Great American Folklore: Legends, Tales, Ballads and Superstitions from All Across America

by Kemp P. Battle (Compiler), John M. Battle (Illustrator)

Great American Folklore gathers together nearly three hundred of the most entertaining legends, tall tales, and ballads from America's distinctive oral heritage. In these pages you'll find old favorites like Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Johnny Appleseed, and legendary historic figures such as Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, and Davy Crockett, not to mention a host of less familiar folk heroes and heroines from all across the nation.

This is a book that will make you laugh and remember. It's filled with outrageously colorful characters: explorers and wayfarers, gamblers and boasters, cowboys and outlaws, preachers and politicians. In page after page we get an exhilarating look at pioneer life, at love and marriage, at gunslingers, Indian legends, ghosts, and witches. Perhaps you will find the riddles and rhymes of your own childhood, and you are certain to find all the old, familiar superstitions.

And finally, Great American Folklore is a compendium of those American tall tales, those exuberant whoppers, that folks love to tell around the warmth of a country stove. Here is a volume that will appeal to all ages and will give the whole family hours of reading pleasure. It's an unparalleled collection of much-loved Americana.

Genres: Folklore, Fiction, Mythology, Anthologies, Reference, Fairy Tales, Own

646 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a treasury of American myths and legends. The reader will find many familiar tales of heroes and villains in this collection that ranges from the pioneering days to the 19th century. One can appreciate the strength and motivation that sustained and pushed these pioneers to conquer this land.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of different stories, organized well and summarized in each section. My only knock is that the book tries so hard to stay true to the oral tradition that some of the stories end up being poorly written.

[Donald Stevens]

What a great find at the libaray. There are some really funny tales in here.
I just finshed Oolah Oolah. It is such a great little tale when it is put in context of todays world.
I even found a tale about Febold Feboldson. He is a Nebraska farmer of great stories.

[Christaaay]

Entertaining collection with great introductions to each section. I didn't read all of it, but I enjoyed much of what I did read. Some of my favorites: "The Mermaid"; "High Horse's Courting: A Sioux Love Story"; "The Shallows of the Ford" by Henry Herbert Knibbs"; "Judge Parker, the Hanging Judge"; "Outlaw Women"; "No Complaints"; and "The Cowboy's Last Request."

The chapters I read offered a good feel for the humorous, nostalgic mix of America's folklore. I certainly plan to return to this collection in the future.

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great American folklore : legends, tales, ballads, and superstitions from all across America. I love the cover. It reminds me of a patriotic quilt. That’s about all that I love about it. There are too many stories that I never heard of before now. They weren’t patriotic as I was led to believe.

[L8blmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took my time with this book, reading a few pages at a time when I was between heavier novels. In the last year or so I have read collections of both Celtic and Scottish folk tales so it was fun going through America’s equivalents, familiar and not.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun romp through American history full of whoppers.

[Edward]

My copy is by someone named "Kemp P. Battle". Whatever. Sex change?