Paul Robert Walker

James Bernardin graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he was an honors student and an award winner in the 1991 Society of Illustrators student competition. He has illustrated three books written by Paul Robert Walker: Big Men, Big Country, Giants! and Little Folk, contributing his colorful, powerful, yet whimsical style to create a series of award-winning folklore anthologies. Mr. Bernardin lives with his wife on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

• Davy Crockett Teaches the Steamboat a Leetle Patriotism
• Old Stormalong Finds a Man-Sized Ship
• Big Mose and the Lady Washington
• John Darling and the Skeeter Chariot
• Ol' Gabe in the Valley of the Yellowstone
• Paul Bunan and the Winter of the Blue Snow
• John Henry Races the Steam Drill
• Gib Morgan Brings in the Well
• Pecos Bill Finds a Ranch but Loses a Wife

Illustrated by James Bernardin
Harcourt Brace • (hc) 1993 • (pb) 2000
(hc) ISBN 0-15-207136-9 • OSI
(pb) ISBN 0-15-202625-8 • OSI
80 pages • 8 1/2 x 11 • Ages 8 and up

A sprightly large-format collection of episodes from the lives of nine tall-tale heroes.
—Kirkus Reviews

These are excellent tall tale interpretations, eminently suitable for reading aloud and storytelling, not to mention for use in those tall tale curriculum units. An appealing title all around and a real asset to public and school library collections.
—Booklist

Told with an appropriate blend of down-home dialect and vocabulary, with descriptve locale included, these stories are replete with humor and exaggeration. . . . Walker's carefully researched bibliography, citing many original sources, and his blending of several anecdotes to create slightly different story lines, invite comparison and contrast when these heroes are studied.
—School Library Journal

Rip-roarin' .
—Publishers Weekly

American tall tales are as unique as the country that inspired them, with heroes as big and bold as the American frontier. In tall tale tradition, this great land became the scene of outlandish exploits and daring escapades by legendary figures such as John Henry, the steel-driving man; Pecos Bill, the roughest, toughest cowboy of them all; and Paul Bunyan, the giant logger with a brain to match his brawn.

Drawing from a variety of original sources, Paul Robert Walker continues in the great tradition of American storytelling by embellishing old favorites as well as introducing readers to lesser-known but equally amazing tall-tale heroes. Each of these nine wildly fantastic stories is followed by information detailing the origins of the tale. James Bernardin's energetic illustrations leap from the page with the bravado of Ol' Gabe's death-defying jump off a Yellowstone cliff. With both humor and insight, Big Men, Big Country captures the expansive spirit of the American people.