COYOTES - STORIES AND FOLKLORE
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain)

1) Check Thomas Doty's website:
http://www.dotycoyote.com/index.html

2) This is a useful link to Native American information. This page focuses on coyote stories (and poems). I haven't looked into it and can't say what the age levels are, but you could slant them to a younger audience.
http://www.indians.org/welker/coyote.htm
Charles K. 4/27/07
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3) Coyote stories are great! See if you can find:
• Coyote Places the Stars (Aladdin Picture Books) by Harriet Taylor.
• Margaret MacDonald has coyote tales in one of her storytelling start up books - Coyote's Crying Song.
• Borreguita and the Coyote (Reading Rainbow Books) by Verna Aardema is great- the children can do the coyote howl.
• Gretchen Will Mayo has great books out- and they may have Coyote tales in them.
That Tricky Coyote! (Native American Trickster Tales)
Claudia R. 4/27/07
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4) I will tell Coyote Steals Fire because it has lots of animals in it and I'll make a red baloon with red and yellow ribbons as "fire" - kids can play the animals and pass it along:) As for the other stories, I'm still not sure.
Macsek 4/27/07
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5) Coyote books available:
• Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest by Gerald McDermott.
Book Description
Wherever Coyote goes you can be sure he’ll find trouble. Now he wants to sing, dance, and fly like the crows, so he begs them to teach him how. The crows agree but soon tire of Coyote’s bragging and boasting. They decide to teach the great trickster a lesson. This time, Coyote has found real trouble!
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• There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea by Jennifer Ward, Steve Gray.
Reviewer: Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Award-winning author Jennifer Ward presents There was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea, a whimsical children's picturebook offering an outrageous take on a common children's nursery rhyme. Following the exploits of a hungry coyote who sets out to gulp down everything in sight - and the perplexed appetizers socializing in his tummy - There was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea blends the vibrant, cartoony art of Steve Gray and singsong rhythm to create a rollicking funny tale. "He swallowed the cactus to go with the chile. / He swallowed the chile to season the bird. / He swallowed the bird to catch the snake. / He swallowed the snake to catch the lizard. / He swallowed the lizard to catch the flea, / Plucked from his knee, that tickly flea. / Yippe-o-ki-yee?"
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• The Three Little Javelinas (Reading Rainbow Book) by Susan Lowell, Jim Harris.
From Publishers Weekly
In this retelling of The Three Little Pigs set in the American Southwest, the cherished porkers are transformed into javelinas, the hairy, swinelike creatures also known as peccaries. Their pursuer, no longer the wolf of traditional lore, becomes Coyote, that ubiquitous Southwestern trickster. In her first book for children, Lowell spices the story with elements of Native American, Mexican and Old West culture. Javelina No. 1 builds his house of tumbleweed, while his brother relies on saguaro ribs. Twice Coyote huffs and puffs and the lightweight dwellings fall, but the peccaries are saved by their resourceful sister, who has had the foresight to build her home of stout adobe bricks. This clever and flavorful change of scene puts a diverting spin on an old favorite. Harris's lively, finely detailed illustrations, with the bristling, pink-nosed peccaries clad in cowboy outfits, amusingly contrast the villain's vigorous wiles with the title characters' cozy domesticity. Sprightly fun. Ages 3-8.
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• Coyote in Love With a Star: Tales of the People by Marty Kreipe Montano.
Book Description
Third in the acclaimed Tales of the People series, this tale of a young girl's first Butterfly Dance captures the spirit of Hopi culture.
With its bright, stylized illustrations and distinctive Native voice, this appealing book gives a vivid sense of stepping into another culture. It chronicles one important day seen through the eyes of a young Hopi girl named Sihumana, or "Flower Maiden," who is a member of the Rabbit Clan and winningly portrayed as a rabbit. After going with her grandfather to greet the sun and bless the day, Sihumana travels with her family to another village to take part in the traditional Butterfly Dance, performed late each summer in order to bring rain to the dry lands of the Southwest. The tale ends happily with the sound of rain on the roof and the promise of butterflies in the days to come. 28 illustrations, 18 in full color.
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• Coyote and the Sky: How the Sun, Moon, and Stars Began by Emmett Garcia, Victoria Pringle.
Book Description
According to Santa Ana Pueblo legend, the animals' spirit Leader created the sun, moon, and stars by using woven yucca mats and hot coals. He selected certain animals to climb from their homes in the Third World up to the Fourth World. The Squirrel, the Rabbit, and the Badger were all allowed to go. The Coyote, however, was forbidden to accompany them because he was always causing trouble and stealing food from the others.
Regardless of what he was told, Coyote refused to stay in the Third World. He found a hiding place and waited for a chance to follow the animals to the Fourth World. When the other animals discovered Coyote, they summoned the Leader to the Fourth World to deal with him. Coyote's punishment is a lesson in what happens to animals, or people, when they refuse to obey instructions.

