Books published by publisher August House, 2008

Another hilarious Maynard Moose tale by award-winning author, Willy Claflin.You may think you know the classic story of the Ugly Duckling, but think again. In the capable hands of his alter ego Maynard Moose, renowned storyteller Willy Claflin, takes us on a wacky journey where this Uglified Ducky, a hapless young moose "blunders away" from his home, is mistaken for a baby duck, and endures endless humiliation as he tries to learn to waddle, quack, swim, and fly. Eventually, he finds his true "fambly," who helps him discover his own beauty. In his fractured “Moose” English, translated in the glossary at front, Maynard relays a surprisingly tender story that echoes the original tale's theme of the struggle to belong and discover your true self. The Uglified Ducky's quest is playfully but sympathetically interpreted in James Stimson's luminous, droll gouache illustrations. This fractured fairytale will teach young readers about the importance of courage, respect and community.

An eccentric schoolteacher and a widow-lady babysitter are the heroines in these new digital studio recordings of Donald Davis' two all-time most-requested stories. "It was the 42nd year she had taught fourth grade", yet there was nothing routine about Miss Daisy or her methods. Rather than settle for textbook work (Miss Daisy left textbooks in the big closet) she took her class on a year-long imaginary world tour. In "Miss Annie", when two boys need watching until their school teaching mom gets home after work, they find themselves entrusted to a widow who is so much fun the whole town is sure she's C-R-A-Z-Y. For Adults and Young Adults

Scary stories help children face fear and master it, by portraying the elements of conflict in clear, good-versus-evil terms with good triumphant in the end. This appeals to the strong moral sense of children. Parents are sometimes concerned that violence or gore in scary stories will be bad for children. This is not so; they provide hope through happy endings, and offer the child both positive and negative examples of behavior. With their imaginary violence, scary stories teach moral principles, good social behavior, courage, heroism, and hope. The stories is in this collection include: "Old Raw Head", "Frozen Charlotte", "Mary Calhoun", "Blood in the Root Cellar", "Old Walleyes", "Pennywinkle!", and "Vanishing Rider." For Adults and Young Adults

W.C. Jameson tells the secrets of lost army payrolls and smuggled gold scattered about the countryside, nearly forgotten but awaiting discovery. Jameson, a folklorist, musician, and environmentalist, has been on close to 200 expeditions for lost stashes of gold, silver, or other treasures. You'll hear: "Lost Yankee Gold", "Treasure in the Well", "The Lost Confederate Payroll", "The Wandering Confederate Treasury", and "General Morgan's Buried Treasure".

When the barnyard animals are invited to a party by their neighbors, they dress in their Sunday best and set off for a day of merriment. But when dinnertime arrives, the famished animals are perplexed to find a simple meal of cornbread. Most of them are polite, but Rooster turns his beak up in disgust and rudely leaves the party, missing the treasures hidden for the guests. The twist ending explains why, ever since, Rooster scratches in the dirt.Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss capture the rhythms and idioms of the rural South, and illustrator Don Tate's whimsical acrylics serve up a regular hoedown of fun.

Growing up in North Carolina, Donald Davis heard stories that came to America through Scots-Irish immigrants about a fellow named Jack who was so real that young Davis thought he was a distant relative or otherside-of-the-mountain neighbor. Now Davis knows that Jack is a universal legendary figure who, by various names, is found in nearly every culture. In this story tradition, Jack is sometimes bold and brilliant, sometimes inept but lucky. In "Granny Ugly", Jack relies on his common sense and several odd companions; in "Something Old, Something New", he discovers things aren't always what they seem. For Adults and Young Adults.

Close your eyes, and you can almost feel the rocking of the chair as you listen. Kathryn Tucker Windham's gentle Southern accent winds its way through these childhood and adult recollections, while her traditional wisdom and sharp sense of humor spin the spell she casts like a blanket over her listeners. Exploring the idea that being with and understanding your family is perhaps the most important lesson of all, Ms. Windham takes us out to her front porch in the morning, to the little Methodist ....

In rural North Carolina in 1951, despite parental reassurances, a typhoid shot hurt. It hurt even more when the children saw who would be administering the shot: Miss Winnie, a large, dictatorial nurse who had been "especially built by the nursing school so she would never blow away in a hard wind". In this hilarious epic tale, our young hero learns three valuable lessons: avoiding pain only heightens it, a mother's wrath can hurt worse than a shot, and growing up sometimes involves choosing the lesser of two evils. In "Tonsils," young Davis comes face-to-face with a creature known as a "nurse-nun" when he has to get his tonsils removed. This humorous account of a tonsillectomy performed on Good Friday in a Catholic hospital pops with Davis' usual firecracker wit and humor. For Adults and Young Adults

One of America's favorite African-American storytellers remembers her childhood in tender, unforgettable new stories. Jackie Torrence, a frequent headliner at the National Storytelling Festival, is known to audiences nationwide as The Story Lady. She has performed at The Kennedy Center, Wolftrap, Colonial Williamsburg, the International Children's Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival, and at Lincoln Center. You'll hear: "My Grandmother's Treasure", "The Big Cotton Patch", "Miss Maetroy's Flower Bed", "The Strawberry Pie", "My Granddaddy's Haint", and "The Funeral".

Braces hurt. Braces look funny. Braces are downright embarrassing. And just about the time you think they're going to feel normal, it's time to tighten them up again. Worst of all, most of us get braces just at that time of life when the last thing we want to do is to look conspicuous, to call attention to ourselves in any way. This new coming-of-age story employs storyteller Donald Davis' trademark descriptions and humor to address the question: is this worth all the pain and embarrassment? This selection also contains another Davis favorite, "Why I Live at the Beach", which recalls the time he talked his mother into letting him go to Myrtle Beach with his friends under the supposedly watchful eye of one friend's grandmother, who, Davis recalls, "was a better enabler than governor". For Adults and Young Adults

Nationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux grew up Cajun for true, surrounded by the stories, music, food, and culture of rural communities in southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. A traditional storyteller who collects by word-of-mouth, Reneaux has developed her repertoire over years of collecting: on front porches, school playgrounds, and her beloved fishing trips, as well as at nursing homes, airports, and at neighborhood fais-dodos."Like any good raconteur," she says, "I have told the tales as I heard them, but added personal touches, twists, and turns as the stories grew to be a natural part of my own life. For me, these tales are not museum pieces whose time was and is no more. They are alive and vigorous, brimming with joie de vivre, the zest for life that is the essence of Cajun culture.For Ages Five to Adult