African American Tall Tales

John Henry

Julius Lester, author

Jerry Pinkney, illustrator

Birds, bears, panthers, and even a unicorn come out of the woods when John Henry is born.  Within moments of his arrival, John jumps out of his mother’s arms and grows taller than the roof!  The next morning he gets up and chops an acre of trees down.  As John ventures out west, he single-handedly crushes gigantic boulders and digs through a mountain!  There are many versions of this tale, but Lester’s stands out for its humorous personification, colorful hyperbole, and engaging storytelling.

Roy Makes a Car

Mary E. Lyons, author

Terry Widener, illustrator

Roy Tyle has a way with automobiles.  People say he “can grease an axle faster than you can say 'carburetor,' and he can clean spark plugs just by looking at them hard." Roy believes there is a fatal flaw in the factory cars—they can get into accidents.  So, he takes his talents to the next level—building his own car. After spending an hour in his garage, he comes out with one that is “accident proof.” In test after test, his car avoids cars and trucks by sliding over or under them.  He doesn’t stop there though…he builds a another car that goes so far as to impress God, himself!

Big Jabe

Jerdine Nolen, author

Kadir Nelson, illustrator

From the moment Big Jabe shows up as a small boy floating in a basket down the river, he uses his extraordinary abilities to help the slaves on the Plenty Plantation.  When the fish aren’t biting, he commands them to jump from the river and into the wagon.  When works needs to be done, he is able to single-handedly complete it—allowing the others some much-deserved rest.  Even the plants and animals change in remarkable ways when he is present.  When slaves begin to disappear without a trace, some wonder if Jabe is the one rescuing them.

Thunder Rose

Jerdine Nolen, author
Kadir Nelson, illustrator

On a summer night during a fierce thunderstorm, a lively baby is born.  Rather than cry out while taking her first breath of life, she sits up and takes hold of the lightning and thunder.  Then, she tells her parents she is partial to the name Rose, so they call her Thunder Rose.  Full of spunk, determination, and confidence, Thunder Rose accomplishes everything she sets out to do.  She amazes her parents by drinking her milk while holding up a cow, creating objects with scrap metal, staking a fence without assistance, and building a sky scraper—all before the age of ten! These thrilling feats are just the beginning of her story!

Peggony-Po: A Whale of a Tale

Andrea Davis Pinkney, author
Brian Pinkney, illustrator

Feisty as a kettle of just-caught fish, Peggony-Po is able to climb a look out mast and catch whales on the high seas—all before the age of 4!  There is just one whale that eludes even that most skilled sailor’s grasp—Cetus!  Peggony-Po is determined to catch that whale—known for wrecking havoc for sailors and, even, land folk.  The young boy ventures off in search of Cetus without even bothering to take a boat!  This high seas adventures, full of astonishing acts and vivid similes, celebrates the many brave African American sailors who worked side by side as equals with white sailors on whaling ships in a time of great inequality.

Loud Lula (Katy S. Duffield)

Title:  Loud Lula

Author:  Katy S. Duffield

Illustrator:  Mike Boldt

Target Audience:  4-10

Opening Lines:

Lula was born smack-dab in the middle of one of the biggest twisters Pryor County had ever seen.  Winds howled.  Trees snapped.  It was bust—your—eardrums loud. But…it wasn’t as loud as Lula.

Publisher Summary:

Lula might be a pint-sized gal, but she’s got a big ol’ voice!  Since her birth, Lula’s loud voice has wreaked tens kinds of havoc across Pryor County, disrupting humans and animals alike.  Lula’s parents are worried:

What’s going to happen when Lula starts school?

Will Lula ever learn to use her “inside voice”?

But when Lula spots something sinister making it’s way toward town, it seems that she may have found just the right use for that big ol’ voice after all.

Evaluation:

Ok. True confession. I completely related to Lula.  When I was a child, I was always being told to speak softer.  To me, I sounded normal.  Unfortunately, I have not outgrown my bellowing voice or lively laugh.  In comes in handy as a teacher.  My students can always find me.  No one ever tells me to speak up, and I don’t have anyone fall asleep in class.  (Well, except for one student who used to sit in the front row!!!!  Talk about being able to sleep through a hurricane!) 

As for Loud Lula, I loved it.  It reads like a modern day tall tale, with lots of hyperbole.  For instance, she calls her kitty home for supper and “every cat all the way from Crowley’s Corner came a-callin’." When she asks, “Where’s the bathroom?”  The schoolhouse shakes “like a big ol’ bowl of boysenberry jelly.”

