Showing results by author "Chris Tomlinson" in All Categories

Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war.

Jack, the delightful, mischievous, big-hearted hero of so many Newfoundland folktales, is worried about his parents. They aren’t getting any younger; in fact, they’re really quite old. So, Jack and his brothers Bill and Tom decide to set out and find a magic fruit that will make the old young again. Told with the humor, warmth, and sly wit that have made Andy Jones one of Newfoundland’s finest and best-loved storytellers, The Queen of Paradise’s Garden follows Jack on his way to the land of the Queen of Paradise, three miles this side of the end of the world.

Helen is a fine hand with a slingshot, and more than at home in the woods. After all, she was raised by bears for a time. When she stumbles on the castle of three evil giants, she comes up with the perfect plan to rid the land of them. Well, almost perfect... Andy Jones’s hilarious new folktale adaptation/middle reader Barefoot Helen and the Giants is jam-packed with adventures and tales of adventure. It celebrates brave and resourceful girls, blended families, and storytelling itself.

Journalist Chris Tomlinson grew up hearing stories about his family's abandoned cotton plantation in Falls County, Texas. Most of the tales lionized his white ancestors for pioneering along the Brazos River. His grandfather often said the family's slaves loved them so much that they also took Tomlinson as their last name. LaDainian Tomlinson, football great and former running back for the San Diego Chargers, spent part of his childhood playing on the same land that his Black ancestors had worked as slaves.