John McDonald plays the role of tourist on the cover of his latest book, “down the road a piece: A Storyteller’s Guide to Maine” (Islandport Press, 2005).

Armed with a copy of The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer and standing in front of the famous sign indicating the mileage from such towns as Norway, Paris, Denmark, Naples, Sweden and Poland, the veteran storyteller looks all the part of a flatlander needing some advice on how to get around the Pine Tree State.

In the subsequent 157 pages he seeks to provide some answers, albeit with a Down East accent that educates and pokes fun at tourists and natives alike.

“This tour book will re-create for you the spirit of the olden days here in Maine, where Men were Men – and probably lost, … ” McDonald writes. “This book also comes in the new state-mandated spirit of actually helping tourists rather than simply toying with them for one’s own amusement.”

There’s a bit of truth and a dose of fiction in both of those statements by McDonald, the Portland-based founder of the Maine Storytellers Festival who also writes a newspaper column and is host of a weekly radio talk show in southern Maine.

Topics range from “Speaking the Language,” a Maine-speak dictionary of sorts that includes entries ranging from dooryard to dite, to “Maine Cuisine,” which describes such delicacies as red hot dogs and red lobster.

Then there’s a description of the state’s nightlife, which simply says “None. (See Las Vegas.)

It’s all in good fun, sure to bring self-effacing chuckles from Mainers and good, honest laughter from those who know the state and its people only from depictions or stereotypes.

But within the humor there’s also the opportunity to learn, to reacquaint oneself with some of Maine’s history, its most popular attractions and other assets that make the state a popular vacation destination for many, and home for the rest of us.

Laugh and learn.

John McDonald will read from his new book and autograph copies at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Bangor Museum and Center for History, 25 Broad St., Bangor. For more information, call 942-1910.