145. Johnny Appleseed and the Planting of the West

Johnny Appleseed and the Planting of the West by Gina Ingoglia
Illustrated by Charlie Shaw
Disney's American Frontier Series Book 5

Pages: 75
Finished: Aug. 23, 2008
First Published: 1992
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: 3/5

Reason for Reading: My 8yo asked who Johnny Appleseed was so I gave him a brief version of the story but said I'd see if I could get a book out of the library for dad to read to him at bedtime. This was the only children's chapter book available at the library. I usually read the books after they have finished reading but this time I said I'd pass as I had a lot of books to read already but the 8yo said it was so good I had to read it. "pleeeeease". So I did.

First sentence:

"Listen to this, Nat", said Johnny.

Comments: The true story of John Chapman, usually referred to as Johnny Appleseed. The story has often been exaggerated and the author's note states that she used fact but mixed in a bit fiction. This is an alright book. The writing isn't particularly brilliant but it isn't dry and boring either. My 8yo enjoyed the story very much and found it very exciting. Being a Disney book I was afraid they would have removed the Christianity of the story but kudos to them that they did not. Johnny felt called by God to help plant the apple trees for the early settlers and he also ministered to the people along the way. A decent biography for young readers.