Writing for the younger reader, Emmett "Shkeme" Garcia, a member of the Santa Ana tribe, shares his Pueblo's story of the beginnings of the stars and constellations. Victoria Pringle's illustrations provide visual elements that enhance the action of the story.
All ages.
The Santa Ana Pueblo creation legend including how Coyote tricked the other animals to join them in our world and how he was punished.
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• Coyote Autumn by Bill Wallace.
Book Description
"You Can't Keep A Coyote!
They're Wild...."

Brad has always wanted a dog, so when he catches the little coyote, he decides to keep it. He couldn't have a dog when his family lived in a Chicago apartment, but now that they've moved to rural Oklahoma anything seems possible. Even rescuing an orphaned coyote pup...and keeping it a secret from his parents. With his friend Nolan's help, Brad is determined to tame Scooter, train him, play with him, and hide him in an old dog pen behind the barn. It almost works...until Mom and Dad discover his secret -- and Scooter steals their hearts and gives them all a coyote's-eye view of what it's like to live in the dangerous world of men.
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• Blue Coyote by Liza Ketchum, Stanley Fellows.
From Booklist
Gr. 7-12. A kind of docu-novel about coming out, this story begins with high-school junior Alex Beekman denying to himself that he is gay. His family has recently moved from Los Angeles to a small town in Vermont. He is bullied at school and jeeringly called fag. He longs for his best friend in the world, Tito Perone, but Tito has left his home in L.A. and disappeared. Why won't Tito's family talk about it? When Alex returns to L.A., he discovers that Tito is gay, that his father beat him up, and that he is living with a lover. Alex finds work in a tattoo parlor, and guess what? At the end he discovers that he, too, is gay and that he has always been in love with Tito. This companion to Twelve Days in August (1993) is long and detailed, with a heavy-handed and predictable plot. However, individual scenes are dramatic, and for a teen facing such an identity crisis (and for his friends), this could be a great help in recognizing the secrets and lies he lives with. One of many books this season about gay identity, this is about the stage before M. E. Kerr's "Hello," I Lied , in which the kid knows he is gay but can't tell others about it.
Hazel Rochman
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• Navajo Coyote Tales by Hildegard Thompson, William Morgan.
Book Description
Coyote encounters Rabbit, Fawn's Stars, Crow, Snake, Skunk Woman, and Horned Toad in these 6 delightful, English-language adaptations of traditional Navajo Coyote stories collected by anthropologist William Morgan and translated by him and linguist Robert W. Young.
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• Coyote and the Grasshoppers: A Pomo Legend (Native American Legends) by Dominic.
Book Description
How can brave Coyote save the people from a drought and a plague of grasshoppers?
The Legends of the World opens readers' minds to the diverse cultures of Native America, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the Americas through enchanting tales passed down through countless generations. Each book in the series features geographical, historical, and cultural information. Illustrated in full color.
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• A Coyote's in the House by Elmore Leonard.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. Anthropomorphism in fiction and film is often derided as a cheap trick, and rightfully so. But not when Elmore Leonard is writing the dialogue. Leonard's first children's book begins with a beguiling premise: hip coyote Antwan, leader of his pack in the Hollywood Hills, is foraging for garbage when he makes the acquaintance of German shepherd Buddy, a retired film star. Buddy is bored and has decided he'd like the freedom of the coyote's life in the wild, while Antwan, who quickly develops a taste for peanut-butter cookies, is interested in getting to know Miss Betty, a prizewinning poodle who lives with Buddy's family. Antwan successfully passes as a dog, but Buddy resents being displaced as the canine star of the family, prompting Antwan and Miss Betty to hatch a plan in which the German shepherd will be returned to the limelight. The story is good fun, but the real pleasure here, as in Leonard's adult novels, lies in listening to the characters banter with one another. Kids won't get all the Hollywood jokes or pick up the references to Leonard's Get Shorty, but they will respond instantly to the way Antwan and his pals work the humans to their advantage. A poignant ending gives the tale just the right edge, showing that Leonard can mix comedy and reality as nimbly for a younger audience as he does for adults. Bill Ott.
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• Coyote Steals the Blanket: A Ute Tale (Ute Tales) by Janet Stevens.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3. When Coyote swipes a blanket, thus angering the spirit of the desert, he is pursued by a rock on a rampage. This traditional trickster tale features a scraggly, scruffy yet lovable character, a narrative that will roll right off storytellers' tongues, and hilarious pictures of boastful animals trying to halt the furious boulder.

