What happens when an old dog sitting at the dinner table with his master slides a whole leg of lamb, a big bowl of posole, a stack of tortillas and a bottle of wine to a coyote, who just happens to be under the table? A whole ruckus, that's what

But that's nothing compared with some of the other wild and wonderful folktales gathered by author Joe Hayes in this bilingual edition of The Coyote Under the Table. Like his signature collection The Day It Snowed Tortillas, this book is full of lively characters and laugh-out-loud stories. There's a trio of unsuitable...

Mama says she has the best daughters in the world. The two women live near their motherRosa with her husband and children, Blanca by herself. They both have flourishing gardens. Rosa and Blanca are so generous and kind and thoughtfulwell, everyone, including Mama, ends up with too much corn, tomatoes, and red hot chiles It's crazy It's also Joe Hayes at his finest, telling one of those stories young kids love, full of mishaps, surprise endings, and happy mommas In fact, one seven-year oldafter hearing Joe tell "Don't Say a Word, Mama "came home and told her mother, "I heard a story...

Joe Hayes is back with another unbelievable, astounding, and totally true tall tale, straight from his own childhood in the Arizona desert.

One day little Joe is out in the desert, walking around, and he sees a rattlesnake in trouble. Joe saves the snake's life That's when things get weird. The rattler follows Joe home. My gosh It's only a rattlesnake, nothing new for a desert boy like Joe, so he keeps him for a pet. His dad is annoyed, the neighbors are terrified, but soon the friendly snake slithers his way into their hearts. The snake cuddles at the foot of Joe's bed, plays in...

Kids today grow up knowing all about recycling. But when Joe Hayes was a kid, recycling hadn't been invented. Money was so tight for Joe's family that they had to be inventive about using and reusing everything. They didn't call it recycling, they called it making do. Joe says his family was dirt-poor. In fact, he says, they lived in a wide-open stretch of played-out land where even the dirt was broke, so impoverished that all anyone could manage to get out of it was beans. Beans and more beans, that's all folks grew and that's all folks ate. So imagine the family's delight when Joe's...