Africa at the Internet Archive: East African Folktales

Week 34 is turning out to be a week of east African stories, so the books I want to share come from Dr. Vincent Kituku — a book of stories and a book of proverbs: East African Folktales from the Voice of Mukamba and Sukulu Ite Nguta: The School with No Walls.

The proverb book is even signed by the author! (It's always fun to realize that each book at the Archive came from somewhere, passing through other people's hands before it got scanned.)

What's especially notable about both of these books is that they are bilingual: you will find both the Kamba text and an English translation of the stories and of the proverbs. It's easier to take a screenshot of the proverbs, so here's how those look:

Vincent Kituku was born in Kangundo, Kenya. After graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1985, he came to the United States for his graduate education, completing a Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming; he's now a motivational storyteller and writer based in Idaho. You can find out more at his website: Kituku.com.

As you can see from the cover of the book of the folktale book, it's part of the World Storytelling series from August House publishing, one of my all-time favorite publishing houses. You can find lots of August House storytelling books at the Internet Archive, including two anthologies in the World Storytelling series by folklorist Josepha Sherman — Trickster Tales from around the World and Merlin's Kin: World Tales of the Heroic Magician — both of which include African folktales.

So, as always, many books and many stories (and proverbs!) for you to enjoy, all just a click away at the Internet Archive!

 East African Folktales

from the Voice of Mukamba

by Vincent Kituku

Sukulu Ite Nguta:

The School with No Walls

by Vincent Kituku