Grade 2-3-These books have a split personality. Johnston doesn't seem sure if she is writing biography or if she is explaining the origins of legends and how they get passed from generation to generation. Crockett is the better of the two. It has solid historical information and illustrative maps and photographs. Unfortunately, it offers nothing that isn't available in many other books. Bunyan is without focus. It begins by retelling some of the most famous of the legendary claims about the huge logger, e.g., that he created the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, and then moves on to explain how legends get started and grow. It then turns to the history of logging in the United States. The pictures, which range from a photograph of a Paul Bunyan statue to historical shots of loggers to a color drawing of Bunyan as a baby, add to the disorganized tone.
