"Every Hero Has A Story." My Blogging From A to Z theme bridges the summer library reading programs throughout the U.S. with storytelling opportunities, ideas, and activities.
Illustration by Al Schmidt from Irwin Shapiro, Tall Tales of America (Weekly Reader Children's Book Club, 1958). Tall tale heroes that I primarily know come from Texas such as Pecos Bill, Slu Foot Sue, and Davy Crockett's wild tales of adventures. Nice to know that this tall, handsome folk hero of a man comes from Massachusetts during the days of adventuring sails on the ocean. Legend has it that Alfred Bulltop Stormalong was beached as a baby, but no worries about drowning, because he was 3 fathoms tall (18feet). He was assigned to his first ship when he was 12 years young and seems to be responsible for the term "able-bodied" by signing his name on his first employment as "Stormalong, A.B." He certainly lived up to that because he was 30 feet tall. He sailed the largest ship out there at the time, the Tuscarora (a.k.a. the Courser). This ship was similar to our huge ocean liners, only better. It had a stable of Arabian horses to be ridden from one side of the boat to the other, and the humongous masts had to be hinged in fear of them running into the moon! Stormalong was a hero to all the sailors and coastal folks for his heroic acts of protecting everyone from his greatest nemesis: the Kraken. Below is just one of his tall tales of bravery on the seas:
artist: Steven Noble
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