Disney's Americana Storybook Collection

by Parke Godwin, Sarah E. Heller, Walt Disney Company

Three cheers for the red, white and blue! This beautifully illustrated volume features seventeen Disney classics that are as all-American as Mom, apple pie, and...Mickey Mouse!

Genres: Childrens

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Parke Godwin was an American writer known for his lyrical yet precise prose style and sardonic humor. He was also known for his novels of legendary figures placed in realistic historical settings; his retelling of the Arthur legend (Firelord in 1980, Beloved Exile in 1984, and The Last Rainbow in 1985) is set in the 5th century during the collapse of the Roman empire, and his reinterpretation of Robin Hood (Sherwood, 1991, and Robin and the King, 1993) takes place during the Norman conquest and features kings William the Conqueror and William Rufus as major characters. His other well-known works include Waiting For The Galactic Bus (1988) and its sequel The Snake Oil Wars (1989), humorous critiques of American pop culture and religion.

Parke Godwin also worked as a radio operator, a research technician, a professional actor, an advertising man, a dishwasher and a maitre d' hotel.

Godwin's short fiction has appeared in several anthologies. His short story "Influencing the Hell out of Time and Teresa Golowitz," was the basis of an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Reviews

[Lisa DiG · Rating 3 out of 5]

The legends of Paul Bunyan and John Henry are my favorite. There is an excellent cartoon of these too that are quite memorable for my children.

[Jim Sibigtroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to stay away from the purely Disney synopsis stories, but there are some useful read-aloud stories for first graders. When they do a unit on tall tales, John Henry, Pecos Bill, and Paul Bunyan work pretty well. These are rather short but well written versions. Casey at Bat has good illustrations and is just plain great literature and poetry. Although there are some difficult words, they offer a good opportunity to explain them to young students who are eager to learn "big words". Finally, The Little House is a good story to demonstrate the passage of time almost like a literary time-lapse movie.

[Scott Bemisdarfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that has many stories for young children. They have wonderful illustrations and they keep the children's attention. These are quick stories that can be read rather quickly. I read Old Yeller to my kids and I skipped the ending. I think they're too young to learn about death yet. I changed it so Old Yeller lived a happy life.

[Pamela Bair]

Corbin my son loves this book