Books discussed in this report:
In part one of our list of Johnny Appleseed books we took a look at the three easiest primers and gave some links to resources we thought you'd find handy. In part two, we continue with books that are more advanced, beginning with the 2.4 Accelerated Reading level and running to AR 5.1.
Johnny Appleseed: My Story
(Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
by David L. Harrison
Mike Wohnoutka (Illustrator)
Besides being a practice reader, Harrison's
Johnny Appleseed is also a great read-aloud. He gives us a story from the point of view of children on the frontier. When Johnny arrives everyone is excited to see John again and they invite him to dinner. The two children, Will and Beth, want John to tell them one of his stories, and he says 'sure', but not before he helps dad with the wood splitting.
When they do all settle down after dinner, Johnny tells of his own boisterous childhood. How he found relief from the noise of ten siblings! in the woods, and how the woods became a second home to him.
John then goes on to describe how he set off from Massachusetts to go west, and how he fell into apple planting by accident when a cider miller gave him free apple seeds.
The book covers the harsh winters in Pennsylvania and how John planted seeds there and in Indiana and Ohio too. (It does not talk about his death.)
read more of this review of here
Word Count: 877
Paperback: 48 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
2.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 57572
Lexile: 200L
- Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (2001)
- ISBN-10: 0375812474
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
Johnny Appleseed
(Rookie Biographies)
by Christin Ditchfield
This little book features lots of photographs and drawings and I really like it. It has an upbeat approach and it does a good job describing what an important figure John Chapman was in our country's early history. Ditchfield writes enthusiastically about how Chapman studied plants and animals when he was a youngster, and how he put that knowledge to work later in his life when he taught settlers in the Ohio Valley to plant and care for seedlings.
Those who object to any mention of religion might want to give it a pass as the author explains that besides plant knowledge, Johnny was welcome because he told great stories, and because he read from the Bible, his favorite book.
Appropriate for early elementary aged children.
Take a bit out of a big, juicy
apple. Inside you'll find a few
tiny black seeds.
Note: if you click on the excerpts, most browsers will show you an enlarged, readable version.
Word Count: 349
Paperback: 32 pages
Accelerated Reading level: 2.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 86597
Lexile: 370L
- Publisher: Children's Press(2003)
- ISBN-10: 0516278169
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
Johnny Appleseed
(On My Own Biography)
by Gwenyth Swain
Janice Lee Porter (Illus.)
Swain's "Johnny Appleseed" has more depth to it than the other books at this level. Her approach is more historically accurate which makes this book an excellent choice to work into a history unit on the late 1700's and the early 1800's.
I particularly like Swain's approach to Johnny. While it's not upbeat -- she doesn't skip over the death of John's mother -- she weaves the history of the period into John's life story that by studying him children can begin to see the flow of history. Studying John's life is a great way to tie together this lengthy period of time because John was born during the Revolutionary war, was witness to the migration west and the War of 1812, and he is thought to have died in the 1845.
I also really like how she explains how John managed to live without a standard occupation. She describes how he grew seedlings which he traded for what he needed. She also describes how John found God in the wilderness and became a preacher.
Excellent book. You can easily use this as supplementary history text for older children, or a read-aloud to be discussed with younger children.
Word Count: 1,453
Paperback: 48 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
3.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 58554
Lexile: 530L
- Publisher: First Avenue Editions (2001)
- ISBN-10: 1575055341
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
The Story of Johnny Appleseedby Aliki
As usual, Aliki does a fine job spinning a tale. And in this book she uses her kid-friendly artwork and well written prose to introduce children to the legendary Johnny Appleseed.
Originally, I read this 'biography' to my children when they were 3 and 5 years of age. I wasn't sure at the time how it would go over, but they simple adored it.
The artwork oddly switches back and forth from being black-and-white to color, but I haven't noticed children being put off by this. I've given two examples below so you can see for yourself. (In most browsers if you click on the excerpts they will open in another window and be of readable size.)
The one thing you should note is that Aliki's approach is upbeat and less historical, than say, Swain's book. It's very much a book that presents mythology mixed up with what we know as fact without really distinguishing between the two.
Good practice reader. Good read-aloud. Available in Spanish.
Word Count: 785Paperback: 32 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
3.9 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 7695
- Publisher: Aladdin
- ISBN-10: 0671667467
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
In Spanish!
La Historia de Johnny Appleseed
- Publisher: Lectorum Publications
- Language: Spanish
- ISBN-10: 1880507188
-- amazon
Johnny Appleseed: a Tall Tale by Steven Kellogg
Steven Kellogg has done a beautiful job with both the art and text and you'll find that his Tall Tale is loaded with interesting facts. It begins with some background on John Chapman, his birth, his mother's and baby brother's early death, and his fathers remarriage and the subsequent household that resulted in 11 children!
We are given to understand that young John retreated to the outdoors to escape "from his boisterous household" (lol). And we are told that animals sensed his gentleness and responded in kind. We also see John befriending Indians and clearing the woods in spots to plant his beloved trees.
Much of the old ways of life are shown in this book. There are pictures of covered wagons being pulled by oxen, as well as a house raising. The War of 1812 is mentioned briefly, as well as the settlers fears of Indians uprisings. Unlike Aliki's book, this one does not discuss the reasons for that trouble, so it will behoove adults to point out that the settlers where pushing onto lands that were already inhabited.
Read more of this review here
Word Count: 2,976
Paperback: 48 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
4.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 6073
- Publisher: HarperCollins
- ISBN-10: 0688064175
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
Johnny Appleseed: a poemby Reeve Lindbergh
Kathy Jakobsen (Illus.)
This poem gets raves from both Amazon.com and GoodReads.com reviewers. And indeed, it reads well. The artwork is appropriately folksy and warm, and if you think your children will sit for a longer sort of read-aloud you should give it a try. I believe it's a little long for most children to read by themselves.
These apple trees were planted here
A century ago –
A hundred years of springtime bloom
A hundred years of snow.
A hundred apple autumns
With the Wild geese flying by,
A hundred years of applesauce
And steaming apple pie.
The man who planted apple trees
Once stood here on this land,
A sack of seeds upon his back,
A Bible in his hand.
Word Count: 737
Paperback: 32 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
4.5 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 66490
- Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (1993)
- ISBN-10: 0316526347
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
Who Was Johnny Appleseed?by Joan Holub
Anna DiVito (Illus.)
Could not get a copy of this one to review, but it got excellent marks at Amazon.com (all 5-Stars) and fairly good ratings at GoodReads.com (although ratings are all over the place), but you'll have to judge the text based on Amazon's Look Inside.
Let us know if you have any experience with this book!
Word Count: 7,067Paperback: 112 pages
Accelerated Reading level:
5.1 / points: 1.0
AR quiz: 103287
- Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (2005)
- ISBN-10: 0448439689
-- amazon (Look Inside available)
compiled by Pam T
Christopher Columbus
