Trickster Tales from around the World, retold by Gerald McDermott

Many, many cultures have traditional tales that involve a trickster main character. Earlier I wrote a series of two posts about Anansi, a tricky spider from west Africa: Anansi tales retold by Eric Kimmel and Even More Anansi Trickster Tales. Gerald McDermott is another wonderful picture book author-illustrator who has written a series of stories focusing on different trickster characters from around the world. This post provides a quick overview of these different books and creative tricksters.

African Trickster Tales

Zomo the Rabbit: a trickster tale from West Africa (also available in Spanish). Zomo faces an impossible task but is able to use his tricks to meet each one, until he realizes that the joke might be on him! (Based on a Nigerian folktale.)

Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti (a Caldecott Honor book). This Anansi story includes an informative prologue about Ghana, the Ashanti people, and Anansi's role as a folk-hero and trickster.In this story, Anansi gets into trouble and is saved by the cooperation of his variously-talented spider sons. When he tries to give them a gift in thanks, he cannot decide which son deserves it, so his bright shining gift becomes the moon up in the sky.

Asian Trickster Tales

Monkey: a trickster tale from India. Monkey twice manages to outwit Crocodile who is waiting in the water to eat him. A sort-of pourquoi tale about why the crocodile lays low in the water. (The story is attributed to the Jataka tales from 3rd-4th century BC India and translated into English from Sanskrit in 1895.)

North American Trickster Tales

Coyote: a trickster tale from the American Southwest. Coyote is a common trickster among many North American tribes, but this version of the tale come from the Zuni of the American Southwest. In this particular tale, Coyote is quite hapless and is himself tricked by a group of crows who decide to have a little fun with him. This story also answers the question of why coyotes follow their nose and are grey with black tips for their noses.

Raven: a trickster tale from the Pacific Northwest (a Caldecott Honor book). Raven is a skilled trickster in Pacific Northwest traditional tales, but this particular tale is not attributed to an individual tribe. In this story, Raven must trick the Sky Chief himself in order to bring light and the sun to humanity.

Pig-Boy: a trickster tale from Hawai'i. Pig-Boy is based on the shape-shifting Hawaiian trickster, Kamapua-a. Hungry pig-boy becomes a variety of other creatures in his attempts to evade the angry king and even spends some time as a humu-humu-nuku-nuku-apua'a fish. (Sorry, just had to include that one in there!)

South American Trickster Tales

Jabuti the Tortoise: a trickster tale from the Amazon. This Jabuti tale references several others tricked by Jabuti, but in this story, Jabuti himself is tricked by Vulture who is jealous of his song and colors. This pourquoi tale explains why the tortoise's shell looks cracked and why Vulture is black when other birds are colorful. This Jabuti tale comes from the Tupi-Guarani tribe of the rain forests of Brazil.

Papago: the Mischief Maker. Papagayo is a bit of a bully and annoyance to the other creatures of the Amazon rain forest, especially to those who preferred to sleep during the day. But when the fearsome moon-dog starts eating away at the moon, it is Papagayo who convinces the nocturnal animals to scare him away. (No specific attribution.)

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

Anansi the Trickster, part 2

Trickster tales are one of my favorite type of folktales. Last week I introduced five stories about Anansi the Spider retold by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens. This week I have brought together a range of other Anansi stories from a variety of sources.

More Anansi Trickster Tales

Anansi the Spider: a tale from the Ashanti retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott (a Caldecott Honor book). This Anansi story includes an informative prologue about Ghana, the Ashanti people, and Anansi's role as a folk-hero and trickster.In this story, Anansi gets into trouble and is saved by the cooperation of his variously-talented spider sons. When he tries to give them a gift in thanks, he cannot decide which son deserves it, so his bright shining gift becomes the moon up in the sky.

A Story, A Story retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (a Caldecott Medal winner). This story also has a prologue about Ananse and about the choices of African words and phrasing in the book. In this version, Ananse is depicted as a man, but he can spin webs and tricks many. Ananse uses his skills to fulfill the tasks laid out for him by Nyame, the Sky God, and he succeeds in winning the golden box of stories and bringing them back to the people.

Why Spider Spins Tales: a story from Africa (First-Start Legends series) retold by Janet Palazzo-Craig and illustrated by Dave Albers. This is another version of the same tale in A Story, A Story, geared towards younger readers. Spider is depicted as human but with four arms and four legs. (The afterward attributes the story to the Akan people of West Africa.)

Ananse and the Lizard: a west African tale retold and illustrated by Pat Cummings. This is another story when our trickster finds himself tricked. Ananse wishes to learn the name of the Chief's daughter so that he can marry her and become the chief himself, but Lizard tricks him into revealing the answer. My students last year loved their story so much they created their own Readers' Theater version of it to preform for the rest of the class. (Retold from a story found in a bookstore in Accra, Ghana.)

Spider and His Son Find Wisdom: an Akan tale retold by Melinda Lilly and illustrated by Charles Reasoner. In this story, Ananse is depicted as more of a man-spider hybrid, as is his son. Ananse seems himself as wise and thinks he holds all of the wisdom in the world - and he is determined to keep it for himself! But his son teaches him a lesson, and they decide to share wisdom with the people. (Attributed to the Akan people of Ghana.)

