New Releases by Gail E Haley

Original illustrations by Gail E. Haley, winner of the Caldecott and Kate Greenaway Medals. Blanche is snatched from her husband and young child and taken to a state asylum for the insane. Her hopes for rescue are dashed when she discovers her husband Earle had her committed and declared her dead. Has the death of her newborn indeed driven Blanche to madness or is her ordeal part of Earle''s plot to steal her inheritance? Blanche''s redemption begins with her assignment to organize the new asylum library. At the same time she entertains her fellow inmates with experiences of fabulous meals and winged trips through the air and watches over her small daughter in the consciousness of birds. Are these supportive fantasies or delusions? Or are these experiences real? Earle''s dark secrets eventually come to light and Blanche triumphs, but not without a tragedy that costs her a friend and champion. Inspiration for the story comes from the records of a North Carolina insane asylum in the 1920s. Reviews of works by Gail E. Haley: "Dramatic tale of love and its triumph over greed and wickedness. She embroiders rich imagery into both her prose and ... illustrations, which work beautifully with the text." -New York Times Book Review (Birdsong) "lucid, vibrant voice ... use of metaphor, hyperbole and dialect captures the playful spirit of mountain lore. -Publishers Weekly (Mountain Jack Tales) "Compelling story." -Lauren Peterson, Booklist (Two Bad Boys) "The author''s prose style, essentially realistic but lightly infused with mysticism, subtly evokes a paradise lost," -Publishers Weekly (Two Bad boys: A Very Old Cherokee Tale)

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 Mountains. Whether besting ogres, outsmarting flatland card sharps, 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. "In a lucid, vibrant voice, Caldecott Medalist Haley recounts stories that 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 language itself, enrich this boyant anthology." -Publishers Weekly Haley''s "spirited retellings are salted with backwoods language ... and illustrated with wood engravings that are full of energy, comedy and magical creatures." -Kirkus Reviews

Discover how an African trickster god made it possible for people to tell stories in this brightly illustrated, Caldecott Medal–winning picture book. Long, long ago there were no stories on earth for children to hear. All stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. Ananse, the Spider man, wanted to buy some of these stories, so he spun a web up to the sky to bargain with the Sky God. The price the Sky God asked was Osebo, the leopard-of-the-terrible-teeth, Mmboro the hornet-who-stings-like-fire, and Mmoatia the fairy-whom-men-never-see. Can Ananse capture these sly creatures and give the children of earth stories to tell?

Kokopelli the Cicada leads the Ant People from the Dark World up to various other worlds and finally to the Green World, helping teach them along the way what they will need to know to survive and thrive there as the First People.

Father''s beast, which he calls Namelos, must never be given alcohol or drugs, lest he be turned into a raging monster, but with help he can learn how to tame the beast.

A poor book peddler journeys to the London Bridge to find the answer to his dream.

A young sailor''s love for a mermaid is preserved in the ring she fashions for him from a strand of her hair, but he finds himself in a dire dilemma when he remembers he has promised a lock of his sweetheart''s hair to a mysterious old woman.

CHILDREN''S BOOKS/AGES 4-8

Jack encounters the menacing monster known as Fire Dragaman and rescues three beautiful sisters from the monster''s underground cave.

A grubby urchin befriended by an old woman soon discovers the old woman''s evil intent. With the help of bird friends the urchin delivers a well-deserved comeuppance.

Recaptures the incident during the American Revolution when Jack Jouett rode to warn Thomas Jefferson and others of the coming of Tarleton''s raiders