November 1, 2012
K-Gr 4-York introduces four American folk heroes with storytelling flair, accompanied by eye-catching illustrations. The highlights of the characters' stories are recounted in a folksy vernacular, well suited to helping readers imagine the oral tradition from which the tales came. The lots of text to few images ratio makes them better choices for solo reading than classroom sharing, but their approachability may make them accessible for lap reading for those too young to manage the tales on their own. York's excellent history and critical-thinking sections follow each story, helping students examine what parts of these stories are exaggerations and which might be based on fact. A great beginning set.
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