First Palm Trees: an Anancy Spiderman Story by James Berry and illustrated by Greg Couch. In this story, Anancy wants to win a reward from the King by being the first to create a plumed tree. But when he tries to enlist the Sun-Spirit to help, he soon finds himself negotiating between all four of the major spirits (Sun, Water, Earth, and Wind). Though in the end he cannot prove that he created the new palm trees, in time, people give him the credit.

Don't Leave an Elephant to go and Chase a Bird retold by James Berry and illustrated by Ann Grifalconi. This version opens with an author's note explaining some of the links between Anansi in Africa and his Caribbean descendant, Anancy. Here, Anancy is depicted as a man in a wood-cut style. He feels something is about to happen, which kicks off a round of trading-up items until Anancy is promised a baby elephant. However, he gets distracted by a pretty bird and winds up with nothing. (The author's note bases this retelling on the original collected in R.S. Rattray's Akan-Ashanti Folktales.)

Anthologies that Contain Anansi Stories

Misoso: once upon a time tales from Africa retold by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Reynold Ruffins. This wonderful collection of illustrated short stories from Africa includes on from Liberia entitled "Anansi and the Phantom Food." In this tale, a spider-version of Anansi sets off to try and find food for his starving village, but he encounters an increasingly-appealing series of food-based villages. Continuing in his greedy, he heads towards one last village only to discover that he is back home, has nothing to show for his trip, and no one will believe him.

Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories by Harold Courlander and George Herzog with drawings by Madye Lee Chastain (a Newbery Honor book). This classic collection of West African folktales includes several stories featuring Anansi or spider, including "Anansi's Fishing Expedition" (the likely inspiration for Anansi Goes Fishing),  "Anansi and Nothing Go Hunting for Wives," and "Hungry Spider and the Turtle" (a likely inspiration for Anansi's Party Time). The end of the book includes detailed footnotes about the provenance of each story.

Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh-Huh written and illustrated by Ashley Bryan. This wonderfully-illustrated collection of African folktales opens with an Anansi story: Ananse the Spider in Search of a Fool, which is a retelling of the same story in Anansi Goes Fishing and "Anansi's Fishing Expedition" (above). The credits at the end of the book attribute the story to R.S. Rattray's Akan-Ashanti Folktales.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.

Anansi the Trickster, part 1

Every year, my students fall in love with Trickster Tales. This sub-genre of traditional tales never ceases to delight with its tricky heroes and unexpected twists. Since Africa is our first unit of study, Anansi is often the first trickster we meet during the course of the year. This post will provide a quick overview of the five Anansi tales retold by Eric Kimmel, and next week I will introduce Anansi stories by a variety of authors and illustrators.

Anansi Trickster Tales retold Eric Kimmel

Eric Kimmel has written a series of picture book based on African Anansi tales, which Janet Stevens illustrated. These are a delightful way to introduce your students to Anansi.

Anansi and the Talking Melon. I usually introduce my students to Anansi through his story, either this version, or through the Reading A-Z version, Anansi and the Talking Watermelon retold by Kitty Higgins and illustrated by Patrick Girouard. Greedy Anansi is busy eating melons in elephant's garden when he finds himself so stuffed that he cannot get back out. Instead, he decides to trick elephant by convincing him that he is, in fact, a talking melon. (Based on a West African folktale.)

Anansi and the Magic Stick. The plot of this story derives from a Liberian story called The Magic Hoe but it will be quite familiar to The Sorceror's Apprentice in Fantasia and Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola. Anansi kidnaps Jackal's magic stick only to find that his laziness in giving directions leads to disastrous consequences!

These last three are a bit different than the first two. Anansi is successful in Anansi and the Talking Melon and suffers no real consequences in Anansi and the Magic Stick, but in these last three tales, our trickster finds himself on the end of some tricks.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock is probably my favorite of the bunch. Last year I turned it into a quick Reader's Theater-style play that my third graders ended up performing in front of the whole school, and it was riot. Here, Anansi discovers a strange moss-covered rock with the power to knock its viewer unconscious, and he uses it to trick a variety of animals. But little does Anansi know that he is being observed, and he ends up being tricked himself. (No attribution to this story.)

Anansi Goes Fishing. Anansi sees his friend Turtle's success at fishing and concludes that he can trick Turtle into doing all the work. But soon Turtle agrees to "get tired," while Anansi does the work and split the jobs up that way. Students find it quite hilarious to watch Anansi get drawn deeper and deeper into Turtle's nonsense. (No attribution in this book, but a similar story, Anansi's Fishing Expedition appears in The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories and is sourced to a recording in Ghana.)

Anansi's Party Time. Anansi has decided to get even with Turtle for tricking him in the previous book and so invites Turtle to a party that is doomed to fail.What Anansi does not anticipate is Turtle "returning" the favor and inviting Anansi to a similar party. (No attribution in this book either, but a broadly similar story, Hungry Spider and the Turtle appears in The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories and was recorded by author Harold Courlander from an Ashanti in Ghana.)

Next week I will introduce some of the wide-range of other Anansi stories available in picture books and compilations suitable for children.

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday Challenge is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and is a weekly roundup of educator blogs that are sharing nonfiction picture books. Click the link to check out other nonfiction posts.