In the 1840s, there was a real volunteer firefighter named Mose Humphreys whose bravery was renown throughout New York City. Plays about him began being performed on Broadway in 1848 and over the years his strength and heroics took on larger-than-life proportions, much like those of Paul Bunyan.

Librarian standing in book stacks with sun a clouds behind her

Today on Story Time with Darlene, listen to the story “New York’s Bravest” written by Mary Pope Osborne and illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Follow along here.