Paul Bunyan

By: Steven Kellogg

Tale Tall

(Traditional or Folk Literature)



Paul Bunyan was the largest, smartest, and strongest baby ever born in the state of Maine.  One morning Paul heard a moan out in the snow, he found a shivering ox calf.  Paul adopted him and named him Babe, and they both grew at an enormous rate.  When Paul decided to move from home he traveled all across the U.S.A. - starting with his birth place in Maine all the way to his retirement in Alaska, and points all over the map in between, clearing a path for frontier settlers.  Together with his blue ox Babe and his crew, Paul Bunyan fights the wild Gumberoos, digs out the Great Lakes and gouges out the Grand Canyon, along with many other adventures.

The fifth grade standard 2.04 in English Language Arts calls for students to identify elements of fiction and nonfiction and support by referencing the text.  I would read this tall tale of Paul Bunyan to my students and then we would discuss what they thought were elements from this story that were common in all tall tales.  Then I would have my students read a few more tall tales to see if the elements they came up with were in fact represented in other tall tales.