historical fiction, children's book, traditional literature

This is a story of Johnny Appleseed with a twist. It shows Johnny chopping down old forest to plant his orchards. It made me think about what he did, and I still haven't decided how I feel about what he did.

I liked this book for several reasons. First I think this writing flowed very well through out the book and the plot was very engaging. It first starts off when Johnny Appleseed was born and how he progressed his love through planting apple trees, then explained in depth his love for telling stories to children out of the bible, and finally how he passed away. The sequence of events flowed very well through the book and it was an enjoyable easy read. Next I think the illustrations were very entertaining. They are bright vivid colors and very detailed. For example on one page it is dark out, the moon is shining, and Johnny is running through the town. It shows a dark blue sky, yellow moon, a lantern beaming yellow to show its shining for distance, and shadow of Johnny running. The big idea of this book is the simple things in life are the things that keep us happy. ( )

I first thought Johnny Appleseed was a made up character, but after reading this book I learned that he was a real, great man. His original name was John Chapman, but later became known as Johnny Appleseed because of his apple orchards. His father left the family to fight in the war, and his mother and baby brother died before Johnny turned two. He befriended Indians and looked forward to supplying them with apple trees. Johnny had never been ill his entire life until he passed seventy. He later died in a settler's cabin. Today, some people still talk about Johnny Appleseed and claim that they saw him. ( )

discusses the story of johnny apple seed
1 book

Summary: This book starts out by telling the reader about Johnny's life as a very young child and losing his family. It then goes on to talk about how he found a love of nature and animals. It talks about how he found friends with the Indians and that he started planting Apple trees everywhere he could. He sold his trees to the pioneer families and often gave them to them for free. It tells what impact he had on those kids who he told tells to and how they now had kids and had told them the stories. It then goes into him growing old and getting sick for the first time in his life where he died a few days later.

Personal Reaction: I personally liked reading this book. I have briefly heard about Johnny Appleseed growing up but do not remember ever actually reading the story. This is a great Children's book!

Classroom Extension: One extension you could do would be to have a arts and craft with a apple tree. Another thing you could do would be to have the students write in their journals what they learned from the book and their favorite and least favorite part of the book was so you can later read them and get feedback. ( )

I found this book to be captivating. John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman , was born in 1775 and lost his mother shortly thereafter in childbirth. His father married shortly thereafter and he soon had ten siblings living in a small house with him. He was know to be a lover of nature and sought the solitude of the forest to get away from the inevitable noisy home. He spent long stretches walking with nature but never shied away from hard work. I liked the format of nine chapters in chronological order of his life. This allowed his love of nature, animals, people, and especially, apple trees to foster and grow like the apple saplings he planted . It's interesting that they mention his friend, Mr. Crawford who teaches him all about apples. It isn't until Johnny reaches the ripe old age of eighteen that he sets out to plant his own orchards. He stays ahead of the settlers always planting orchards and then as the settlers arrive he sells the land to them along with the well developed apple orchards. A big part of the draw of Johnny Appleseed is his larger than life personality and that fact that he was so gracious and giving.

The larger-than-life story of a true American hero -- John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Kellogg "is ideal as interpreter of this fascinating man....[His] color has never been so rich and luxuriant....An affectionate portrayal, enthusiastically accomplished." -- Booklist.

So many stories have been told about John Chapman, as the author's note explains, that Johnny Appleseed can be considered a Tall Tale character, like Paul Bunyan.  ('course, I've heard lately that Paul Bunyan, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and many other traditional characters were actually developed by advertisers, like the Pillsbury Doughboy.)  Kellogg gracefully writes about what is known with fair confidence, and relates likely tales as people have said" and therefore comes up with a nice little biography.  And of course his art style is perfectly suited to the tale... so fun, and warm & rich, too.  Chapman seems to be a darn good 'folk hero' role model, and I think every school library should have a copy of this book." ( )

Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg was a biography. I like this book for several reasons. First, I enjoyed this book because the illustration matched the mood and enhanced the story. For example, Kellogg discusses the death of Johnny Appleseed's mother and on that page the illustration is dark, with colors such as grey, dark blue, and black. However, on the page where Johnny Appleseed is connecting with nature the illustrator uses colors like green, yellow, and red to convey a happy mood. I also liked the language Steven Kellogg used. Kellogg remains informational and uses a narrative voice the entire book. His language is also very descriptive. For example in the sentence, "John walked hundreds of miles through the Pennsylvania forest, living like Indians he befriended on the trail," the other uses descriptive language to engage the writers. Lastly, I thought the other did a good job in pushing readers to think about nature. The book is focused on Johnny Appleseed's love for nature, and the affects he had on the people and animals around him. For example, in this book he has relationship with many animals such as bears and deer. This pushes the read to think about nature and what their affect on nature is. Which happens to be the big idea of the book, nature. ( )

Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale not only has a great story about the man behind the myth, but also fantastic illustrations. I picked this book, and then when I turned to the first page, I realized I had read this when I was a child! The illustrations are beautiful and are just as important as the text. I appreciate that the author and illustrator state that people made up stories and embellished stories about Johnny Appleseed. He does mention in the author's note where he got his information from, which I think is important. I did read it with skeptical eye because it is hard to tell what is made up or embellished and what is the truth. For example, in the illustrations, he never wears any shoes. I am not sure if that truly happened or not. This could be used in a history class where students learn more about other real men and myths about them such as Paul Bunyan or Buffalo Bill. I would also like to know more about his relationship with Native Americans. Did he really get along with them? Why? Was it because he respected animals and nature like them? What happened during the War of 1812? Was he still friendly with the Native Americans? Students could try to answer all these questions. ( )

This book tells the story of Johnny Appleseed. Tells us why he was nicknamed Johnny Appleseed. ( )

I enjoyed reading Johnny Appleseed because of the modest hero he was in the story. The colorful detail and large pictures helped me build a further imagination of how the story is told. Towards the end of the book, there are two pages full of illustration and no words. These illustrations depict how hard Johnny Appleseed worked to create planes to build apple trees. An example of one of the illustrations is Johnny Appleseed jumping across pieces of ice on a fast flowing river, with a smile on his face and apples trailing behind him. In order to understand the illustrator’s technique of the pictures, it is important to have a vivid imagination and interest in re-told tales and fables. ( )

Johnny Appleseed loves his apples! His love for apples inspires him to spread his apple orchard on any land he sees fit. He is a person that can get along with animals and people, that simply adore him and his stories. ( )

This book retells the classic story of John Chapman and how he coined the name “Johnny Appleseed.” John Chapman loved apples his whole life, in his teenage years John began to travel and clear orchards to replanted apples everywhere he went. This book teaches about community and healthy living and the qualities of a true hero. Johnny is dedicated to bettering himself and his community. I have loved this book since I was a little girl for many reasons. One aspect of this book that is one of my favorites are the vivid pictures that speak to the readers without any words. Some pages in the book are left with no text, offering students to “read the pictures.” I also appreciate how the author spread out the immense amount of information in this text evenly. No page has too much text on it but each page also has crucial information to the tale. The last aspect of this book that I have always enjoyed is how the illustrations and the text work together to force the reader to be imaginative. “…a rattlesnake has attacked his foot,” was stated in the text and the illustration that followed shows a snake that is almost twice the size of Johnny. Obviously a rattlesnake is not the same size of a human, much less is a rattlesnake larger than a human. The text and the illustrations make the readers more imaginative a offers a lot of creativity. ( )

This is the story of John Chapman also know as Johnny Appleseed. Johnny lost his mom and baby brother at young age. He enjoyed nature and animals as well as picking apples and planting apple seeds. He learned about all the different things apples can be used for. When he was old enough to explore he did just that. The book connects with many historic times in History such as the Revolutionary War and the life of a frontier. I recommend this book to k-3rd grade. This book coincides with Historic times and is a biography retold, so could be used when learning about biographies. ( )

This is probably the most historical representation of Johnny Appleseed I have encountered. It tells of his life and the areas he traveled. We learn that Johnny Appleseed did give some trees away, he also was a business man who planned well and sold trees. This book even details how Johnny replenished his seed collection. A wonderful addition to the book is the inclusion of how the tall tales about Johnny Appleseed started and spread.

Presents the life of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Descriptive text and illustrations of his love for nature and animals, and his physical fortitude. / HERE IS WHERE YOU WOULD ADD ANY SPECIAL FEATURES OR DETAILS YOU WANTED TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE BOOK. ( )

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 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. ( )

Summary:
This book is about a young man named John Chapman. He loved nature and watching apples grow. He was of the frontier lifespan. He explored the wilderness off to the west while clearing plots of land and planting apple seeds along the way. He wanted the pioneer families who came behind him to enjoy the apple trees he was planting. He lived in the wilderness and continued clearing plots of land and planting apple trees. He was a kind and generous man and was eager to help those who needed it. Hence, the name Johnny Appleseed was born, He also told tales of his journey in the wilderness to children. To this day, people still enjoy reading about his adventures in the wilderness.

Personal Reaction:
I liked reading this book. I was impressed with his generosity of heart at leaving behind him all the land he cleared and planted apple trees for others to enjoy. This is truly a lesson on generosity and kindness. He enjoyed nature and so do I. I enjoy hiking in the mountains and taking in all the wonders of nature myself. I also enjoy seeing apple trees and eating the apples.

Extension Ideas:
1. Have the class make an apple tree. The students can use brown construction paper as the trunk and paste it onto white construction paper. The students can then use green fingerpaint and use their hands for the leaves. The students can use red fingerpaint and use their thumbprint as apples on the tree.

2. Bring in three different types and colors of apples. Explain to them the difference and have them sample each one.

3. Have the class eat an apple for a snack.

This was an interesting book that contained a mixture of biographical information with some possible historical fiction. All Johnny Appleseed needed to be happy was the freedom to roam where he pleased, have adventures, and plant appleseeds for his fellow Americans to enjoy. Johnny Appleseed was a great example of the American dream personified; he was free to go where he pleased and all he wanted out of life was to find adventure and lend a helping hand when necessary. He was gentle and avoided violence and confrontation. ( )

Love the details of the illustrations in this book, and the story is a fun one! ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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 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.