African Diaspora at Internet Archive: The Moral of the Story

As I promised in yesterday's post, I have some more to share from Bobby and Sherry Norfolk. In addition to those wonderful Anansi books, they have also published this book of stories: The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development.

The book is organized around an exploration of these stories: Vulture Learns the Laws of Nature (an African American story ) ~ Anansi and the Pot of Beans (an African story) ~ Three Billy Goats Gruff Rap (a hip-hop version) ~ The Tailor ~ The Dancing Hyena (an African story) ~ The Secret Heart of the Tree (an African tale) ~ Bibi and the Singing Drum (an African story) ~ Teen Rap Crisis ~ Kantchil Waits for the World to End ~ Barney McCay (an African American story) ~ the Lost Shoe in the Storm ~ Callaloo (a Caribbean story).

For each story, the Norfolks provide notes on the story, a list of folkloric motifs, and also places to look for variant versions. As you can see, this story anthology is distinctive for the strong presence of both African and African Diaspora stories.

Bobby Norfolk has also published an autobiography in which you can learn about his early life, and then his calling to become a storyteller, along with the storytelling projects he has done with his wife Sherry: Eye to the Sky: Storytelling on the Edge of Magic.

You can learn lots more about both Bobby and Sherry Norfolk at their websites: BobbyNorfolk.com and SherryNorfolk.com.

So, enjoy! There is so much we can learn from the storytelling work of this inspiring couple!

The Moral of the Story:

Folktales for Character Development

by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk

Eye to the Sky: Storytelling on the Edge of Magic

by Bobby Norfolk