More ready-to-tell tales from around the world Book

When David Holt and Bill Mooney collaborated on their original Ready-to-Tell Tales in 1994, they knew they had a tiger by the tail—a how-to book for all those who have watched a master storyteller and wondered, "How do they do that?"

School Library Journal recognized it as "an extraordinary collection...it deserves a place on the shelf beside other storytelling classics." It was "highly recommended" by Booklist and won a truckload of awards and citations.

Now Holt and Mooney present a new collection with some enhanced features. Forty-four of the finest storytellers performing today present stories that anyone can tell—adapted for oral performance and enhanced with telling tips, information about the stories, and recommended audiences and age levels. The stories come from a wide array of cultures and are appropriate for a wide array of occasions. They range in tone from Doc McConnell's tall tale of "The Talking Dog" to Duncan Williamson's haunting "Mary and the Seal," from Dovie Thomason's comical Cherokee pourquoi story to Jay Stailey's urban retelling of Chicken Little, from Derek Burrows' participatory Bahamian riff to Barbara McBride-Smith's gleeful if gross coda to an old Texas armadillo tale.

The stories come from Japan,Senegal, Sweden, the Bahamas, Haiti, China, Mexico, Portugal, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Jewish, Kiowa, Cajun, Iroquois, and African-American traditions.

A multicultural collection of traditional tales contributed by experienced storytellers, with tips for telling the stories.