Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth.
Yolen, Jane (Author)
Sep 2008. 32 p. HarperCollins, hardcover, $16.99. (9780060591359).
HarperCollins, library edition, $17.89. (9780060591366).

In this comely, homespun picture-book biography, Yolen assembles the fact and fiction surrounding America’s favorite orchardist into a tale both substantive and lyrical. Successive two-page spreads conform to a careful organizational structure. Set on backgrounds that look like weathered piece of parchment, each block of text features a stanza of verse that elebratie legend and a segment of history, wherein the author shares the truth beneath the myth. At the bottom of the page, a short note, “THE FACT,” elucidates the story, often citing sources and quoting primary material. By strictly maintaining her tight format, Yolen holds together the multiple narratives, offering a product that works both as colorful yarn and biographical study. Similarly, Burke’s striking paintings conform to a natural, yarn-dyed palette of apple reds, forest greens, meadow golds, and midnight blues, echoing Yolen’s piecework approach to the exposition with a subtle quilt motif. The reader, cradled in the boughs of such careful craftsmanship, is left with a story as sweet and nutritious as the fruit Johnny Appleseed sowed.