The only people who can tell these stories better than Richard Chase are the folks in North Carolina and Virginia who told them to him. These stories have been handed down for generations and have been enjoyed by grownups and children alike.

The "Jack" known to all of us from "Jack and the Beanstalk" is the hero of a cycle of tales brought to this country from the British Isles. Jack in Two Worlds is a unique collection that brings together eight of these stories as transcribed from ac

"Orville Hicks has enthralled audiences beyond the porches of Beech Mountain, North Carolina, for more than two decades. Jack Tales and Mountain Yarns captures the voice of the master storyteller in more than twenty transcribed stories, paired with lively pencil sketches. Having grown up in a hollow, he knows the mountain setting and his clever character Jack"--Provided by publisher.

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

While growing up in the mountains of western North Carolina, Davis heard stories that most American children never heard--stories that came to America through Scotch-Irish immigrants about Jack, a universal figure who is found in nearly every culture by various names. Davis was a featured storyteller at SEBA last year and at ALA this summer.

A collection of thirteen Jack tales from the southern Appalachian Mountains, including "The Time Jack Told a Big Tale," "The Time Jack Cured the Doctor," and "The Time Jack Stole the Cows."