African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Grace Hallworth

After writing about Jamaican-born British author James Berry yesterday, today I want to write about another one of my favorite Caribbean authors, Grace Hallworth, who died just a few months ago at the age of 93. You can read about her in this tribute in The Guardian newspaper: Grace Hallworth obituary. 

She was born in Trinidad, and later moved to Canada and then England, where she married and lived the rest of her life. After working as a children’s librarian in Hertfordshire from 1957 to 1985, she devoted her time to storytelling and writing books. You can find three of her books of Caribbean stories at the Internet Archive. My personal favorite is Listen to This Story: Tales from the West Indies.

It contains these stories: How Agouti Lost His Tail / Compere Anansi and the Pig / How Trouble Made the Monkey Eat Pepper / How Crab Got its Back / Compere Anansi and the Cows / The Kiskadee / The Courting of Miss Annie / Quaka Raja / Brer Anansi and Brer Snake / Fresh Fish. (Those links go to the specific page for that story in the Internet Archive edition of the book.)

She also wrote this collection: Cric Crac: A Collection of West Indian Stories.

Here are the titles in that book: The Magic Pot / Rabbit and Tiger / How Turtle Got a Cracked Back / How Tacooma Found Trouble / The Greedy Brother / Put mi back where yo' find mi / How the Stars Came into the Sky / John and the Devil.

Plus there is also this collection of story-songs: Sing Me a Story! Song and Dance Stories from the Caribbean.

Here are those titles: Dancing to the River / The Mermaid's Rock / Bouqui Dances the Kokioko / Quaka Raja / Tiger Dances to Turtle's Tune.

The story-song book features some beautiful illustrations by John Clementson:

Hallworth also wrote this lovely book of rhymes: Down by the River: Afro-Caribbean Rhymes, Games, and Songs for Children. 

In addition to her Caribbean books, she also wrote some anthologies of world tales: Web of Stories is a collection of spider stories and Mermaids and Monsters: Stories from the Sea features mermaids and more creatures of the sea.

So, as you can see, Grace Hallworth has left behind a beautiful legacy of stories, and I was so glad to find her books at the Internet Archive. Just jump in, and I'm sure you will enjoy what you find!

 Listen to This Story: Tales from the West Indies

Cric Crac: A Collection of West Indian Stories

Sing Me a Story!

Song and Dance Stories from the Caribbean.