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Mountain Jack Tales Parkway Publishers 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 hills. Whether Jack is outsmarting ogres, besting card sharks, 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.
Reviews “[Haley’s] spirited retellings are salted with backwoods language . . . and illustrated with wood engravings that . . . are ful of energy, comedy, and magical creatures.” “In a lucid, vibrant voice, Caldecott Medalist Haley (A Story, A Story) recounts stories which 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 the language itself—enrich this buoyant anthology.” “Haley retells nine Jack tales in this collection that provides a kind of sequel to her Jack and the Bean Tree (Crown, 1986). Once again, she uses Poppyseed, a mountain woman, to provide the framework for the stories. The selections come from Haley's grandmother, and have changed over time as she herself has heard versions from other countries and from such mountain tellers as Ray Hicks. The origins and influences on her stories are discussed in an afterword, as is the process of creating the art . . . the stories feature a North Carolina dialect (a glossary is provided. . . . Young readers will find these offerings accessible; older children, teachers, and storytellers will appreciate Haley's background information and may incorporate it into their own oral tellings.”
Links Visit Gail E. Haley’s Web site at http://www.gailehaley.com/. Also by Gail E. Haley:
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