Tuesday Storytime: Larger Than Life Men

I love tall tales and stories of people who are larger than life.  This week we're looking at some fantastic men.  Once February is over (I Love My Library Month) we'll come back to this topic with some equally fantastic women.

Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart
Marybeth Lorbeicki, illustrated by Renee Graef
ISBN: 9781585362899
This one was just adorable, and oddly enough, the best out of all the Paul Bunyan books I could find.  You'd think that the major American tall-tale lumberjack would have a whole slew of options for the youngest age-groups to get introduced, but he really doesn't.  I'm glad I found this option before I gave up in disgust.  Lovely bright artwork punctuates a lively story about Paul trying (and failing) to impress an eco-conscious Minnesota gal with his typical feats, before she takes pity on the big-hearted logger and helps him improve himself and his environmental footprint.  The eco message isn't overly subtle, but neither are you bashed over the head with it, and I enjoyed the images of Bunyan trying (and failing) so hard at all the tests he is set.

The Story of Charles Atlas: Strong Man
Meghan McCarthy
ISBN: 9780375929403
This overtly cartoony biography if Charles Atlas is simply nifty.  I love the bug-eyed people, the comic-book-panels, the mix of black-and-white and color images.  The story isn't shabby either - all about the power of self-determination and strength of will as well as of body.  The ending has a few illustrated calisthenics for eager readers to try, and an author's note has two pages of history and social impact caused by Charles, as well as a black and white photograph of Atlas himself, looking buff and happy about it.

My Daddy is a Giant
Carl Norac, illustrated by Ingrid Godon
ISBN: 0618443991
This one brings it back down into the personal realm, with a sweet journey showing a typical daddy from his very small child's perspective.  Exaggerated characteristics are echoed in the pictures, but the dad and child are always front and center, and the dad, no matter how giant, is always friendly and soft-edged.
 

Stand Straight Ella Kate, Kate and M. Sarah Klise

Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant, Kate and M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043
Read December 2, 2013

Picture Book (SC Picture Book Award Winner for 2012-2013)

Ella Kate was perfectly normal, until she turned seven.  After that, she grew at an astonishing rate, eventually topping out at 8'4" with size 24 shoes.

Beginning at age 17, she took her unusual height and used it to make a profit, working for a Chicago museum of oddities and making $1000 in a single month (which is an INSANE amount of money for anyone in 1890, let alone a 17 year old girl).

She got a taste of the wide world outside her small-town plains homestead, and continued touring for almost 20 years before her death at age 40.

The illustrations by Sarah Klise are deceptively simple - the expressions on the faces are spot-on and the body language is likewise quite deft for the otherwise flat "naive" illustrations.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the endpapers, where various factoids about Ella Kate are illustrated and recorded - everything from a full-size recreation of a glove, to her shoe-size, to the height of her dresser.

The story is told straightforwardly, with no extra sentimentality or excess, which I think well-suits what we're shown of Ella Kate's actual character.  The story wisely ends with her on tour, planning to see as much of the world as possible, leaving it to the nonfiction coda (complete with an actual photograph) to tell about the end of her life.

Excellent for storytime, or for kids interested in "larger than life" folklore heroes or fairy-tale giants.

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, Jennifer Trafton, Brett Helquist

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, Jennifer Trafton, illus. by Brett Helquist

ISBN: 9780803733756

Read November 15, 2013

Juv: quirky quest adventure.

Very similar in nature and tone to Tuesdays at the Castle, and very nearly as good. 

Persimmony Smudge is the exact opposite of her dutiful drudge of a sister Prunella (LOVE the names); she is a dreamer, an adventurer, a thinker.  

She is, in other words, the perfect person for an Adventure.  But somehow in all of her ten years, she's never had one, even though her father (missing for nearly those entire ten years) was a noted adventurer himself.  Her mother and sister are decidedly anti-adventure, but that only spurs Persimmony on to higher reaches of imagination.

Her imagination fails to match reality when she gets lost in the woods and overhears the feared underground Leafeaters plotting against the king.  Now she and fellow adventurers Worvil (the worried) and Theodore (the wise creater of magical pots) have to save the kingdom, despite the niggling fact that the twelve-year-old king is more than a little bit of a brat, and perhaps not actually worth saving after all.

Also, there's a very lovely big giant, who reminded me strongly and beautifully of the giant Time, fast asleep under Narnia, waiting for the end of the world.   

Great characters, madcap plotting, somewhat uneven pacing.