William Morgan, a tough-talking ex-paratrooper, stunned family and friends when in 1957 he left Ohio to join freedom fighters in the mountains of Cuba. He led one band of guerrillas, and Che Guevara another, and together they swept through the country, ultimately forcing corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista from power. In just a year of fighting, the American revolutionary had altered the landscape of the Cold War. But Morgan believed they were fighting to liberate Cuba. Then Fidel Castro canceled elections, seized properties, and imprisoned Morgan’s fellow freedom fighters. Even Morgan’s own house mysteriously blew up. But The Comandante is about more than just the revolution. It’s the story of two people in love, pressured by government agents and mobsters vying to control a nation that soon brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction. In the mountains, Morgan met Olga Rodriguez, a beautiful, fiery nurse, whom he soon married. Together, amid their firestorm romance, they decided to take a stand and take back the government from Castro and Guevara. The newlyweds began running arms to prepare for a counterrevolution, soon caught in a cloak-and-dagger web among Castro’s forces; the Mob, which controlled Havana; and the CIA’s preparations for the Bay of Pigs Invasion. But one of Morgan’s guards betrayed him to Castro, who threw the counterrevolutionary in prison, placing his wife and their two daughters under house arrest. The couple smuggled secret messages to each other until Olga ultimately escaped by drugging her captors. Before she could free her husband, though, a junta tribunal tried and sentenced him to death by firing squad. Drawing on declassified FBI, CIA, and Army intelligence records as well as Olga’s diaries, Pulitzer Prize–winning authors Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss skillfully reveal the inner workings of the Cuban Revolution while detailing the incredible love story of a rebel nurse and an American street hero who left their mark on history.

The Yankee Comandante: The Untold Story of Courage, Passion, and One American's Fight to Liberate Cuba

Biographies & Memoirs

Sallah, Michael

Weiss Beauty & the Beast, Mitch

Leaders & Notable People

LYONS PRESS+

Winner of NAPPA Gold Award &amp; Parents' Choice Award 
Did you ever look carefully at a spider's web? If their purpose is simply to catch flies, why do spiders weave such beautiful, intricate webs? Did you ever wonder what causes thunder? Why is the sea salty? How did tigers get their stripes? In this collection of delightful tales from around the world and through the ages, each story explains why an animal, plant, or natural object looks or acts the way it does.
Following each story are tips for telling―especially written for children, but suitable for any age―that include suggestions for timing, intonation, gestures, and body language. There are also short modern, scientific explanations for each story subject and a map showing in what area of the world each story originated. Designed for use in primary and middle grades, this book is perfect for children to read on their own as well as those who want to learn to tell stories.
It's also a wonderful resource for adults who tell stories to children, and for teachers to use in conjunction with science, language arts, or social studies curricula.

How & Why Stories (World Storytelling from August House)

Children's Books

Hamilton Beauty & the Beast, Martha

Animals

August House

World tales kids can read and tell.
Call it what you will: stories of the fool have been around as long as people have been telling stories. Everyone has a noodlehead day, when the brain takes a leave of absence. As the stories in this collection show, knuckleheads come in all forms and shapes. These stories bring to mind the wise words of the French humorist Francois Rebelais: "If you wish to avoid seeing a fool, you must first break your mirror."
Following each story are tips for telling―especially written for children, but suitable for any age―that include suggestions for timing, intonation, gestures, and body language. There is also a map showing in what area of the world each story originated. Designed for use in primary and middle grades, this book is perfect for children to read on their own as well as those who want to learn to tell stories.
It's also a wonderful resource for adults who tell stories to children, and for teachers to use in conjunction with language arts or social studies curricula. These foolish tales are hilarious and relatable. Furthermore, this collection teaches readers the importance of caring, citizenship and fairness.

Noodlehead Stories

Literature & Fiction

World tales kids can read and tell.
Call it what you will: stories of the fool have been around as long as people have been telling stories. Everyone has a noodlehead day, when the brain takes a leave of absence. As the stories in this collection show, knuckleheads come in all forms and shapes. These stories bring to mind the wise words of the French humorist Francois Rebelais: "If you wish to avoid seeing a fool, you must first break your mirror." 
Following each story are tips for telling―especially written for children, but suitable for any age―that include suggestions for timing, intonation, gestures, and body language. There is also a map showing in what area of the world each story originated. Designed for use in primary and middle grades, this book is perfect for children to read on their own as well as those who want to learn to tell stories. 
It's also a wonderful resource for adults who tell stories to children, and for teachers to use in conjunction with language arts or social studies curricula. These foolish tales are hilarious and relatable. Furthermore, this collection teaches readers the importance of caring, citizenship and fairness.