Duffield incorporates similes.  She describes the storm as “like nothing more than a chicken feather hitting the hen house floor.”  Everyone else is exhausted, but Lula is “spry as a spring chicken.”  

The illustrations are full of drama!  The schoolhouse shaking, kids fainting, and Lula dancing on her desk!  The characters are animated—joyful, exhausted, content, surprised, excited, annoyed, and relieved.  There are many opportunities to discuss emotions. 

At the end of the narrative, Lula uses her loud voice to warn others of danger and save the day: “The way some folks tell it, those firefighters didn’t even have to pull out their hoses.  Lula’s rip-roaring holler ran that wildfire back across the hills!” Lula is a hero and spotlighted in the local paper. She is finally appreciated (well, sort of) for who she is—joyful, enthusiastic, caring, and loud.

Loud Lula is a reminder that we need to appreciate and to celebrate all people, even when their gifts and personality may be different than the norm.  This book is a riot, especially for the loud one in the class/family or for kids who enjoy a good boisterous read.

Ideas for Lesson Plans and Extension Activities:

• Language Arts:  Teach about hyperbole and simile
• Character Education:  Discuss talents, gifts, and special qualities
• Science:  Research tornados and wild fires
• Writing:  Write a newspaper article about a local or school hero
• Field Trip:  Visit a fire station
• Social Studies:  Learn about feelings and emotions

Visit Susanna Hill's blog for other Perfect Picturebooks. 

Picture Book: Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows (by Rowen Clifford)

Summary of Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows: 

Riding atop a bright red cow, Rodeo Ron moseys into the town of Cavity.  Three more cows—yellow, blue, and green in color—follow behind.   Burping and running, the towns’ children gather round Rodeo Ron, wondering why his cows are unusual colors.   Ron explains that the red one only eats strawberries, the blue one eats blueberries, and the yellow one eats bananas.  The green one munches only grass and provides “cow juice” (milk).  The children have never had cow juice before.  They only consume sweet drinks at the soda shop of two brothers—Frothy and Fruity.  It shows…the townspeople’s teeth are dirty, brown stumps. 

The children lead Rodeo Ron to the soda shop where everybody is gathered.  Burping as they work, the brothers create a sugary treat for him.  He takes a big, long gulp and lets out the biggest burp of his life!   Ron points out that these sweet and frothy drinks are the cause of their bad teeth!   Frothy and Fruity challenge Rodeo Ron to a contest to see who can make the tastiest beverage.  The brothers “BURP! BURP! BURP!” as they create their best concoctions.  Each of Ron’s cows buck, bronk, shiver, and shake their way to the frothiest and fruitiest shakes in strawberry, blueberry, and banana.  Each time, he wins the taste test.  Finally, the green cow dances his way to the frothiest, creamiest, whitest milk.   The townspeople declare it “the finest drink ever!”  Now, the soda bar is replaced by a milk bar.   Instead of dirty, brown stumps, the townspeople now have bright, white smiles. 

Evaluation:

Rowen Clifford wrote this imaginative story and created the vibrant pictures.  Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows is set in the Old West, but the narrative incorporates the modern with the soda shop and the milkshakes.   It uses a common childhood fantastical element of different color cows being the origin of the various flavors of milk. (Who hasn’t jokingly said chocolate milk comes from brown cows?)  In an entertaining and subtle manner, the story teaches the importance of a wholesome diet, including healthy drinks like calcium-rich milk, while incorporating the incredible characteristics of tall tales.  I recommend Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows for ages 4-10.   

Teaching Opportunities:

·         Choral Reading—The repetitive pattern during the competition is an amusing choral reading occasion.

·         Similes—Identify the similes in the narrative.  Discuss other stories with similies or complete additional activities with similes.  Create other similes for actions or descriptions in the story.

·         Alliteration—Identify examples of alliteration.  For younger children, connect the sounds to the corresponding letters. For older ones, create examples of alliterative phrases or study poems with alliteration. 

·         Health—Teach about oral hygiene and the importance of limiting sugary drink/food consumptions. 

·         Literature—Connect this narrative to a unit study of tall tales or discuss the characteristics of a tall tale and how they related to Rodeo Ron and His Milkshake Cows.  

·         Comparative Literature—Pick another tall tale from the library or book store.  Compare the two using a Venn Diagram or other chart.

·         Field Trip—Visit a local dairy farm (or find a video about one). 

·         Cooking—Create a milkshake concoction of your own!  Use a basic recipe for a milk shake and add ingredients of your choice—strawberries, bananas, mangos, and so forth. 

·         History/Social Studies—Add this story to a unit study on (or related to) cowboys. 

