These 2 stories from the pen of one of America's earliest and most popular writers draw upon the myths and legends of local and European folklore to create memorable, richly American tales and characters. In the title story, Rip Van Winkle wanders into the Catskill Mountains before the Revolutionary War. When he helps a dwarf carry a heavy keg to a ninepins game, it seems natural to drink the strange, small men's brew - but he hasn't the head for...

Travel back in time to the days before the American Revolution, when Dutch settlers populated the little towns along the Hudson River and ghosts roamed the mountains and river valleys. In "Rip Van Winkle," a henpecked husband escapes his nagging wife by wandering the Catskills, where he encounters some mysterious mountain men and tastes a strange brew with unexpected effects. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" recounts schoolmaster Ichabod Crane's dream...

A man who sleeps for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains wakes to a much-changed world. Rip Van Winkle is an idler who would rather starve for a penny than work for a pound, and his wife is constantly nagging him. In search of peace, Rip heads off to the woods one day with his faithful dog, Wolf. High up in the Catskill Mountains, Rip meets an unusual group of little men. He drinks their strong beverage and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens,...

JOHNNY APPLESEED

The touching story of the benevolent naturalist who roamed the Ohio Valley in the early 1800s, planting apple orchards, making friends, and spreading good will along his way. Known to early settlers as a gentle soul with a reverence for all life, Johnny never missed a chance to save an abandoned animal or to savor a delicious apple pie.

RIP VAN WINKLEThis haunting early American tale from Washington Irving follows the likeable

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In the first of these stories from the Catskill Mountains, a superstitious schoolmaster encounters a headless horseman; in the second, a man sleeps for twenty years, waking to a much-changed world