How & Why Stories

Did you ever look carefully at a spider's web? Did you ever wonder what causes thunder and lightning? Why do dogs chase cats? Why does it look like there's a man in the moon? In this delightful recording of tales from around the world, each story explains why an animal, plant, or natural object looks or acts the way it does. Four of the stories are told by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, authors of the companion book, How & Why Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell. Because the authors ....

Winner of the Storytelling World Award
Have you ever played the game "Telephone" (or "Gossip"), where one person whispers a sentence to another and that person whispers it to the next? If you have, you know that by the time the sentence gets around a circle of people, it has almost always changed, sometimes drastically. In the same way, stories are passed "through the grapevine," they grow and change and take on many forms.
The stories in this book show just how powerful the grapevine can be. Most of them have been making rounds for hundreds of years. Many of them are found in slightly (or very) different forms in countries thousands of miles apart. All of them are fun to read out loud, and especially fun to tell. Each story has tips for telling the story without the book, and the authors encourage budding tellers to "take these stories and make them your own." These multicultural stories will teach readers the importance of caring, fairness and respect.

Through the Grapevine: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell

Winner of the Storytelling World Award
Have you ever played the game "Telephone" (or "Gossip"), where one person whispers a sentence to another and that person whispers it to the next? If you have, you know that by the time the sentence gets around a circle of people, it has almost always changed, sometimes drastically. In the same way, stories are passed "through the grapevine," they grow and change and take on many forms. 
The stories in this book show just how powerful the grapevine can be. Most of them have been making rounds for hundreds of years. Many of them are found in slightly (or very) different forms in countries thousands of miles apart. All of them are fun to read out loud, and especially fun to tell. Each story has tips for telling the story without the book, and the authors encourage budding tellers to "take these stories and make them your own." These multicultural stories will teach readers the importance of caring, fairness and respect.

Through the Grapevine

Barnyard animals learn a lesson about manners and passing judgments in this moral tale drawn from Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus stories. -Booklist Review
When the barnyard animals are invited to a party by their neighbors, they dress in their Sunday best and set off for a day of merriment. But when dinnertime arrives, the famished animals are perplexed to find a simple meal of cornbread. Most of them are polite but Rooster turns his beak up in disgust and rudely leaves the party, missing the treasures hidden for the guests. 
The surprising twist at the end of the story explains why, ever since, Rooster scratches in the dirt. Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss capture the rhythms and idioms of this rural Southern tale, and Don Tate's whimsical acrylics serve up a regular hoedown of fun. This barnyard story teaches readers about sharing, caring and fairness.

The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South

Storytellers Hamilton and Weiss invoke the exotic days of the spice trade in their retelling of a traditional Italian folktale. -Kirkus Review
There is an old saying that good things come in small packages. In the days of the spice trade, this was certainly true, as merchants left Europe in pursuit of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, which were so rare at home that only the wealthiest could afford them. When Antonio, an Italian merchant, sets sail from Genoa to trade for spices, he discovers by accident that he harbors a treasure equally rare in the Spice Islands, where the king is looking for a solution to his rodent problem.
 The ensuing events prove that one man's surplus is another man's treasure. John Kanzler's luminous illustrations evoke the Old World setting of this traditional story and the rich backdrop of he spice trade. Sometimes the best gifts come in the smallest packages. This Italian folktales about generosity will teach readers the importance of citizenship, fairness and respect.

Priceless Gifts: A Tale from Italy

Stories are powerful. If a story is well told, listeners feel as if they are in a bit of a trance. Storytellers have always loved to tell stories around a campfire. It's the perfect setting to tell a jump story where the whole point is to startle the listeners. These 13 tales come with tips for telling guaranteed to make the listener jump, scream, gasp, and giggle.

Scared Witless: Thirteen Eerie Tales to Tell

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weiss Beauty & the Beast, Mitch. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Weiss Beauty & the Beast, Mitch

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Weiss Beauty & the Beast, Mitch. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Yankee Comandante: The Untold Story of Courage, Passion, and One American's Fight to Liberate Cuba

How & Why Stories (World Storytelling from August House)

Noodlehead Stories

Noodlehead Stories

How & Why Stories

Through the Grapevine: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell

Through the Grapevine

The Hidden Feast: A Folktale from the American South

Priceless Gifts: A Tale from Italy

Scared Witless: Thirteen Eerie Tales to Tell