On a cold winter night, when the Northern Lights danced green and purple across the sky, a tiny baby was born in a little log cabin in the Maine woods. But this was no ordinary baby. By morning, little Paul Bunyan was already as big as the cabin itself, and his laughter shook the snow right off the pine trees.
Paul grew faster than a beanstalk in July. By the time he was one week old, he wore his father's clothes. By two weeks, he had to sleep in a covered wagon because no bed could hold him. His parents loved him dearly, but keeping up with a baby the size of a barn was quite a challenge!
One day, during the coldest winter anyone could remember, young Paul found a shivering baby ox half-buried in the blue snow. The poor creature had turned completely blue from the cold! Paul scooped up the little ox and tucked him inside his flannel shirt to keep him warm. He named him Babe, and they became the best of friends forever.
Babe grew just as fast as Paul, and his blue color never faded. Together they wandered through the great forests of America. Paul could chop down ten trees with a single swing of his mighty axe, while Babe could haul a whole mountain of logs without breaking a sweat. They made the perfect team!
Paul started a logging camp, and lumberjacks came from far and wide to work with the famous giant. The camp was so big that the cooks used a frying pan the size of a skating rink! They greased it by strapping bacon to the feet of the kitchen helpers, who skated across it every morning to make breakfast.
One terribly hot summer, the Round River dried up completely, and Paul's crew had no water to drink. Paul thought and thought, then he had an idea. He and Babe dug and dug until they scooped out five enormous holes in the ground. When the rain came, those holes filled right up with water, and that is how the Great Lakes were made!
Another time, Paul was dragging his axe behind him as he walked across the western plains. He was so tired from a long day of logging that he did not notice his axe was cutting a deep groove in the earth. When he finally looked back, he saw the biggest canyon anyone had ever seen. People now call it the Grand Canyon!
Winter came again, and this time it snowed so hard that the snowflakes were as big as flapjacks. Babe loved the snow and rolled around in it happily, but Paul worried about his crew. So he built the biggest campfire the world had ever seen, and its warmth kept everyone cozy through the whole long winter.
Sometimes Paul and Babe had disagreements, just like any friends do. Once, Babe accidentally stepped on a supply wagon and squashed it flat. Paul was upset at first, but when he saw Babe's sad brown eyes looking up at him, he could not stay mad. He patted Babe's enormous blue nose and said, "That is all right, old friend. We will build a new one together."
Word of Paul's amazing deeds spread all across the land. People told stories about him around campfires and in schoolrooms. Some said he could fell a hundred trees before breakfast. Others said Babe measured forty-two axe handles between the eyes. The tales grew taller with every telling, but Paul just chuckled and kept on working.
As the years went by, Paul and Babe planted just as many trees as they cut down. Paul always said, "The forest gives us everything we need, so we must give back to the forest." He taught his crew to respect the land, the rivers, and all the creatures that lived among the trees.
And so, somewhere deep in the great American forests, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are still having adventures. If you listen very carefully on a quiet night, you might hear Paul's booming laughter echoing through the mountains, or the gentle thud of Babe's hooves on the forest floor. Their friendship, as big as they are, will last forever and ever.
