Introduction TALL TALE STORIES What are tall tales Have you ever bragged Bragging is showing off People show off their skills They show off their things They want others to be impressed They make their lives seem more exciting Tall tales are special stories They’re told as if they’re true But they’re not They exaggerate real facts or events Exaggerate means to make things seem bigger than they are Tall tales are realistic stories with unbelievable parts Some tall tales are based on real people But the heroes are taller They’re smarter They’re stronger They’re better than everyone else Tall tales combine fact and fiction 4
Fact or fiction 5
Chapter 1 Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox How big was Paul Bunyan How did he find Babe What did he and Babe do Paul Bunyan was the world’s largest baby Normally parents carry their babies home from the hospital But Bunyan was too big Five giant storks had to carry him Normal babies sleep in cribs But Bunyan was too big He slept in a wagon Horses pulled the wagon His father drove the wagon from one state to another This was how Bunyan was rocked to sleep 6
Babies cry a lot But Bunyan’s cries weren’t normal They were really loud His cry scared fish out of rivers It made animals go deaf Frogs wore earmuffs to block out the sound Bunyan has been called the Thor or Hercules of American folk stories Some say I’m the original hipster 7
