Hurston, Zora Neale. Myers, Christopher. Lies and Other Tall Tales. Illustrated by Christopher Myers. HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0060006552. $15.99. 40 p.
Reviewer: Lara M. Ackerman
Reading Level: Preschool, Primary
Rating: Excellent
Genre: Folklore;
Subject: Tall tales--Gulf States--Juvenile fiction; Folklore--Gulf States--Juvenile fiction; Books--Reviews;
Tall tales, like all the best lies, are usually passed from hand to hand before they find their way to our ears. This book is no exception. Myers introduces his rendition of Zora Neale Hurston's folklore studies with the explanation, "Way, way back in the day,/Back when George Washington's hair on the one-dollar bill hadn't yet turned white./Back when computers ran on steam power,/Back when cellular phones had rotary dials,.../There were lies,/Real lies." What follows is a rollicking collection of you-nevers and oh-yes-I-haves, full of the bantering rhythm of storytellers trying to one-up the last teller.
The source of most of these
