Dr Sue Clifton

Mando Tula with Ruby on the Side Dr Sue Clifton

Young Tula Tarantula sits sobbing on the Bald Knob. Ever since her little brother Bubba Boo got spider-napped, she has remained alone. Tula likes her neighbor Ruby singing and playing jig music, but Ruby has been quiet lately.
Old Ruby lives by herself in the same holler with no friends or family. She's sad because no one is around to hear her play or sing or to dance to her music. One day Tula hides in Ruby's pappy's old mandolin, hangs by her eight legs, and lets her eight feet slide across the strings playing a jiggin' tune. At first Ruby wonders if her pappy's mando is magic. But when she realizes what has happened, she and Tula discover a shared love of Ozark mountain music and a new and special friendship.
Using the colloquial language of the old Ozarks, this children's story tells the tale of a lonely tarantula and the friendship she forms with a neighbor over a love of music.