Background
Jo Harper was born on January 12, 1932, in Lockney, Texas, United States. She is the daughter of J. B. and Melba (Floyd) Harper.
2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Texas Tech University
Old Main, State College, PA 16801, USA
Pennsylvania State University
700 University Blvd, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
Texas A &I University
215 Wrenn Memorial Rd, Wentworth, NC 27375, USA
Rockingham Community College
1 Burnett Blvd, Savannah, GA 31419, USA
Armstrong State College
3100 Cleburne St, Houston, TX 77004, USA
Texas Southern University
4800 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX 77004, USA
University of Houston
2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Texas Tech University
Old Main, State College, PA 16801, USA
Pennsylvania State University
700 University Blvd, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
Texas A &I University
215 Wrenn Memorial Rd, Wentworth, NC 27375, USA
Rockingham Community College
1 Burnett Blvd, Savannah, GA 31419, USA
Armstrong State College
3100 Cleburne St, Houston, TX 77004, USA
Texas Southern University
4800 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX 77004, USA
University of Houston
(Rough and tough Jalapeno Hal finds a way to bring rain to...)
Rough and tough Jalapeno Hal finds a way to bring rain to a dry Texas town.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1571682066/?tag=2022091-20
1997
(Like water on parched ground, Mae Dean's happiness dries ...)
Like water on parched ground, Mae Dean's happiness dries up when her father announces the family is headed west for a new life on the Texas Panhandle. Her brothers are excited about the move, but Mae Dean doesn't want to leave home and make a new one literally out of the ground. In a poignant confrontation, she lashes out at her father, and he comforts her with gentle words of reassurance. Colorful linoleum-cut block prints illustrate the story. Like water on parched ground, Mae Dean's happiness dries up when her father announces the family is headed west for a new life on the Texas Panhandle. Her brothers are excited about the move, but Mae Dean doesn't want to leave home and make a new one literally out of the ground. In a poignant confrontation, she lashes out at her father, and he comforts her with gentle words of reassurance. Colorful linoleum-cut block prints illustrate the story.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890515108/?tag=2022091-20
1998
(Red-haired, freckle-faced Ollie Jolly is a comical kid. W...)
Red-haired, freckle-faced Ollie Jolly is a comical kid. Whenever folks look in his jolly face, they can't help but laugh. Just seeing Ollie Jolly makes them merry. But not everyone likes Ollie. The class bully and a tough-as-nails teacher make his life less than ideal. And when mean Miss Tut Tuttle assigns the class to write about what they want to be when they grow up, Ollie is plumb rattled! A wild face-off with a menacing bull helps Ollie decide on his future occupation. This delightfully silly story will charm adults and children alike, while the lively, lighthearted illustrations bring Ollie and his pals to life for young readers. Red-haired, freckle-faced Ollie Jolly is a comical kid. Whenever folks look in his jolly face, they can't help but laugh. Just seeing Ollie Jolly makes them merry. But not everyone likes Ollie. The class bully and a tough-as-nails teacher make his life less than ideal. And when mean Miss Tut Tuttle assigns the class to write about what they want to be when they grow up, Ollie is plumb rattled! A wild face-off with a menacing bull helps Ollie decide on his future occupation. This delightfully silly story will charm adults and children alike, while the lively, lighthearted illustrations bring Ollie and his pals to life for young readers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558685529/?tag=2022091-20
2002
(Jalapeno Hal has been good-natured ever since he became m...)
Jalapeno Hal has been good-natured ever since he became mayor of Presidio, but he still can be the toughest hombre in the state of Texas when the occasion calls for it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1571687939/?tag=2022091-20
2003
(Bonnie loves to sing while her father plays a fiddle. In ...)
Bonnie loves to sing while her father plays a fiddle. In better times, the family was happy in its modest home. But hard times took away Bonnie's father's job, then their house, and then even her father's fiddle. Hearing the unkind remarks of a neighbor, Bonnie's father leaves to search for work at the nearby port and to relieve the economic burden on his wife, who has started to take in laundry. A distraught Bonnie determines to take her dog, Caesar, and go find her daddy! In her search, Bonnie discovers the pivotal part she can play in rescuing her family and restoring their lives. Bonnie loves to sing while her father plays a fiddle. In better times, the family was happy in its modest home. But hard times took away Bonnie's father's job, then their house, and then even her father's fiddle. Hearing the unkind remarks of a neighbor, Bonnie's father leaves to search for work at the nearby port and to relieve the economic burden on his wife, who has started to take in laundry. A distraught Bonnie determines to take her dog, Caesar, and go find her daddy! In her search, Bonnie discovers the pivotal part she can play in rescuing her family and restoring their lives.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890515310/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(Many of these seventeen short tales deriving from Mesoame...)
