Module 2 Book Reviews: Folklore Collection

Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies Collected from American Folklore by Alvin Schwartz.

1. Bibliography
Schwartz, Alvin. 1975. WHOPPERS: TALL TALES AND OTHER LIES COLLECTED FROM AMERICAN FOLKLORE. Ill. by Glen Rounds. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0064460916.

2. Plot Summary
This is a collection of exxagerations that range anywhere from two or three sentences to two or three pages long. The tales are organized by categories: Ordinary People, Ordinary Things, Fancy Clothes and Narrow Escapes, Animals and Insects, Putrefactions and Other Wonders, and the Weather. Notes and Sources are included at the end of the collection.

3. Critical Analysis
These tales are unpredictable, humorous, and rooted in American history - simple enough for children but complex enough for adults! They tell stories in such fresh light that readers are sure to be amused by all the antics. The illustrations are sketchy - just like the tales, and only in black and white - leaving the reader to mentally fill in all the color that the imagination can produce!

4. Review Excerpt
KIRKUS REVIEWS: "Here's 'pack of lies' in the best Schwartz/Rounds tradition of foolery, with rambunctious cartoons and a passel of footnotes."

5. Connections
For more American Folkore examine books by the following authors:
Irving, Washinton. RIP VAN WINKLE. isbn: 0769632823.
Kellogg, Steven. PAUL BUNYAN. ISBN: 0688058000.
Lindbergh, Reeve. JOHNNY APPLESEED. ISBN: 0316526347.
Ottolenghi, Carol. JOHN HENRY. ISBN: 076963284x.