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Summary
Summary
Wild West chaos and creative problem solving are the force behind a well-loved American institution.What's a California miner to do when gold dust sifts right out of his holey pockets? With such a raggedy wardrobe, he may as well be mining in the vanilla (that is, his birthday suit)! Good thing Levi Strauss is out west, ready with his needle and a head full of bright ideas. With some quick thinking, quicker stitching, and handy arithmetic, Levi keeps all the gold rushers clothed--and becomes a modern American hero. A Wild West tall tale, Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea celebrates creativity, innovation, and the ubiquitous item that fills the closets of grateful jeans wearers worldwide.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-An outlandish whopper of a tall tale, this story just begs to be read aloud with an old-timey Western accent. Johnston weaves together fact and fiction, resulting in a hilarious narrative about how Strauss became the denim king. Students will delight in chiming in on the repeated exclamation "Dang!" As with all tall tales, outlandish explanations abound, and, in this particular yarn, readers learn about the creation of the beautiful city of San Francisco. An author's note gives the concrete facts about the true Levi Strauss. The illustrations are as unique as the tale, and children will be fascinated by the side-splitting facial expressions and zany action found on each page. Even more delightful is the fact that Innerst painted the scenes on old pairs of Levis. A first choice for any collection, this book is worth its weight in denim-or gold.-Jasmine L. Precopio, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh, PA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Using the scant facts available, Johnston (My Abuelita) offers a loose, tall-tale account, "stretche[d] to near popping," of how Levi Strauss came to be credited with creating the blue jeans that still bear his name. Strauss traveled from New York to California in 1853, years after the pioneering '49ers ("He rushed slowly, so he came late and missed the gold. ¿Dang!' said Levi Strauss"). Noticing the miners' threadbare-or nonexistent-pants, Strauss realized their need for "pants that last" ("Corduroy, wool, tweed, flannel, burlap... they didn't last long in the gold fields. Soon, every miner was sluicing for color in his long johns-or naked as a jaybird"). The durability of the canvas tents Strauss created for the men led to an "aha moment"-and the first jeans. Johnston creates an unrepentantly exaggerated version of events that is sure to entertain, offering more factual information about Strauss in an author's note. Using a bright idea of his own, Innerst (Lincoln Tells a Joke) chronicles the raucous action in acrylic paintings on a canvas of, yes, old Levi's jeans. The denim's texture provides an appropriately rugged tone to the colorful proceedings. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
During the California gold rush, everyone's pants disintegrated, giving Levi Strauss an idea that precipitated the "Great Pants Rush." This semitall tale isn't for biography seekers; an author's note explains which story elements are tomfoolery, and the omniscient narrator capably wields regional color ("Yessir, all of California was mining in the vanilla"--i.e., naked). The cloudy-edged illustrations are paintings on, yes, denim. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A tall-tale version of the invention of blue jeans by a New York peddler who came late to the California gold rush but saw a need and filled it.Johnston's fanciful embroidery of the scraps of actual facts known about the origins of Levis begins with the report that at the discovery of gold, miners "rushed so fast, they lost their pants." By the second spread, with miners working in their long johns or, discreetly, "in the vanilla," listeners will be thoroughly hooked. The humor is broad and the language inventive, yet reminiscent of the times. Panning bits of clothing rather than gold sets the miners to "gnashing their clashers." "Dang!" says Levi Strauss. Later, everyone has been outfitted with a new set of tent-fabric pants but refuses to take them off to wash them: "The whole of California stank...." Strauss obligingly sells them all a second pair. This humorous text is set on double-page illustrations painted with acrylic on old blue jeans whose texture shows through. Seams become part of the picture, the base of a covered wagon or, later, the Golden Gate Bridge. Strauss and his brothers are easily distinguishable from the full-bearded miners. An author's note provides some actual facts to distinguish them from the "pure-dee fabrication."A "pure-dee" delight for storytime.(Picture book. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
An author's note supplies what is known about Levi Strauss' real story, but the book itself dives giddily into tall-tale territory, with the industrious German immigrant heading to California to make a few bucks off the surplus of gold rushers. It doesn't take long for Levi to spot a need: men's trousers of wool, tweed, and flannel are disintegrating, with some of the panners reduced to wearing barrels or doffing their clothes entirely (aka mining in the vanilla ). Blurting his catchphrase Dang! Levi has the brainstorm of using tent canvas to make a better pair of pants. This sets off the Great Pants Rush, in which Levi is hounded by men desperate for his hardy product. Innerst makes the interesting choice of printing the illustrations upon actual blue jeans, which gives the acrylics a cool, faded look even as the muted palette feels somewhat repetitive. Johnston, meanwhile, wisely stays away from too much folktale hollerin' and delivers a nicely pitched story that is one part truth, one part whopper.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist