A collection of thirty-plus stories by regional storytellers, each representing the Texas Storytelling Tradition as nurtured within the Tejas Storytelling Association since 1984. Contributors to this sampler of folktales, original stories, humorous and historic tales are all part of Texas Storytelling Festival history. The Festival is an annual event in Denton, Texas. "A love of oral storytelling imbues this celebratory book with the flavors of many cultural traditions that call Texas home. Share these stories with your family, your classroom, and your faith community." ― Kiran Singh Sirah, past president, International Storytelling Center “A gleaning of engaging tales from the Texas Storytelling Festival that will leave you chuckling and, in some cases, weeping. I loved the chance to peek into the Texan lifestyle via tales of living in … or moving to … Texas.” ― Margaret Read MacDonald, Folklorist, author, storyteller, and former librarian “Brimming with Heart, grace, and grit!  These stories from the Texas Storytelling Festival shimmer and sparkle like a radiant Texas sunset.  Celebrate four decades of captivating storytelling, from true, heartfelt personal narratives resonating with raw honesty, to the rhythmic cadence of cowboy poetry echoing across the vast landscape, to tales taller than the towering Texas Sky and stretching wider than the expansive horizon.  Each of these diverse stories reflect the gentle humor and generous spirit, which define the Texan soul.   Forty Years of Texas Storytelling  is a celebration of tradition and the enduring legacy that is the Texas Storytelling Festival." ― Alton Takiyama-Chung, Storyteller (altonchung.com) and Editor-In-Chief of The Story Beast, a quarterly e-Publication dedicated to the art of storytelling (storybeast.org) Contributors are performers in the oral tradition and writers who live in Texas or the American Southwest From Kim Lehman’s story, "The Corn Queen:"   I was traveling down narrow roads between fields. Then I saw a one-room church in the middle of a field. I pulled over, got out of the car, and started walking around the building, peeking in the windows. Who were the people that came here on Sundays?      As I walked around the back, I noticed a small ravine with a dry creekbed. I slid down the hillside on my butt and began walking that dirt-dry creek. I only took about two or three steps when I spied something on the ground. I bent over and picked it up. It was a fossilized shell bigger than my hand. It was a perfect birthday gift from Mother Earth. I took a few more steps. There was another shell, just like the first. Lifting the bottom of my shirt to make a place to carry them both, I took another step and another. Believe it or not, I found seven shells on the ground behind that church. By that time, my shirt was loaded down with these gifts. It was a little tricky getting up out of that ravine. Even though I was burdened with that extra weight, my heart was just a little lighter.