Many of these seventeen short tales deriving from Mesoamerican mythology are traditional and have traveled through time among the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. A few are contemporary and seem to originate with Nahuatl-speaking descendants of the Aztecs. All of them, however, grace the pages here in lively fashion for young readers nine and up.Many middle schools include Aztec and Mayan myths in their curricula, but the selection is narrow, the sources scattered, and the stories themselves usually undeveloped, even fragmentary. Most of the stories are found only in scholarly works far beyond the grasp of young readers. Now, enlarging upon the mythology that frames the decision making of her young adult hero and heroine in Delfino’s Journey and Teresa’s Journey, Jo Harper fleshes out tales of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca for fourth through sixth graders. Young readers will also meet the Jaguar Sun, the Snake Woman, and the Pepper Man.To be as faithful as possible to the pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican worldview and humor of the original tales, Harper consulted closely with indigenous Nahuatl speakers and cultural anthropologists, yet her delivery has all the freshness and polish of a practiced storyteller who knows her audience. Here then for young readers and their teachers is an engaging introduction to Mesoamerican mythology and to an oral tradition worth preserving well beyond the classroom.Part One: Quetzalcoatl and TezcaBirth of the Fifth SunWho Will Be the People?Corn MountainWho Can Teach the People?Music Is BornQuetzalcoatl FallsTezca Shows His PowerMaster LogThe Pepper ManTezca’s MusicPart Two: Tricks and MistakesThe Thunder Spirits’ New CookThe Buzzard HusbandRafael Outsmarts the NahualLalito and the NahualThe Devil’s CaveThe Possum’s TaleChioconejo Rabbit and Coyote Many of these seventeen short tales deriving from Mesoamerican mythology are traditional and have traveled through time among the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. A few are contemporary and seem to originate with Nahuatl-speaking descendants of the Aztecs. All of them, however, grace the pages here in lively fashion for young readers nine and up.Many middle schools include Aztec and Mayan myths in their curricula, but the selection is narrow, the sources scattered, and the stories themselves usually undeveloped, even fragmentary. Most of the stories are found only in scholarly works far beyond the grasp of young readers. Now, enlarging upon the mythology that frames the decision making of her young adult hero and heroine in Delfino’s Journey and Teresa’s Journey, Jo Harper fleshes out tales of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca for fourth through sixth graders. Young readers will also meet the Jaguar Sun, the Snake Woman, and the Pepper Man.To be as faithful as possible to the pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican worldview and humor of the original tales, Harper consulted closely with indigenous Nahuatl speakers and cultural anthropologists, yet her delivery has all the freshness and polish of a practiced storyteller who knows her audience. Here then for young readers and their teachers is an engaging introduction to Mesoamerican mythology and to an oral tradition worth preserving well beyond the classroom.Part One: Quetzalcoatl and TezcaBirth of the Fifth SunWho Will Be the People?Corn MountainWho Can Teach the People?Music Is BornQuetzalcoatl FallsTezca Shows His PowerMaster LogThe Pepper ManTezca’s MusicPart Two: Tricks and MistakesThe Thunder Spirits’ New CookThe Buzzard HusbandRafael Outsmarts the NahualLalito and the NahualThe Devil’s CaveThe Possum’s TaleChioconejo Rabbit and Coyote.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0896726258/?tag=2022091-20
2008
(An inspiring story of the first American female athlete t...)
An inspiring story of the first American female athlete to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games shares her triumphs over childhood illnesses to become a high school basketball player. A Childhood Of Famous Americans title.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L77ZQG/?tag=2022091-20
2010
(This cowboy’s whistle packs a wallop! Everybody knows tha...)
This cowboy’s whistle packs a wallop! Everybody knows that the Texas Rangers are the roughest, toughest, meanest, leanest good guys around. Willie knows he can be just like them, but all the Texas Rangers see is someone who smiles too much, whistles all the time, and has a belly that’s just too big. Dejected, Willie covers his sadness with a smile and looks for a way to prove himself to the Texas Rangers. His opportunity comes on a July 4th that’s hot enough to fry an egg on a sidewalk. When no-good varmints rustle the town’s cold, refreshing ice cream and soda pop, the Texas Rangers are stumped. But Willie and his whistle just might save the day!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455620564/?tag=2022091-20
2015
Jo Harper was born on January 12, 1932, in Lockney, Texas, United States. She is the daughter of J. B. and Melba (Floyd) Harper.
Harper graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 and received her master's degree from it in 1964. She then attended a doctoral study at Pennsylvania State University from 1970 to 1971 and also attended Columbia University, Escuela Internacional Sampere in Madrid, Inter-American University in Mexico, Cuernavaca Language School in Mexico and the University of Texas at Austin.
Harper started her career as a librarian at a junior high school in Plainview in 1950. She then became a teacher, working at various schools in Plainview until 1968, when she went to Texas A & I University in Kingsville. Two years later, she left the university and went to Rockingham Community College, where she worked as an instructor in English and Spanish till 1977.
From 1977 to 1980, Harper worked as an assistant professor of English and Spanish at Armstrong State College and after that held the position of director of intensive English for foreign students at Texas Southern University.
In 1984, Harper started a long relationship with University of Houston, where she was a lecturer in English for 12 years. Her last position was as a teacher of English to at-risk high school students at Spring Branch Education Center, where she worked from 1996 to her retirement. Since that year, Harper has also been working as a freelance writer.
Jo Harper is best known as a professional storyteller and award-winning children's author. Along with writing picture books, Harper has also written novels for slightly older readers, including her Delfino's Journey. Her other works include such books as Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Runner (Childhood of Famous Americans), Ollie Jolly, Rodeo Clown, Prairie Dog Pioneers, Jalapeno Hal, Finding Daddy: A Story of the Great Depression, Birth of the Fifth Sun: And Other Mesoamerican Tales and many more.
(An inspiring story of the first American female athlete t...)
2010(Many of these seventeen short tales deriving from Mesoame...)
2008(Jalapeno Hal has been good-natured ever since he became m...)
2003(Like water on parched ground, Mae Dean's happiness dries ...)
1998(This cowboy’s whistle packs a wallop! Everybody knows tha...)
2015(Rough and tough Jalapeno Hal finds a way to bring rain to...)
1997(Red-haired, freckle-faced Ollie Jolly is a comical kid. W...)
2002(Bonnie loves to sing while her father plays a fiddle. In ...)
2005Harper was married to James Lowell Hoggins. She is now single and has 3 children, Josephine M. Harper, James Francis Lowell and De Agon Hoggins.
