Books with author Donald Davis

Audiences at storytelling festivals worldwide are passionate about Donald Davis and his deceptively soft-edged Appalachian stories. Developed in oral performance, Davis'stories resonate in the experiences of his listeners and readers. The fourteen stories in this, his signature title, are so convincingly private as to be universal. The laughter, silent tears, and thunderous applause these stories elicit in live performance and the many repeat-buyers who give the book to friend after friend prompted us to commemorate them in this anniversary edition.

Old Man Hawkins was a larger-than-life character among deer hunters, or more precisely among tellers and hearers of tall tales. His self-proclaimed method of hunting deer by holding a mirror in one hand and his rifle in the other pointing backward over a shoulder was, he said, to be fair to the deer. It was a story, Davis tells us, that would occupy his father on the drive to Grandmaf_(tm)s house.

The improbably life of a mother, as seen through the eyes of a child. Critically acclaimed author, storyteller, and humorist shares his "novel of memories" on the unique character of his mother in celebration of her life after dying in 1998. Although Mama was in many of his other stories as an outside character, Davis realized after her death that she had never played a primary role. That's when all of the memories started flooding back. These eight stories, including "That's What Mamas Do" and "A Room of My Own," encourage the audience to consider the importance of individual people in their own families and to share their stories. These family stories from North Carolina about mothers and sons will teach readers about the importance of respect, responsibility and trustworthiness. One reviewer from The New York Times said, "I could have listened all morning to Donald Davis...his stories often left listeners limp with laughter at the same time that they struggled with a lump in the throat."

This is the story of the fighter mission that changed World War II. It is the true story of the man behind Pearl Harbor---Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto---and the courageous young American fliers who flew the million-to-one suicide mission that shot him down.Yamamoto was a cigar-smoking, poker-playing, English-speaking, Harvard-educated expert on America, and that intimate knowledge served him well as architect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next sixteen months, this military genius, beloved by the Japanese people, lived up to his prediction that he would run wild in the Pacific Ocean. He was unable, however, to deal the fatal blow needed to knock America out of the war, and the shaken United States began its march to victory on the bloody island of Guadalcanal.Donald A. Davis meticulously tracks Yamamoto's eventual rendezvous with death. After American code-breakers learned that the admiral would be vulnerable for a few hours, a desperate attempt was launched to bring him down. What was essentially a suicide mission fell to a handful of colorful and expendable U.S. Army pilots from Guadalcanal's battered "Cactus Air Force": - Mississippian John Mitchell, after flunking the West Point entrance exam, entered the army as a buck private. Though not a "natural" as an aviator, he eventually became the highest-scoring army ace on Guadalcanal and the leader of the Yamamoto attack. - Rex Barber grew up in the Oregon countryside and was the oldest surviving son in a tightly knit churchgoing family. A few weeks shy of his college graduation in 1940, the quiet Barber enlisted in the U.S. Army. - "I'm going to be President of the United States," Tom Lanphier once told a friend. Lanphier was the son of a legendary fighter squadron commander and a dazzling storyteller. He viewed his chance at hero status as the start of a promising political career.- December 7, 1941, found Besby Holmes on a Pearl Harbor airstrip, firing his .45 handgun at Japanese fighters. He couldn't get airborne in time to make a serious difference, but his chance would come. - Tall and darkly handsome, Ray Hine used the call sign "Heathcliffe" because he resembled the brooding hero of Wuthering Heights. He was transferred to Guadalcanal just in time to participate in the Yamamoto mission---a mission from which he would never return.Davis paints unforgettable personal portraits of men in combat and unravels a military mystery that has been covered up at the highest levels of government since the end of the war.

The words "Christmas pageant" will either fill with a nostalgic glow or make you break out into a cold sweat. Donald Davis knows that the holidays you remember aren't the ones where everything goes as expected; instead, you remember the ones that bring an element of surprise―if not outright disaster. The Davis household had its fair share of these incidents, including: the time the bear stole the family's Christmas dinner; the time the boys' Christmas gifts got "repossessed;" the time Joe-brother was cured once and for all of opening his presents early; the time Donald and his friend Larry Leatherwood laid a trap for their little brothers... and snagged some unfriendly wild game instead. The arc that these stories create follow a family in rural Appalachia from the horse-and-wagon days through the family's first car, new "modern" house with its gas stove, and first television―and reflects the revolving ways extended and immediate families observe, embrace, and celebrate the holidays. These humorous Yule tales will put readers in the holiday spirit as well as teach them about the importance of fairness, resourcefulness, and respect.

In this new studio recording of one of Davis's classic family stories, meet an earnest first-grader, intent upon convincing his parents that other children are treated to a party every year on their birthday - that they invite friends, eat cake, and receive presents. Meet his equally intent mother, who is determined not to open that can of worms, not with the 128 relatives who might start doing the same thing. Both of them step out in this luminous story about a seemingly disastrous birthday that turns into an unexpectedly memorable celebration. The companion story, The Little Rat, explores what happens when an eight-year-old boy discovers that his mother's makeup is a chemistry set.

Braces hurt. Braces are embarrassing. Braces are inconvenient. Many get fitted with them at the very time of their life when their self-confidence is lowest and their self-consciousness is highest. This coming-of-age story, created and performed by Donald Davis, employs the author's trademark characterizations and humor to explore the state of uncertainty that getting braces throws one into. Also includes another Davis favorite, Everybody Goes to the Beach.

This is a set of three stories about trouble with little brothers, especially mine. One is the story of the haircut he badly needed, and so I gave it to him. One is the story of getting permanently fired as his babysitter. The third is the story of one of the many science projects for which he was my personal chemistry set. These stories work to call memories forth from anyone who had to live in relationship to siblings.

An affirmation of enduring friendship and an adventure story, all rolled into one. The best friend of our youth has no replacement ever. Though we may start out as two peas in a pod, we often lose touch with one another. In this affecting tale of two adults who reclaim their childhood bond after thirty years apart, the comforts of friendship are affirmed with humor and wit. The second story, The Frog Jumped Twice, recalls a childhood lesson, learned at no small cost, that comes to full flower ....

Winner of Storytelling World Award & NAPPA Gold Award (Storytelling)A winding highway, children fighting in the back seat, parents suggesting diversionary games and holding onto their own hopes and fears for the vacation ahead: it's not an uncommon scene. However, it is Donald Davis's genius that turns a lackluster family vacation into a week to remember.The 1950s-era plastic seat covers were not the only thing to leave a lasting impression. In her spontaneous (and desperate) invention of games like Cow Poker and See Rock City, Mother keeps the rules one step ahead of the back-seat contestants, until one-too-many choruses prompt a detour the family never forgets.School Library Journal wrote, "The narrative moves gently, smoothly, and charmingly with the cadence of a master storyteller. Suitable for YAs who are looking for historical fiction or who have short story assignments, this book is also the perfect accompaniment for sitting in a favorite rocking chair while sipping homemade lemonade."