Books published by publisher August House, 2008

Nationally acclaimed storyteller J.J. Reneaux grew up Cajun for true, surrounded by the stories, music, food, and culture of rural communities in southeast 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 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.

Four Jack Tales from the Appalachian oral tradition, recorded by a nationally accalimed storyteller. In this collection, Jack has a little trouble adjusting to the workaday world and to personal financial management. Eventually he works hard enough, but his fortunes do not seem to parallel his productivity. Jack finally has to go a bit out of his way to prove himself, meanwhile dealing with a prospective father-in-law who plays hard to get. For Adults and Young Adults.

An award-winning collection of ancient tales and adventure.Heather Forest's artful prose and keen curatorial selection brings an array of ancient tales of adventure, quests, and heroics to life for modern readers. This multicultural anthology presents pivotal episodes from epic tales such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf, the Odyssey, the Ramayana, and more.The collection illuminates large-scale narratives that were passed on and preserved through the oral tradition long before being captured in written form by early scribes. With the publication of Ancient and Epic Tales, Heather completes her long awaited trilogy of Tales From Around the World including Wonder Tales and Wisdom Tales.These epic narratives remain relevant today as they provide insights into the complexity of human relationships and the intimate, personal journey of anyone seeking to understand the meaning of life. This collection of timeless stories includes Norse legends, Greek myths, Japanese folktales, Persian stories, Irish Ballads and Chinese lore. Offering a global overview, this anthology of concise retellings also provides endnotes with cultural and historical background to inspire readers' further inquiry into these enduring tales.

The drive-in is dying. People can blame the demise on cable television, luxury theaters with sound systems so technical NASA engineers are needed to install them, or on a host of other modern conveniences and distractions. In reality, the drive-in operator of the Sulpher Springs Big-Screen Drive-In Theater hired a young Donald Davis to work his high school summers there. Employment at the Sulpher Springs Big-Screen Drive-In Theater consisted of working the concession stand, catching "slip-ins", and patrolling the back row to learn about love and life. The theater survives Davis and his friends' summer hijinks until Labor Day. When the last movie, The Guns of Navarrone, is almost over, and the theater could be closed for the winter, Davis and his crew find a way to close it down forever. For Ages 10 to Adult

Bobby Norfolk plays a prominent role in African-American storytelling. But when he recently visited Africa, he went as a humble student, hoping to glean new insights, to immerse himself in a living oral tradition. He went as a pilgrim to the cities, villages, and jungles of Africa. Yet he was caught completely by surprise when, during a visit to an obscure African village, he was invited to a community-wide afternoon break at which elders told traditional Anansi stories and everyone else listened intently. It was "Anansi Time". With material gleamed on that trip and from the tradition of African tellers in North America, Bobby Norfolk electrifies audiences with energized retellings of Anansi the wise, Anansi the resourceful, and Anansi the mythic underdog figure who is never undone or outdone. For Ages Five to Adult

Meet a baker who is so stingy that he wants to charge people just for smelling his baked goods. The Stolen Smell is a timeless story from Peru, told by Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton. This folktale tells the story of a greedy baker who becomes so angered over a neighbor's happiness from smelling the fresh aromas of his bakery that he demands that his neighbor pay him a “smelling fee” for enjoying the delightful smell of baking bread. The poor neighbor is confused and does not have very much money so the baker takes him to court where the baker learns a very valuable life lesson from a wise judge. Readers will also learn lessons of fairness, sharing and responsibility. Authors, Mitch and Martha explain that the motif of this story - payment for the mell of food with the sound of money - is a common one in world folktale. A Brazilian version can be found in Stories from the Americas by Frank Henius.

The title story of this collection might have been dubbed "Mother Knows Best". Kathryn Tucker Windham has always had a healthy respect for wisdom, but her true love has always been humor. The stories in this collection reflect her appreciation for traditional values and traditional ways, but they also beguile the listener with that most enchanting of Southern traits, a keen sense of humor. Windham tells us of a tombstone, exquisitely carved with doves, roses, and delicate leaves, that was used as a carving board and confectionary mold in her family's kitchen; of making frog houses in the sand; of a basket made for picking cotton; and of a little fatherless boy learning the ways of men while waiting to have his "ears lowered".

Nowhere are Kathryn Tucker Windham's transcendent themes of community, fidelity, and family more evident than in these stories. The author calls them "recollections of a happy Southern childhood", but her avid admirers would tell you that they are much more than that. Combining her vivid characterization, her affection for the South and its people, her well-seasoned humor, and her distinctive diction (which is clear and mellow as the best distilled liquor), these stories capture something of Southern culture that is in danger of extinction. Just perhaps, by listening to Ms. Windham, some may remember, celebrate, and carry on in ways that will allow future generations of children to have happy memories of families and communities sustained by virtue and tradition.