Books with author Gail E. Haley

Many African stories, whether or not they are about Kwaku Ananse the "spider man," are called, "Spider Stories." This book is about how that came to be. The African storyteller begins: "We do not really mean, we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A Story, a story; let it come, let it go." And it tells that long, long ago there were no stories on earth for children to hear. All stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. Ananse, the Spider man, wanted to buy some of these stories, so he spun a web up to the sky and went up to bargain with the Sky God. The price the Sky God asked was Osebo, the leopard of-the-terrible-teeth, Mmboro the hornet who-stings-like-fire, and Mmoatia the fairy whom-men-never-see. How Ananse paid the price is told in a graceful and clever text, with forceful, lovely woodcut illustrations.

Jack is the universal folk hero and adventurer. Tales of Jack’s adventures are as timeless as bedrock but as fresh as dawn in the Appalachian Mountains. Whether besting ogres, outsmarting flatland card sharps, wrestling with ornery witches, or even taking on Old Man Death himself, the plainspoken hero’s common sense, goodness and hill-country humor help him come out on top every time. “In a lucid, vibrant voice, Caldecott Medalist Haley recounts stories that originate in the rugged North Carolina Mountain country ... Haley’s use of metaphor, hyperbole and dialect captures the playful spirit of mountain lore. Her emotive, elaborate wood engravings, as well as her afterwords about the stories, the art and language itself, enrich this boyant anthology.” —Publishers Weekly Haley’s “spirited retellings are salted with backwoods language ... and illustrated with wood engravings that are full of energy, comedy and magical creatures.” —Kirkus Reviews