Johnny Appleseed - Hardcover

Benet, Stephen; Benet, Rosemary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689829752 ISBN 13: 9780689829758

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, 2001

Synopsis

Provides young readers with this classic poem about the adventures of a preacher and a teacher who planted apple seeds along the Ohio River in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

About this title

About the Author:

S. D. Schindler is the popular and versatile illustrator of many books for children, including Big Pumpkin and the ALA Notable Book Don't Fidget a Feather, both by Erica Silverman, How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky, and Johnny Appleseed by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benét. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

From Publishers Weekly:

Armed with a deerskin bag full of apple seeds and wearing a tin pan for a hat, John Chapman better known as Johnny Appleseed is one of the more colorful characters in American history. His saga is succinctly and stylishly recounted in the Ben‚ts' classic poem, first published in 1933, and here burnished with Schindler's detail-rich colored pencil illustrations. Crafted from quatrains as sturdy as the branches of the trees Chapman tends ("For fifty years over/ Of harvest and dew,/ He planted his apples/ Where no apples grew"), the verses trace how the hero traveled the Ohio River Valley sowing seeds for posterity. The poem's simple structure, pulsing cadence and clever thematic imagery ("At seventy-odd/ He was gnarled as could be,/ But ruddy and sound/ As a good apple tree") boost its impact as a read-aloud. Schindler (Don't Fidget a Feather) enhances a succession of realistic pastoral vistas with vivid characters and critters, from the jaunty Johnny himself, with his long white beard and weathered clothes, to the curious possum family dangling above the branch where he sleeps. The artist adheres to an earthy palette and sets his drawings against a parchment-like background, which adds a timeless air. An afterword from the Ben‚ts' son puts the poem and its references in context. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0689829752
• ISBN 13: 9780689829758
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Schindler S.D.