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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J 921 APPLESEED | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J 921 APPLESEED | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | Q J 921 CHAPMAN | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The long-enduring American legend of Johnny Appleseed comes to life in the glorious folk illustrations and spirited storytelling of Will Moses. Everyone knows the story of Johnny Appleseed: how he traveled westward across our young country, spreading apple trees wherever he went and wearing outlandish hats, like a soup pot, on his head. But did you know that Johnny Appleseed was a real person? Born John Chapman in 1774, he grew up in a family of twelve children, and as a young man, struck out to find the frontier. It was along this journey that he discovered the wonders of apple trees, and where he had his life adventures.
In the tradition of his great-grandmother, Grandma Moses, Will Moses's much-loved folk art perfectly illustrates this American tale.
Author Notes
Painting is as much a part of the Moses family tradition as the family homestead in Eagle Bridge, New York. There Will Moses has painted since he was a little boy, learning firsthand from his grandfather, folk artist Forrest Moses, who learned from his mother, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. Developing his own folk style, Will has become an internationally beloved artist in his own right, his art displayed in collections throughout the world, including that of the White House.
His first picture book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , a retelling of Washington Irving's famous tale, was published by Philomel in 1995.
Will Moses' studio is at the Mount Nebo Gallery and Farm in Eagle Bridge, where he lives with his wife, Sharon, and their three children.
Painting is as much a part of the Moses family tradition as the family homestead in Eagle Bridge, New York. There Will Moses has painted since he was a little boy, learning firsthand from his grandfather, folk artist Forrest Moses, who learned from his mother, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. Developing his own folk style, Will has become an internationally beloved artist in his own right, his art displayed in collections throughout the world, including that of the White House.
His first picture book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , a retelling of Washington Irving's famous tale, was published by Philomel in 1995.
Will Moses' studio is at the Mount Nebo Gallery and Farm in Eagle Bridge, where he lives with his wife, Sharon, and their three children.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Employing an intriguing blend of biography, comparative literature and good old-fashioned yarn-spinning, Moses (Silent Night; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) explores the life and times of Johnny Appleseed, the great tree hugger and tree planter from American folklore. Appleseed, who began life as John Chapman, born in Massachusetts in 1774, had always longed to "live as he wanted, free like the Indians and the animals," in the wild woods and undeveloped lands of early America. At the leisurely pace of a stroll through a country orchard, Moses fashions his own homespun account of Johnny's adventures by touching upon myriad legends and tales. According to the narrative, as a young man Johnny headed west to the frontier, where the ideas that formed his lifelong vision took shape: "apples were good for just about everything" and the versatile fruit was "just what the frontier needed." Living in the woods, often tattered and scruffy in appearance, Johnny roamed the wilds of western Pennsylvania and the Ohio frontier planting apple seeds and saplings and helping pioneers do the same. His reputation for kindness and generosity, as well as for his strange behavior, grew even after his death in 1845. Delicate, folk-art oil paintings capture the eccentric folk hero in his "outlandish hat a soup pot one day, a pasteboard cap the next" as well as America at its bucolic best a rolling land of fertile hills, farms and rivers and, of course, bountiful, blossoming apple trees. All ages. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Although Moses doesnÆt completely succeed in clearly distinguishing between fact and legend, this lengthy text does offer a credible account of the man behind the myth. Depicted in a folk-art style, the skilled illustrations complement the conversational tone of the story. This picture-book biography is a nice addition to Johnny Appleseed lore. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Many are the available picture-book tales of half-legendary wanderer John Chapman, but this one (not really a picture book) merits consideration, both for its appealing folk-art-style illustrations (Moses is an artistic, as well as genetic, descendant of Grandma Moses), and for its thoughtful prose portrait of a man who, Moses suggests, "represents the best qualities of the American character." The author tucks a few tall-sounding tales into his narrative, but in general sticks closely to the historical record, following Chapman from his early years in Massachusetts, through decades of planting and preaching in Pennsylvania, the Ohio Territory, and, finally, Indiana, where he tended orchards to the last. Ranging from spread-fillers to vignettes, the paintings are nearly all landscapes, with a small, lanky, oddly dressed figure placed amid tapestries of orchards and fields, or paddling along waterways in a birch bark canoe. Just as his apple trees "helped blaze the trail westward," so, avers the author, should his "kindness and humanity, [his] industrious, independent spirit" make him a "beacon to follow" for today's young readers. Make room on the shelf for this slim volume, too. (Biography. 9-11)
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6. This picture-book biography of John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, is written and illustrated by a well-known folk artist. Starting in 1774, the year of Chapman's birth, Moses briefly covers Chapman's early childhood, and then quickly moves on to his young adult years, when he leaves home for the frontier. The bulk of the book documents Chapman's rich adult life and celebrates his odd ways. The book will augment a classroom unit on pioneer life or even folklore, but the text is too long and complex for the usual picture-book crowd, and it will appeal only to the older, most committed Appleseed fans. The paintings, however, from thumbnail size to almost full page, are filled with rich detail and are unforgettable. --Kathy Broderick