• Old Coyote by Nancy Wood, Max Grafe.
Book Description
With simple beauty, Nancy Wood tells a loving story about a wise creature's last day, illuminated with masterful illustrations by Max Grafe.

Old Coyote's muzzle is turning white, and his steps are slow. He spends most of his time basking in the sun and remembering. Chasing rabbits, raising pups with Mrs. Coyote, gathering with his friends on the mountain and howling at the moon — it's been a long, full life, and he's grateful for it. But could it be time for him to take one last journey?
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• Josefina Javelina: A Hairy Tale by Susan Lowell, Bruce W. MacPherson.
Book Description
Ah, to be famous! My name in lights! My hooves on point! My fur in tights!"
Susan Lowell captures our hearts again with this vibrant tale of one javelina’s dreams to become famous. Josefina Javelina longs to be a ballerina. So...she packs up her concertina and leaves her favorite little cantina to go to Pasadena to visit her cousin Angelina. From the desert to the city, a wild adventure ensues as Josefina puts some dip in her hip and some slide in her glide on her way to the big time-a long, long way from home. But not even Coyote, with his wily tricks, can get this javelina down.

A hilarious, hairy tale! Join this super-mega-tastic cast of characters as a star is born.
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• Coyote Stories for Children: Tales from Native America by Susan Strauss, Gary Lund.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-7-- This collection of four Native American stories joins a growing body of retellings of the exploits of this clever but exasperating trickster. Both wise and foolish, this mythic figure is presented in a fast-flowing, read-aloud style. Coyote gets his creative powers in a story from the Okanogan people of the Great Basin; bests a monster woman who is killing all the animals in a Wasco tale from the Columbia plateau; gets mad at the sun and has to be saved from being stuck in the sky by Spider Woman in a Karok account from northern California; and has an encounter with the Grass People, according to the Assiniboine of the Great Plains. Border panels and full-page black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings are in an entertaining cartoon style that perfectly complements these rollicking adventures. Strauss is a storyteller, and it is obvious from her presentation. These stories would seem to have been transcribed from a performance, with sound effects included, which could make reading them silently a bit disconcerting to youngsters, but which goes far in capturing the essence of these traditionally oral tales. The humor here is in the same vein as Paul Goble's retellings, but Strauss gives just the slightest hint of the ribaldry that some of these tales suggest. There is also a brief introduction explaining who Coyote is and the Native conception of storytelling. Ideally suited for story hours and reading aloud.
--Lisa Mitten, University of Pittsburgh, PA
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• Coyote Stories by Mourning Dove.
Reviewer: Lady Gal Music "Joy" (Florida)
Mourning Dove, (Hu-mis-hu-ma) is the pen name of Christine Quintasket, a member of the Colville Reservation of north central Washington. She had little schooling and even less exposure to literature, however she was determined to be a writer of fiction, particularly in her collections of Native American folk lores. She sought out the aged members of the communities near her home and carefully wrote the stories and legends she heard. Mourning Dove thought it was important to write down these stories, which, up to that time, were mostly oral history, because she feared that each story and tradition would be lost as members moved away from the tribe and into western or white civilizations. While the stories of Coyote, (the coyote represented that irrepressible joker and alternate savior of many tribes) as recorded here, have been "santitized" since Mourning Dove thought they were too "ugly" to write about. Coyote is shown in this book at his best and his worst with special powers to summon help for people when needed. He is earthy and greedy, and filled with gluttony and lust. As a precaution, Coyote was given a kinsman to deter him, a Fox, who was able to restore life. Mourning Dove leaves behind the stories she heard around many a cold evening or near a council fire. This book is edited and illustrated by Heister Dean Guie with notes by L.V. McWhorter (Old Wolf) and a foreword by Chief Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux. First published in 1934, this book harks back to time when Native American civilization still had some of their stories left to tell and is vital to read because of the time period in which it was written. This book is often considered "required reading" in some college classes which are enlightened about the value of Native American stories. Let us hope many more will take the time to review these stories in light of their own stories.
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(This web page updated 8/31/02; 4/27/07)