The Gum-Chewing Rattler - Hardcover

Hayes, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0938317997 ISBN 13: 9780938317999

Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press, 2006

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers. He grew up in a small town in southern Arizona where he learned Spanish from his classmates. As he got older, Joe began gathering old stories from the Southwest. Joe has earned a distinctive role as a bilingual storyteller. Antonio Castro L. was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and has lived in the Juarez-El Paso area for most of his life. He has illustrated dozens of childrens' books including Pájaro Verde and Treasure on Gold Street.

Review:

"Hayes himself appears at the beginning and end, recalling to a small group of listeners how, as a lad, he changed his mother’s irritated tune about keeping bubblegum in his shirt pockets. Castro exaggerates the expressions on his human characters and gives the rattler a fiercely intense air of menace for this brief and thoroughly believable (right?) tale." Kirkus Reviews

"The large, two-page illustrations depict the exaggerations of this tall tale perfectly with varying perspectives on the child's encounter with the creature, bright shades of gold and turquoise, and an emphasis on pink (of course). Endpapers repeat the bold pink with splashes of a paler hue, framing a fun book for just about any kid; boys, especially, will love it." School Library Journal

"An upbeat and playful story, perfectly accentuated by the wry yet realistic art." —Midwest Book Review

"Veteran storyteller Hayes masterfully spins a kid-pleasing tall-tale from the Arizona desert A surefire storytime pleaser." Children's Literature

About this edition

• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0938317997
• ISBN 13: 9780938317999
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32