From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs

Rating:
Summary: A great resource for teachers and others.
Review: I've used this book in my work as a substitute teacher in elementary school and as a Scout leader. It reflects the
diversity of American culture - good Native American tales, for example. The continuity of the illustrations - each illustrator does one section - is a nice touch.

Rating:
Summary: From Sea to Shining Sea
Review: This book is a treasury of poems, songs, and stories, from the great country of the US :) The songs are traditional, and, if you have a little skill in piano, flute, recorder, or mallet percussion, you can play them with ease.

The poems are okay, and they include Paul Revere's Ride, which is wonderful.

The stories are also interesting, and they probably aren't ones that you've ever heard before; all of them are 'G' rated, except for one that might be a little scary for little kids in the first section about a girl whose fingers were smashed off by her father and brothers (gross).

This book is okay, but it isn't the greatest thing out there.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This disappointing anthology is considered a children's book and rightly so because the legends in it read like terrible fairy tales, and not all like the adult fare of a time when adults had no televison, radio, movies, or other instant entertainment. There was a time for relaxtion after a 10 - 12 hour work day or after a holiday dinner when the folks would sit together and spin stories like yarn about one thing or one person or another. This is how all cultures developed. It was not just for kids to enjoy but for adults as well, using mature intellects as each story teller added his or her own twist to a constantly evolving story. One need only look at Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" to get an idea what some folks were like. Both of Irving's stories were intended for adults and not mere children - so it is bad that this anthology of American folklore with its tradtional tales and songs reads as much.