This is the book I always use when I do storytelling concerts. It’s fun to tell and always gets listeners–young and old–in a good mood. Princess Miserella is the ugly sleeper of the title. The heroine is Plain Jane. She is ably assisted by the old fairy and Prince Jojo, the youngest son of a youngest
Acorn Quest, The
An Arthurian spoof, with animals instead of people: King Earthor (an owl), Sir Belliful (a groundhog), Sir Tarryhere (a tortoise), Sir Gimmemore (a rabbit) Sir Runsalot (a mouse) and the Wizard Squirrelin. The knights and wizard go off to save the kingdom, sneak past a dragon, and finally manage
Gift of Sarah Barker, The
I always called this “Romeo and Juliet in a Shaker community.” An historical novel, with romantic elements where no romances were supposed to flourish, this book takes the reader back to a New England sect in the 1850s. The book–one of my own personal favorites–is under option for the movies.
Touch Magic
Subtitled “Fantasy, Faerie, and Folklore in the Literature of Childhood,” this small book of essays was first my position papers for the EdD I never quite got. Originally published in hardcover by Philomel and then brought out a few years later in a trade paperback, this book of essays has become well
Robot and Rebecca and the Missing Owser, The
Published simultaneously in hardcover and paperback, this was the second (and alas, last) in the series of science fiction mysteries. I actually had written a lot of the third book when this particular line of Knopf books was declared dead. That’s publishing for you.
Boy Who Spoke Chimp, The
A short science fiction novel about a runaway boy who catches a ride with a van delivering hand-signing chimps to a California lab. A big earthquake destroys the road, tips over the van, kills the driver, and boy and chimp have to make their way through a devastated countryside to San Francisco.
Uncle Lemon’s Spring
This tall tale is based on some Stemple family history. My husband, David Stemple, was born and brought up inWest Virginia, up in the mountains, We had a number of family vacations there. He actually had an Uncle Lemon. David’s older brother Bill taught him to “fish for chickens.” FJ (for
Shirlick Holmes and the Case of the Wandering Wardrobe
I thought of this as a possible series and then never wrote a second book. About a group of girls (and one boy who is an honorary girl) who solve mysteries.
Brothers of the Wind
A folk tale chapter book set in an unnamed Arabic country where a slave boy helps to raise and train a flying horse. This was Barbara Berger’s first book. She had been one of my students at Centrum and I introduced her to Ann Beneduce who started her on her very illustrious career.
Pit Dragon Trilogy: Dragon’s Blood
The first of the Pit Dragon trilogy, (second is Heart’s Blood, third is A Sending of Dragons) this science fiction novel takes place on another planet–Austar IV–where great dragons are fought in pits. This is the story of a young bond boy who buys his way out of servitude at a dragon nursery by