Maybe it's because his mother was a teacher. Or maybe it's because he has spent most of his life in classrooms - as a wide-eyed first grader, a naive college student, a seminarian, and now as a visiting writer in residencies across the country. There's something about school that infuses the work of Donald Davis and he has collected his all-time favorite school stories in the book. Whether we're traveling around the world with Miss Daisy, the fourth grade teacher who was integrating arithmetic, geography and English before the term whole language ever surfaced; or watching in awe as a classmate conjugates malaprops in Miss Vergilius Darwin's Latin class; or driving a school bus and learning about segregation - we experience flashes of recognition in moments that transcend Donald Davis's childhood stories.
The author presents eight short stories about his mother and other family members as they grew up in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
Bubbling with beautiful princesses, dragon-slaying underdogs, and crafty tricksters, these Franco-American stories explore a heritage that has become known as "a quiet presence". Co-authors, Parent and Olivier recount the lutin's tricks on farmers, the Jack-like adventures of Ti-Jean, Pierre and his modern-day chainsaw, a beautiful princess conquering an evil witch, and family stories passed down from generation to generation. Meet Michael's grandfather, Honor Fournier, who spoiled his grandchildren with kindly generosity, and Alexis Lacasse, Julien's grandfather, who didn't let a prank stop him from arriving to dinner on time. Life in Franco-American families revolved around two entities: family and church. The authors address these two important aspects and how they have influenced their stories. Olivier and Parent inherited their families' love of stories and continue that legacy by sharing their ancestry and heritage in this charming book.
The fourteen personal stories in this delightful coming of age book apply universal elements with characters and situations that everyone will recognize so that only the names, places and times change from our own childhood stories.
Jim May writes the stories of his youth, growing up in the rural Midwest between the Truman and the JFK eras, where trading stories was as common as trading horses, and frequently required the same skills. Neighboring, as his mother called it, was part of the social fabric. These 18 poignant and humorous stories of life's joys and trials told with the freshness of youth, yet tempered with the wisdom of age evoke a simpler time in our nation's history without romanticizing the inherent hardships.
This collection of African-American folktales highlights the unbroken chain of a rich oral tradition. The stories share the richness and variety of a cultural heritage that has crossed the Atlantic, survived slavery, and triumphed over the ignorance of racism and bigotry.
Highly acclaimed, award winning author Donald Davis wants us all to remember and share our family stories. Among other tall tales, he writes about how his uncle hung onto the multitudinous Democratic votes of the Ratherton clan while at the very same time keeping them from shooting Davis' squirrels in a lean year; how he got Phyleete, wife Jolly, their eleven sub-natural sons and one forgettably natural daughter to move their log house from the unlikely place they'd built it; and how he tried to solve the problem of the chatty Misses Lena and Lucy Leatherwood, who clogged up the eight-party telephone line so badly that Uncle Frank paid for his new phone four months before he ever got the chance to talk on it. Davis offers seventeen vintage family stories, including Rainy Weather, The Southern Bells, and Old Man Hawkins' Lucky Day.
In this abundant and kaleidoscopic collection, Spagnoli includes stories from Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos, Tibet, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Burma, and Nepal. After profiling modern Asian storytellers practicing traditional storytelling styles, she arranges the stories around dominant Asian themes such as Harmony and Friendship
High John the Conqueror sometimes called simply High John or John was a slave trickster who always outwits Old Master. Much like Greek slave Aesop's animal characters, High John was the subject of a series of subversive narratives, whose mission was to outsmart his oppressors. Tall tales of High John's exploits flourished during slavery, but after emancipation they fell out of circulation and his antics were all but forgotten.
An examination of the differences in religious and political beliefs between Western nations and Islamic extremists, as well as the ways in which information is shared and manipulated.
A compelling look at the Mongols, including how they built the most widespread empire in history, their lifestyle, their weapons, and how they remain a part of today's culture through books and film.
A compelling look at the Vikings, including the ways they terrorized western Europe, their lifestyle, their weapons, and how they remain a part of today's culture through books and film.
In this fresh take on a classic tale, a magic meat grinder helps a poor Jewish couple learn a little gratitude after the three wishes it grants them go awry. A cautionary story that questions today's consumerism and excessiveness, Kishka for Koppel, like the best folktales, can help children and adults alike to look both beyond and within.
