale. I believe the exaggeration told about Johnny Appleseed's story will give students something to remember tall tales by.

Summary: The story of Johnny Appleseed is a folktale, but fits under the subcategory of a tall tale. The story starts by giving a background of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and where he came from. John loved to be in the forest and the story talks about how he carried apple seeds in his pouch as he traveled the Pennsylvania forest. The story details how people began calling John, Johnny Appleseed because of how he began clearing out space to plant his apple trees for incoming pioneers. Johnny continued to plant apple trees and care for them until he became 70 years old and it got hard. Throughout the story, there are major exaggerations of what supposedly happened to Johnny Appleseed such as, a rattlesnake not being able to break through his skin, him keeping a wolf as a pet, and even seeing him after he had passed away. There are also some historical points in the story talking about wars at the time.