The Checker Playing Hound Dog: Tall Tales from a Southwestern Storyteller [Paperback]

Joe Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

Ever heard of a dog that plays checkers? A wind so strong it moved the city limits? A fish that needed a haircut: You'll find these outrageous tales and some even taller ones in this collection from the repertoire of master storyteller Joe Hayes. Based in the Anglo-American tradition of spinning tall yarns these twenty stories will entertain and delight even the most skeptical readers! Over forty illustrations.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Mariposa Printing & Pub Co; 1st edition (February 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933553048
• ISBN-13: 978-0933553040
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers--a nationally recognized teller of tales from the Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America's storytellers. His books, CDs and tapes of Southwestern stories are popular nationwide. Born in Pennsylvania, Joe Hayes moved as a child to a small town in southern Arizona, some fifty miles from the Mexican border. From Mexican-American friends and schoolmates he began to acquire a knowledge of Spanish and an appreciation for Hispanic culture. As an adult, his experience with Spanish helped him find work doing mineral exploration in Mexico and Spain. When Joe moved to New Mexico in 1976, he first taught high school English, but his interest in the rich folklore of the region was already growing. He enjoyed sharing stories with his own children so much that he decided to shape a career for himself as a storyteller. Joe gathered traditional stories of the Southwest, added a little of his own spice and hit the road, traveling all over to share his stories. He has captured the imagination of children in schools all over the United States. In 2005, Joe received the Talking Leaves Literary Award from the National Storytelling Network, an award given to members of the storytelling community who have made considerable and influential contributions to the literature of storytelling. Joe has taught storytelling to teachers at the University of New Mexico and been a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities, delivering the commencement address for the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U.C.L.A. He was designated a New Mexico Eminent Scholar by the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education, and in 1995 he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence. Joe began sharing his stories in print in 1982. His books have received many awards including the Arizona Young Readers Award, two Land of Enchantment Children's Book Awards, and an Aesop Accolade Award. Joe's books have also been on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List three times, and Ghost Fever--selected by Texas school children--won the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2006-2007, the first bilingual book to achieve that distinction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, July 1, 2006

By 

apoem "apoem" (Bosque Farms, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Checker Playing Hound Dog: Tall Tales from a Southwestern Storyteller (Paperback)

Joe Hayes is a master story teller. This book is just as wonderful as listening to him in person. My children who are ages 7 and 5 and 3 enjoyed this book tremendously. We read them one short story a night and it wasn't enough, they begged for more. The stories are funny and enjoyable and yet have a moral of sorts also. Well worth reading.

Enjoy.