This is the first story for young readers of Joel Chandler Harris, who gave to the world the immortal, lovable Uncle Remus and his great picture-gallery of animals who walked and talked like humans — Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, Sis Goose and others. Little Joel Harris, a red-haired, freckle-faced boy in middle Georgia, heard many of these stories from two old Negro slaves, one in the town where he was born, the other on the big plantation where he went at the age of thirteen to learn the printing business. The plantation owner, a scholarly man named Turner, published a small weekly newspaper which had a wide circulation in the South. Joel's first published work appeared in it when he was no more than fourteen.

His work and play on the plantation, the sweep of Sherman's army through Georgia, the collapse of the little paper and of his job, his subsequent work in Macon, New Orleans and Savannah, his rapid development from a mere type-setter to a staff-writer, all these are vividly set forth.  Not until years after the war, when he was working on the Atlanta Constitution, did Mr. Harris think of writing down some of the Negro fables which he had heard in boyhood. They were an instant success. Their fame spread around the world, and folklore experts in Europe traced their origins to Africa and Asia. They brought such men as Andrew Carnegie and James Whitcomb Riley to Mr. Harris's suburban home in Atlanta, they brought invitations to the White House from President Theodore Roosevelt. The story of the author who was so bashful all his life that he couldn't endure appearing in public or hearing his work praised, who ran away from parties and public meetings, is a very human and delightful one.

From the dust jacket