Picture Book: Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs

Summary of Dust Devil:  

Swamp Angel, otherwise known as Angelica Longrider, moves to Montana because she is too big for Tennessee.  With no trees or mountains near her new prarie home, the sun wakes her early each morning.  As a result, Swamp Angel plucks the tallest mountain from the Rockies and plants it east of her ranch.  Now she has shade and a later sun rise.  All her neighbors want a mountain too, so Angel grabs several more and places them along the prairie.  Soon after, the worst dust storm anyone had ever seen hits the plains.  The air is so thick with dust that neither sun nor moon light can get through.  Deciding it is time for that storm to quit horsing around, Angel springs right on its back, riding it all the way to what is now (as a result of the storm) the Grand Canyon.  After three days, she finds that in the middle of that tempest is a giant horse!  After taming the wild beast, he becomes her faithful sidekick, Dust Devil.  She has finally found a horse powerful enough to carry her.  Together, they chase down and outwit Backward Bart and his mosquito flying gang who are stealing the money out of everyone’s piggy bank along the plains!  Backward Bart’s capture causes the development of the Saw Tooth Mountain Range, the California Gold Rush, and the numerous geysers throughout the state of Montana!  Well, so the legend says. 

Evaluation:

Like Thunder Rose, Dust Devil is a tall tale focusing on a female legend of the old west.   Author Anne Isaacs uses colorful language and images in her descriptions.  The heroic protagonist is cunning, determined, and helpful.  The pictures (by Paul O. Zelinsky) illustrate much of the excitement and creativity of the narrative, like the battle between Swamp Angel on her giant horse and Backward Bart’s gang on their enormous flying mosquitoes as well as Angel’s ride through the countryside on a colossal dust storm.  Like ancient myths, the tall tale provides an explanation for natural events and land features, such as the mountains, geysers, and dust storms.  The narrative entertains and prompts some excellent learning opportunities. 

Teaching Opportunities:

·         History—Discover what important historical events occurred in 1821 as well as the political and cultural climate of the era; click here and here for examples

·         Geography—Use a map to learn about the important geographical features of Montana; compare them to the descriptions in Dust Devil  (i.e. geysers, Saw Tooth Range, free standing mountains--buttes); Check out Netstate and MontanaKids

·         Science—Read about dust storms:  how they develop, how long they last, and the damage that can result

·         Cooking—Make some sourdough biscuits

·         History—Learn about the California Gold Rush and/or famous outlaws of the Old West

·         Art—Draw a Wanted Poster of an outlaw of your own creation

·         Literature—Identify characteristics of a tall tale and connect them to the narrative; Compare Dust Devil to Thunder Rose

·         Figurative Language—Identify the alliteration, similes, and other figurative language

·         Comprehension Skills—Identify cause/effect relationships in the narrative

Picture Book: Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen

Summary of Thunder Rose:  

On a summer night during a fierce thunder storm, a lively baby is born.  Rather than cry out while taking her first breath of life, she sits up and takes hold of the lightning and thunder.  Then, she tells her parents she is partial to the name Rose, so they call her Thunder Rose.  Full of spunk, determination, and confidence, Thunder Rose accomplishes everything she sets out to do.  She amazes her parents by drinking her milk while holding up a cow, creating objects with scrap metal, staking a fence without assistance, and building a sky scraper—all before the age of ten!  At the age of 12, she single-handedly takes down the leader of a pack of 2700 wild cattle with her quick wit and song, making them a part of her family’s herd on their Old West ranch.  Later that year, as she drives those cattle to market in Abilene, she utilizes some spare metals rods she always carries to lasso a gang of desperadoes and deliver them to a local jail.  During the long journey, the air is so dry and sour that she lassos a cloud in an attempt to squeeze some rain out of it.  The cloud fights back and develops into a vicious double tornado which Thunder Rose successfully placates  with a sweet melody.  Finally, “a soft, drenching-and-soaking rain” falls as she journeys on to Abilene.  Rose realizes the power of the music of her heart.  Stories of her amazing abilities spreads like wildfire throughout the West.

Evaluation:

Jerdine Nolen’s Thunder Rose is a feisty protagonist.  She knows nothing of fear or failure.  She is determined and creative in her problem solving and daily activities.  The plot is full of action and playful exaggeration. The picturesque watercolor illustrations (by Kadir Nelson) capture the beauty of the landscape and the daring spirit of Thunder Rose.  This tall tale inspires and amuses. 

Teaching Opportunities:
Use this Guide for your activities and lesson plans.  It includes links, figurative language, vocabulary, and across the curriculum ideas.  Also, click on these resources Tall Tale Chart  and Figurative Language Worksheet.