Most Popular Books by Joe Hayes

Rattlesnakes and storyteller Joe Hayes must have a thing for each other. Joe’s teamed up again with Antonio Castro to tell us how one day he saved a rattlesnake’s life. Sure enough, that made the rattlesnake so happy he followed Joe home. The snake became Joe’s pet. Just like a dog. Oh, wow, Joe’s tall tales get taller every year!

When Joe Hayes was a boy, he loved to wear his black and white high-top sneakers. He wore them every day. “Get rid of those shoes,” his mother told him one morning. “They smell terrible!” But did Joe listen, did he believe what his mother said? Not until he met the back end of a skunk!

A collection of ten classic tales from Northern New Mexico retold in Spanish and English.

In his classic bilingual style, Joe tells the story of a haunted house in a poor little town in Arizona. Nobody will rent that house because they know a ghost lives there. So the landlord tries to rents it out for free. Still nobody will rent it. That is, until Elena’s father rents it. He doesn’t believe in ghosts. Lucky for Elena that her grandmother knows all about the ways of ghosts. Elena, with the help of her grandmother, resolves the mystery of “ghost fever”—and learns a lesson about life. Joe Hayes, who lives in Santa Fe, is an award-winning storyteller renowned especially for his stories in Spanish and English.

Respected raconteur Joe Hayes is built for tall tales—he’s got the world’s longest legs! And Joe—who travels all over the United States telling stories to kids—says that The Gum-Chewing Rattler is the perfect tall tale for kids because it combines so many familiar experiences—chewing lots of bubblegum, getting in trouble in school, driving your mom crazy—with the wild, impossible claim that a certain rattlesnake chewed gum and blew a bubble with it. Couple that with kids’ natural fascination with poisonous snakes, and The Gum-Chewing Rattler turns out to be one of Joe’s most requested stories. Joe’s been telling this wild story for years, since before 1980, when he took those long legs of his out on the road. But now, that old gum-chewer is here for the first time in a picture book with full-color illustrations by Antonio Castro L. Here’s how Joe’s story goes: When Joe was a boy, he chewed lots of bubblegum, his mom got so mad because the gum in his shirt pocket made a terrible mess in the wash! But this wad of bubblegum just happened to save Joe from a rattlesnake’s fangs! Really!! Don’t worry—his mother didn’t believe the story either.

"With a style that captures the rhythmic pulse of the Cuban way of life, the vibrant storytelling in this collection of tales by Joe Hayes will delight Spanish-speaking and English-speaking children alike. The accurate translation builds familiarity in reading and expressing ideas in a second language. The colorful illustrations reflect the warmth of Cuban folk art. We hope that this anthology will inspire young readers to gain great awareness of Cuban cultural sensibilities.”—The American Folklore Society If you travel to Cuba, the people will greet you with a smile. Right away they’ll want you to come to their home and eat a meal. In the meal, you’ll find a mixture of foods and flavors from Spain and Africa—and from many Caribbean cultures as well. In Cuban folktales, you will taste the same delicious mixture of flavors." Folklorist and storyteller Joe Hayes first visited Cuba in 2001. He fell in love with the island and its people and began to look for opportunities to meet and listen to Cuban storytellers and to share the stories he knew from the American Southwest. He has returned every year, establishing a rich cultural exchange between US and Cuban storytellers. Out of that collaboration came this savory collection of Cuban folktales, which Joe frames with an introduction and an all-important Note to Storytellers. Joe Hayes is one of America’s premier storytellers. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America’s storytellers. Joe has published over twenty books. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and travels extensively throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Mauricio Trenard Sayago was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1963. He was raised in a home that was closely linked with art and was surrounded by the artistic debates sustained by the various artists and art history professors in his family. This environment strongly influenced him. Mauricio came to the United States in 2000, and now lives in Brooklyn.

Presents favorite Southwestern folktales of storyteller Joe Hayes, photographs of Hayes performing, and storytelling tips.

Christmas stories and legends.

A young boy''s shyness and habit of fantasizing is mistaken for foolishness. A man who feels superior to the boy entertains himself by instructing the boy in correct terminology. The boy thinks of a way to get even.

A collection of four stories presented in both English and Spanish.

“An entertaining marriage of pictures and words.”—Kirkus Reviews In 1996, master storyteller Joe Hayes and illustrator Rebecca Leer created A Spoon for Every Bite. It became an instant classic. In this lovely New Mexico folktale, a rich man tries to prove his wealth to his poor neighbors by using a new spoon for every bite. In the process, he’s served a pretty dish of come-uppance. A Spoon for Every Bite is available for the first time in the bilingual format for which Hayes is famous. 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.

A collection of classic tales from New Mexico, including "Pedro and Diablo," "La Hormiguita," "La Llorona," and "Juan Camisâon," in both Spanish and English.

La Llorona (yoh-ROH-nah) / The Weeping Woman is the ghost story to end all ghost stories, capturing the minds of both kids and adults in the U.S. and Mexico. In Spanish and English, master storyteller JOE HAYES retells the tale of a beautiful woman whose fear and jealousy dooms her to an eternal search for all she''s lost. It appears at first to be only a frightening story filled with mysterious events that cause children to sit wide-eyed, huddling together, listening spellbound. Yet it''s the simple, universal wisdom at the core of the story that finally works its magic in their hearts. La Llorona es el cuento de fantasmas que supera todos los otros. Por generaciones, ha cautivado las imaginaciones de ambos ni os y adultos en M xico y los Estados Unidos. En espa ol e ingles, el maestro autor JOE HAYES cuenta la historia de los celos y miedo que conden a una bella mujer a una b squeda eternal por todo lo que perdi . Primero parece ser solo una historia espantosa, llena de eventos misteriosos, que causa que ni os se sientan cerca, completamente fascinados. Pero es la sabidur a simple y universal al centro de la historia que trabaja como magia en sus corazones. La Llorona is available in a four-color edition in both paper and cloth. Joe''s chilling story of the crying ghost woman has sold over 600,000 copies and is truly the best known and most popular story of Hispanic America. La Llorona has more staying power than Batman and Wonder Woman combined. As proof, librarians tell us that Joe Hayes''La Llorona leaves the library more than they do, often not even bothering to come back--kids love her that much. She gives them the shivers La Llorona esta disponible en una edici n de cuatro colores en ambos papel y tela. La historia espeluznante que Joe cuenta sobre la mujer fantasma ha vendido m s de 600,000 copias, y es verdaderamente la historia m s conocida y popular de Latinoam rica. La Llorona es m s . Bibliotecarios y bibliotecarias nos dicen que sus libros de La Llorona escritos por Joe Hayes salen de la librer a m s que ellos y ellas, hasta a veces ni regresan-- tanto les gusta la historia a los ni os