Kioko had been watching the matatus come and go for as long as he could remember. But today, for his fifth birthday, he climbs aboard one with his grandfather. As the matatu pulls away from the market, the village dogs chase after them. When Kioko asks his grandfather why the dogs always bark and chase after matatus, his grandfather tells him an entertaining tale about a dog, a goat and a sheep. Set in East Africa, The Matatu is a colorful story filled with many unexpected turns and twists along the way.
Tova lives with her family on a small farm in the famous town of Chelm, a mythical village populated, according to Jewish folklore, by fools. Tova's farm has hens and even a rooster, but no cow. Her mother, Rivka, wishes they could afford to buy a cow, so they could have fresh milk and butter every day. One night Tova's father has a dream about how to get milk without actually owning a cow. He asks Tova to help him find a way to get milk from their hens, and the results are hilarious. Finally, to the family's joy and the hens' relief, the problem is solved by none other than the wise Rabbi of Chelm himself, and a little extra help from Tova.
Combining evocative haiku, informative text and luminous illustrations, Great Lakes and Rugged Ground is a celebration, for our youngest readers, of more than four hundred years of Ontario's history. Each detail-rich illustration depicts a particular moment in the province's dynamic saga from first European contact, the War of 1812, the building of the railroad and the Rideau Canal, the early development of the industries that have made the province the backbone of the national economy, through the emergence of a unique Canadian cultural identity, the hardships of two World Wars and modern industrial development.
Combining evocative haiku, informative text and luminous illustrations, The West Is Calling is a celebration of one hundred and fifty years of British Columbia's history. Each detail-rich illustration depicts a particular moment in the province's dynamic saga, from pre-contact Haida culture to the natural resources-fueled economic boom in the 1960s and beyond, to Expo 86, to the opening up of the North and the growing appreciation of First Nations' traditions.
This title examines an important historic event - the gold rush in California. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the first discovery of gold and the creation of boomtowns in the West, issues with the Mexican government, military desertion, expansionism, and the environmental consequences of mining, key characters such as John Sutter, Samuel Brannan, Colonel Richard B. Mason, and President James K. Polk, the roles of journalism, transportation, and racial discrimination, the development of mining technologies and entrepreneurship, and the effects of this event on society. Features include a table of contents, glossary, selected bibliography, Web links, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts.
This title examines an important historic event - bleeding Kansas. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of America during this violent time period as territories entered the Union as free or slave states. Readers will learn about the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the man behind it, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the signer of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, President Franklin Pierce, and the effects of this event on society. Also discussed are the abolition movement, Nat Turner's Rebellion, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Features include a table of contents, glossary, selected bibliography, Web links, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts.
This title examines an important historic event - the orphan train movement. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of the Children's Aid Society and the development of the Brace School, lodging houses, and industrial schools, the conditions that led to child abandonment in the 1800s, problems with institutional care and child labor laws, the roles the Civil War, the Great Depression, and people like Charles Loring Brace played, and the effects of this event on society. Features include a table of contents, glossary, selected bibliography, Web links, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts.
This title examines an important historic event - the trials of the nine Scottsboro Boys that took place in Alabama. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of America at the time of the trials, the accounts of the nine men on trial regarding their train ride from Tennessee to Alabama, their sentences, and the effects of this event on society. Readers will learn about the Great Depression, the Jim Crow south, lynching, the Ku Klux Klan, and the black codes that were all part of the atmosphere at this time. Features include a table of contents, glossary, selected bibliography, Web links, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts.
This title examines an important historic event - the women's suffrage movement. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the history of women's rights and the League of Women Voters, the roles the antislavery movement, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and literature played in the movement, well-known figures such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul, and the effects of this event on society. Features include a table of contents, a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines an important historic event, the Trail of Tears. Readers will learn the background of European settlement in Native American lands, relations between the groups, and how this led to the Trail of Tears. Also covered are the key players, the tragic loss of thousands of Cherokee on the trail, and the event's effects on the future of Native Americans and the United States. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-read, compelling text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
This title examines an important historic event - the transcontinental railroad. Easy-to-read, compelling text explores the events surrounding the planning, construction, and completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States, key people involved, and its impact on society. Features include a table of contents, a timeline, facts, additional resources, Web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
Explores the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how that event has sculpted societies, the sciences, and politics.
