New Mexico Books

Award-winning children's book creators Deborah L. Duvall and Murv Jacob present Rabbit and the Well, the latest in a series of picturebooks based on a Cherokee cycle of animal tales. In Rabbit and the Well, Ji-Stu the trickster rabbit persuades his animal friends to dig a well so that they will have enough to drink in times of drought. But Ji-Stu is too lazy to participate in creating the well! When Ji-Stu plies his tricks to steal well water anyway, the animals get together and hatch a plan to teach the selfish rabbit a lesson. The stylized illustrations add the perfect touch to this gentle story about the importance of responsibility and community.

Ms. Duvall has been writing the Rabbit books, based on traditional Cherokee stories, and her husband Murv Jacob has been illustrating them brilliantly, for a number of years now. One of my friends who visits Tahlequah, Oklahoma annually has been buying these books at Murv's shop each time she hits town. I finally bought one myself from Amazon when my friend sent me to a site where Rabbit Goes to Kansas could be viewed.

In this charming story, clearly Ms. Duvall's original addition to the Rabbit mythos, Rabbit travels to Kansas, meets a settlement of Jayhawks, and brings the sport of basketball back to Oklahoma. Both the story and the artwork are delightful, and, speaking as a KU graduate, I can't imagine a better gift for any Jayhawk.

I highly recommend both Rabbit Goes to Kansas and the other Duvall & Jacob books Amazon offers. Not only are these wonderful books for children, they speak clearly also to the inner child in all of us.

Deftly authored for young readers by Deborah L. Duvall and graced with paintings by Murv Jacob, Rabbit Plants The Forest is the folktale tale story from Native American and Cherokee cultures of Ji-Stu (Rabbit) and the invitation from Sa-lo-li the Squirrel to help plant the forest with the seeds of new trees. Illustriously carrying young readers through this story drawn from Cherokee traditional lore, Rabbit Plants The Forest follows Ji-Stu and Sa-lo-li in their adventurous quest to plant hickory nuts, walnuts, pecans and acorns (which her family have planted since the world began) to keep the forest a thick and beautiful place. Rabbit Plants The Forest is very highly recommended as the creative and vivid telling of two growing spirits as they pursue life and happiness, as well as a better world for all throughout their forest home.

I had the distinct pleasure of viewing a copy of this book over the weekend, and wondered why it has taken so long for someone to take enough notice of Rance Hood's work to finally put together a wonderful gift of a book such as "Rance Hood: Mystic Painter." The artist himself supplied the photos for the project, while a tremendous writer, Jim Hester, provides the beautiful text. The pairing of these two seems preordained, as the words and imagery work together magnificently!

If you're searching for gift ideas and have an artist in your family, this book is highly recommended!

This book has 29 true short stories of people who lived in New Mexico, when it was a territory. Each story is about 2-5 pages long. There are some black and white pictures of these same people included in the book.

What a wonderful book. I particularly liked these were people who lived in New Mexico and that I could look at the pictures of each person as I read about them. This author has certainly done a lot of research. I have read a lot of New Mexico history and this book is gem. Many of the stories were ones that I had never heard before. Because the stories are short, it is easy to pick the book up for 15 or 20 minutes, read a story and put it down without losing your place. I appreciated the humor that Marc Simmons displays through out this book, many of these short stories end on a humorous note.

This is a great book about the people who lived in New Mexico when it was still being formed into a state. It certainly provides a history of New Mexico through a different slant. I enjoyed every minute of reading it. My husband read it and enjoyed it as well.

In this Neil Hamel mystery, the death of Neil's distant aunt leaves Neil with a diary and a plane ticket to observe an environmental miracle, the white Arctic falcon. But instead of seeing the glorious falcon, Neil and her birding party see a body flying off a cliff. Little does Neil realize that the trip she decides to take to Montana to see this bird will turn out to be a search for a murderer:

"'It wasn't a falconer, I'm tellin' you. There are plenty of other people around who hated Pederson's guts. The man had it comin' and goin'.' He climbed down from the fence. 'You give my best to March. Goodness is a rough trail, especially where he is. And don't forget to say hello to that girlfriend of his, Kate.' He grinned. 'Now there's a woman with spirit. She can park her boots under my bed anytime she wants to.'"

