Africa at the Internet Archive: African Tales, Uh-Huh

For today's post, I want to return to one of my all-time favorite book illustrators and authors, Ashley Bryan, and this anthology of his work: African Tales, Uh-Huh, just a click away at Internet Archive.

This is a big book (over 200 pages) that contains stories originally published in some of Bryan's earlier publications, all of which are also available at the Internet Archive: The Ox of the Wonderful Horns, Beat the Story-Drum Pum-Pum, and The Lion and the Ostrich Chicks, with further details in the source notes you will find at the back of the book. I've written about these and other books by Bryan in previous posts.

You will probably recognize Bryan's distinctive style here if you have read any of his other books; there are both black-and-white and color illustrations, as you can see in this two-page spread:

If you look closely, you can see how he sometimes weaves words into the art, as in the space between the cat above and the hen and frog below here:

And he is also a master of bringing a sense of motion and sound to the scenes that he depicts as here:

I am such a fan of Ashley Bryan's work, and I am pleased to report that he still with us, 98 years old and doing well. You can find out more at the Ashley Bryan Center website. 

He was featured last month in this article in Columbia Magazine: Make Me Brave for Life, which features this photo, along with this wonderful quote from Nikki Giovanni, a friend of Bryan's:

So, get in touch with that creative spirit in you by communing with an Ashley Bryan book... and the Internet Archive is ready and waiting. :-)

African Tales, Uh-Huh

by Ashley Bryan