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.
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