BIG MEN, BIG COUNTRY

A sprightly large-format collection of episodes from the lives of nine tall-tale heroes—Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and New York City's Big Mose on the mythical side; Gib Morgan, John Darling, Jim Bridger, and other historical figures. Walker admits to a certain amount of embroidery, but bases each tale on the earliest printed version he could find and appends intelligent source notes. Except for Sluefoot Sue, his cast is male; he notes the scarcity of tall tales about women—``You see, in those days most folks believed that a woman's place was beside her husband. Of course, today we know that it's the other way around.'' In Bernardin's literal, energetic paintings, the brawny, generally cheerful figures burst from the mayhem within their close-packed frames. A lively next choice for readers of San Souci's Larger than Life (1991). (Folklore. 9-12)