Classic Western Stories: The Most Beloved Stories »

Cooper Edens, with Starsnap Studio, owns one of the largest collections of vintage picture books in the world. His other books include Sea Stories, The Big Book of Little, and Tales from the Brothers Grimm. He lives in Seattle.

For more than a hundred years, the vivid stories of the American West have thrilled and enthralled audiences both young and old, and captured the imaginations of generations. Here are the adventures of outlaws and gunslingers, explorers and settlers, lumberjacks and cowboys. Here are legends—Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Calamity Jane—and trailblazers—Lewis and Clark, Daniel Boone. Each will take the reader to the edge of a vast territory, to a time when the wilderness was just outside our doors.

Illustrated by such renowned artists as N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, and Frederic Remington, these stirring stories and songs are sure to absorb and entertain, introducing to readers of all ages the spirit and lasting power of the American frontier.

VOYA

This anthology contains more than seventy varied selections about the American West, mostly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Entries include songs (from "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" to "Oklahoma!" and "California Here I Come"); poems, including verses penned by Longfellow, Whitman, and Brett Harte; folktales about Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and the Pueblos' "The Coyote and the Bear"; short accounts of historical events such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and Battle of the Little Bighorn; biographical sketches of Westerners like Billy the Kid, Annie Oakley, and Buffalo Bill Cody; and several Native American songs and stories. By far the longest excerpt is the story of Tom Mix and his loyal crew as they search the scorching Arizona desert for a stash of gold. This tale of gunfights and dastardly deeds hinges on Mix's folks discovering the treasure trove before the villainous Bart Malone gang finds it first. Another longer story filled with fun and hyperbole recounts how Paul Bunyan's blue ox Babe created a series of lakes with his huge hooves, which sink into the ground with each step. This oversize volume is filled with full-color illustrations: reproductions of paintings by renowned artists like Winslow Homer, N. C. Wyeth, and Frederic Remington; sheet music cover art; and photographs ranging from Edward S. Curtis's depictions of Native Americans to television promo shots of The Long Ranger and Tonto. All ages will enjoy browsing this enjoyable anthology. Researchers will need to use more in-depth sources. Reviewer: Florence H. Munat