Van Giesen moves Neil and her mysterious love, the Kid, from Albuquerque: where if the hot sauce isn't burning your throat it has no taste; to the dangerous regions of Montana, where the greatest danger can be anything from a snowstorm that catches the birders unaware; to the horrible traps used on beautiful, unsuspecting, and diminishing animals for profit; to the people themselves, whose motives are hidden by the wide-open skies and mountains. Neil tries to adjust as she sleuths for March, the wrongfully accused ranger. Van Giesen's characters drive the suspense-driven plot; at the same time throwing in quirks of Neil's which make her all the more human. Neil is a lovable neurotic: from her smoking and drinking habits, to her "inappropriate" relationship to the Kid, to her turning her nose up at anything that remotely resembles food. The reader pictures an Ally McBeal galloping around the hillsides with heart and clothes flapping. But somewhere she finds the strength to get the job done, before she resumes her nonconformist lifestyle. Raptor is a delight, and Neil does it her own way.

A very popular mystery writer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Judith Van Gieson is an author who has a plethora of information on the web, and enough name recognition so that her author bio simply includes the names of some of the catalog of mysteries she has written, including: North Of The Border, Confidence Woman, and Vanishing Point. Van Gieson is

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Rio Arriba, meaning New Mexico north of Santa Fe, one of the poorest areas in the United States revolted against foreign rule in 1837, 1847 and 1967. The 1837 rebellion is interesting because it casts light on the causes of the Texas Rebellion and the Mexican American War.

In 1835, Santa Anna appointed himself dictator of Mexico and abolished the constitution. His new government consolidated power and wealth in the Valley of Mexico. Far flung provinces New Mexico, California and Texas were left out in the cold politically and financially. Governors were appointed by Santa Anna and rejected. Texas and Rio Arriba went into open rebellion. New Mexico ended up with a local as self-appointed governor. California ended up with two governors, one appointed by the central government and one who appointed himself. When the US accepted Texas into the Union, only New Mexico wasn't in open rebellion. Mexico exercised very little real control. All three appeared anxious to be free of Mexico.

Lecompte details the rebellion step by step. She goes through its phases and personalities showing the inability to form a government or agree on their demands. The dissatisfaction was real and unbearable. It was the only thing they could agree on. Padre Martinez of Taos foments rebellion, then changes sides, just as he did again in 1847. Greedy Armijo steps in to quell rebellion and skim everything that passes through his fingers. The story is a forecast of New Mexico politics for the next hundred years.

Janet LeCompte is a wonderful and very readable author presenting documented history.

The Civil War, you might think, belonged to the South, and to the North--but never to the West.
But the Civil War did make it to the West, and it made it to New Mexico, and one Confederate soldier in that war kept a journal.
Don Alberts has done fans of New Mexico's history an enormous favor by editing those journals into this insightful book--"Rebels on the Rio Grande"--a book that brings the war alive in all its fear, violence, tension, stress, and boredom.
From the days of fighting, to the men who led them, to the days of waiting around for something to happen, this book has it all, and is an essential purchase for any New Mexico (or Civil war) historian, whether amateur or professional.
Also, for residents of New Mexico's Sandia Mountains, this book is indispensable, as it contains firsthand 1862 accounts of what the communities of Tijeras and San Antonio (in Bernalillo County) were like, as well as a nice little sketch of what San Antonio used to look like.
It's great.

If you are looking for a copy of this item, please contact me at P.O. Box 612, Lewistown, MT 59457

This is an amazing gem. I couldn't put it down. Capt. French managed to live through more wild times and adventures than I would have thought possible. Truly the 'wild west'. Written in an understated tone, with a sense of humor. Some great wild animal encounters/stories in addition to the usual cowboys, Indians, cattle rustlers, train and stagecoach robberies, etc.