Ready-To-Tell Tales

by Holt, David

• ISBN13: 9780874833812
• ISBN10: 0874833817
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-10-01
• Publisher: August House Pub Inc

Summary

Anyone who has watched a master storyteller mesmerize an audience without benefit of set, props, or musical score, has wondered: How do they do that? The trick, this anthology tells us, is in the material. And the 40 contributors should know. They are some of America's most popular storytellers, each of them sharing a story guaranteed to work in front of the most demanding audience.

Author Biography

David Holt Bio:

David Holt found his life's journey in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. With a passion to become an old-time banjo player, David traveled to remote mountain communities like Kingdom Come, Kentucky and Sodom Laurel, North Carolina searching for the best traditional musicians. Holt found hundreds of old-time mountaineers with a wealth of folk music, stories and wisdom. There was banjoist Wade Mainer, ballad singer Dellie Norton, singing coal miner Nimrod Workman, and 122 year-old washboard player Susie Brunson. Holt learned to play not only the banjo but also many unusual instruments like the mouth bow, the bottleneck slide guitar and even the paper bag.
For over three decades, David's passion for traditional music and culture has fueled a successful performing and recording career. He has earned four Grammy Awards and performed and recorded with many of his mentors including Doc Watson, Grandpa Jones, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins. Today he tours the country performing solo, with his band The Lightning Bolts and with Sutton, Holt and Coleman. His work has been featured in a number of public television productions.

Table of Contents

The Three Dolls (India)	12	(4)
David Novak
Those Three Wishes (based on an American short story)	16	(4)
Carol Birch
Fox's Sack (England)	20	(9)
Bill Harley
The Lion's Whisker (East Africa)	29	(5)
Len Cabral
The King's Child (Jewish)	34	(4)
Judith Black
The Story of the Half Blanket (Northern Ireland)	38	(4)
Maggi Kerr Peirce
Lazy Jack (England)	42	(6)
Gay Ducey
The Magic Pot (China)	48	(3)
Pleasant DeSpain
Trouble! (African-American)	51	(6)
David Holt
Bill Mooney
Strength (West Africa/Limba)	57	(7)
Margaret Read MacDonald
Urashima Taro (Japan)	64	(5)
Rafe Martin
The Magic Gifts (Cajun)	69	(5)
J. J. Reneaux
La Muerta: Godmother Death (Mexico)	74	(6)
Doug Lipman
Jack and the Haunted House (Appalachia)	80	(6)
Elizabeth Ellis
The Storekeeper (American South)	86	(5)
Doc McConnell
Rabbit and Possum Hunt for a Wife (Native American/Cherokee)	91	(3)
Gayle Ross
The Black Prince (Egypt)	94	(6)
Laura Simms
The Horned Animals' Party (Antigua/British West Indies)	100	(5)
Diane Ferlatte
The Mischievous Girl and the Hideous Creature (American)	105	(5)
Beth Horner
What He Could Have Been (Jewish)	110	(3)
Steve Sanfield
Is It Deep Enough? (African-American)	113	(5)
David Holt
The Old Giant (England)	118	(7)
Jon Spelman
Little Hare and the Pine Tree (Native American/Winnebago)	125	(4)
Joseph Bruchac
The Dead Mule (American Midwest)	129	(4)
Jim May
The Golden Arm (England)	133	(4)
Jackie Torrence
The Twelve Labors of Hercules (ancient Greece)	137	(4)
Barbara McBride-Smith
How the Turtle Cracked His Shell (Native American/Cherokee)	141	(5)
Robin Moore
The Magic Mortar (Japan)	146	(5)
Jay O'Callahan
The Electricity Elixir (American South)	151	(6)
Chuck Larkin
Panther and Rabbit (French Cameroon)	157	(5)
Michael Parent
The Time Jack Got the Silver Sword (Appalachia)	162	(13)
Donald Davis
Little Burnt Face (Native American/Micmac)	175	(4)
Milbre Burch
The Magic Pomegranate (Jewish)	179	(5)
Peninnah Schram
Santa Visits the Moes (Appalachia)	184	(4)
The Folktellers
The Talking Skull (West Africa)	188	(3)
Heather Forest
Honey Bunny (African-American)	191	(4)
Ed Stivender
The Wise Judge (Japan)	195	(6)
Susan Klein
The Wreck of the Sea Rover (Eastern Seaboard)	201	(6)
Bill Mooney
Jack and the Magic Beans (England)	207	(5)
Bobby Norfolk
Sweet Harmony Chapel (based on an Appalachian short story)	212	(7)
Gwenda LedBetter
The Freedom Bird (Thailand)	219	(4)
David Holt
Acknowledgments & Permissions	223