Steve Sanfield’s A Natural Man: The True Story of John Henry not only makes for a fun afternoon read—it’s also quite effective as a teaching tool. The story of John Henry is an excellent introduction to the form and structure commonly used in folktales. Natural Man playfully infers facts without adding mystical explanations of John Henry’s strength, helping children identify the story of John Henry as a folktale and distinguishing it from fairy tales, and classic narratives.