Short Tall Tales

The perfect addition to every family’s home library and just right for sharing aloud, American Tall Tales introduces readers to America’s first folk heroes in nine wildly exaggerated and downright funny stories. Here are Paul Bunyan, that king-sized lumberjack who could fell “ten white pines with a single swing”; John Henry, with his mighty hammer; Mose, old New York’s biggest, bravest fireman; Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, who could “outgrin, outsnort, outrun, outlift, outsneeze, outsleep, outlie any varmint”; and other uniquely American characters, together in one superb collection. In the tradition of the original nineteenth-century storytellers, Mary Pope Osborne compiles, edits, and adds her own two cents’ worth—and also supplies fascinating historical headnotes. Michael McCurdy’s robust colored wood engravings recall an earlier time, perfectly capturing all the vitality of the men and women who carved a new country out of the North American wilderness.

Tall Tales for Short People will make you laugh, dream, and time-travel. This collection of short stories is for kids ages four to eleven. Older kids can read some stories, such as Jungle Music and Little Dragonfly, to their younger siblings. The eleven stories in this book will show you how to cook a simply magical meal with the help of a Self-Cooking Tablecloth, amuse you with an accidental time travel adventure into the pioneer school house, convince you that even a little Dragonfly has the power to do big things, remind you to never be scared of white dresses hanging in your mom's bathroom, and transport you into the world of childhood magic and fun discoveries.

Designed with budding readers in mind, each of these tales starring familiar nursery rhyme characters is set in three columns with color-coded type as a script for two voices to read separately and together. By the creators of You Read to Me,

Tall Tales of a Short Clown is the story of Barry Lubin, whose alter ego, Grandma, became one of the most successful clowns in American history, and was named "The World's Funniest Grandma" in Germany. Barry has entertained well over a hundred million people in circus rings, stadiums, arenas, on stage, in festivals, in films, and on television as the funny little carpetbagger with a mischievous view of the world. Barry is undoubtedly the only person to have achieved the combination of performing a running headstand onto a whoopee cushion on stage at Carnegie Hall, eating well over 10,000 bagels, and managing to piss off Ringo Starr, Meryl Streep, Gene Kelly, and Bruce Springstein as well as being inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame. Tall Tales of a Short Clown follows Barry's journey from Emerson College dropout to Clown College graduate, from his early failures on the Greatest Show on Earth to his induction into the Ring of Fame, the highest honor in clowning and in circus. He reveals his struggles with drug abuse and alcoholism and his journey into sobriety, his bout with thyroid cancer and his triumphant return to the ring, and his love affair with audiences on six continents over five decades, to earn his place as one of the most beloved clowns in history.

"A Tall Tale About The Dog With The Polka Dotted Tail" is a cute and lovable story about an outcast dog, with a most unusual tail, who learns that he is perfect just the way he is.

From New York Times bestselling author and former children's poet laureate Mary Ann Hoberman comes a new collection of fresh read-aloud takes on eight favorite fairy tales, including "The Three Bears," "Cinderella," and "Little Red Riding Hood." Designed with emerging readers in mind, each of the tales is told in short rhyming dialogues—with each character's lines indicated by a different color—to be used as a script for two voices to read separately and together. Using traditional reading teaching techniques like alliteration, rhyme, repetition, and short sentences, the text invites young children to read along, while Michael Emberley's lively illustrations enhance the stories' humor and high spirits. Goldilocks, the Little Red Hen, the Three Little Pigs, and many more beloved characters star in these tales-with-a-twist that are perfect for early and reluctant readers, readers' theater, and bedtime fun. A 2005 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts by the Children's Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teacher of English. Also chosen as a 2004 Gryphon Award Honor Book by the Center for Children's Books.

Tall Tales & Short Stories showcases 50 excellent flash fiction stories that take you on a multi-genre voyage of discovery across space, time and place. Despite their brevity, these tiny tales get right to the heart of what makes us human. They'll tug at your heart strings, horrify, amuse and make you think, the words lingering in your mind long after you finish reading. A collection of talented authors, known names and new, from across the planet have penned compelling stories of birth, love and lust, heartache and revenge, death and the afterlife. Throw in aliens and angels, alcoholic bulls and alternative histories, hauntings and huntings, oh and a cowbot! What's not to love about this anthology? This inaugural flash fiction compilation from Escaped Ink Press features Amber M. Simpson, Amy L. Bethke, Andrew Paul Grell, Avra Margariti, Carolyn Barnard, Charlotte O'Farrell, Copper Rose, David Perlmutter, Derek McMillan, Desiree R. Kannel, G. Allen Wilbanks, GB Burgess, Geraldine McCarthy, HC Hsu, J. Bradley, James Russell, Jared Cappel, Jay Adair, Joel R Hunt, John Sheirer, Joseph Olamide Babalola, Kelly A. Harmon, Kelly Matsuura, Laura Elisa Vizcaíno (translated by Toshiya Kamei), Lucia Orellana Damacela, Mark Jacobson, Mark Kodama, Mary K. Ryan, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Natasha Cabot, Norbert Góra, P.A. O'Neil, P.C. Vandall, Paul Beckman, Philip CK, Ray Daley, Richard Grahn, Robert Kibble, Roberta Beach Jacobson, Russell Smeaton, Seamus Ludendorff, Shashi Kadapa, Shawn M. Klimek, Simon Lee-Price, Stephen V. Ramey, Steven Gowin, Swara Shukla, Vonnie Winslow Crist and Zak Jane Keir.