Barking at a Fox-Fur Coat - Paperback

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by Donald Davis (Author)

Winner of YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Highly acclaimed, award winning author Donald Davis wants us all to remember and share our family stories. Among other tall tales, he writes about how his uncle hung onto the multitudinous Democratic votes of the Ratherton clan while at the very same time keeping them from shooting Davis' squirrels in a lean year; how he got Phyleete, wife Jolly, their eleven sub-natural sons and one forgettably natural daughter to move their log house from the unlikely place they'd built it; and how he tried to solve the problem of the chatty Misses Lena and Lucy Leatherwood, who clogged up the eight-party telephone line so badly that Uncle Frank paid for his new phone four months before he ever got the chance to talk on it.

Davis offers seventeen vintage family stories, including "Rainy Weather," "The Southern Bells," and "Old Man Hawkins' Lucky Day." These stories from North Carolina make use of historical context with references to sharecropping and emancipation. The adventurous tricksters in these stories emphasize the importance of kindness, fairness and respect.

Author Biography

Donald Davis Bio:

Donald Davis was raised in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. He didn't realize it at the time, but he grew up in a family of gifted storytellers who passed their talent along to Donald. His legendary Uncle Frank was a front-porch storyteller of the first order and the source of many of Donald's tales. Young Davis was a capable student. He went to college and then to divinity school. For twenty years he served the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. Then came a day when he found that he would rather tell Uncle Frank's tall tales than give another sermon. He would rather recall two old-maid sisters who abused the party line than marry one more couple.

Fortunately, Davis had no trouble finding audiences: all of his former congregations lined up to book him to perform as a storyteller. He now tours the USA ten months a year, making about 300 storytelling presentations annually. He can be found in schools, at libraries, in front of conventions, and as a headliner at storytelling festivals. Davis has appeared on ABC News Nightline, and he has been a guest on National Public Radio and CNN.

His books and spoken word recordings have received critical acclaim and won many awards. Davis has written ten books and recorded twenty audio recordings with August House. When Donald isn't crisscrossing the country performing his stories, he comes home to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina where he lives with his wife, Merle.

Number of Pages: 208

Dimensions: 0.57 x 8.5 x 5.4 IN

Publication Date: December 27, 2005

Accelerated Reader:

Quiz Name: Barking at a Fox-Fur Coat

Interest Level: Upper Grades, 9-12

Reading Level: 5.9

Point Value: 9