Tricksters: Barefoot Book of Trickster Tales

This is a week of trickster anthologies, and today's book is from one of my favorite publishers: Barefoot Books! It's The Barefoot Book of Trickster Tales by Richard Walker.

You'll find nine different stories here from different countries and continents: Jack and the Wizard (English) ~ The Spirits in the Leather Bag (Kampuchean) ~ The Frail Old Woman (Bengali) ~ Turtle Goes on the Warpath (Skidi Pawnee) ~ Ananse and the Impossible Quest (Ghanaian) ~ The Mullah Nasruddin (Turkish) ~ The Brer Rabbit and the Share Crops (African American) ~ The Three Sillies (Russian) ~ Nail Soup (Swiss).

The illustrations are by Claudio Munoz; here is his rendering of Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear in the famous "tops and bottoms" type of trickster tale:

Richard Walker is a professional storyteller, and one of my favorite things about this book rae his notes in the back; not all anthologies provide useful notes, but this one does. So, enjoy the stories, and enjoy the notes in the back too!

The Barefoot Book of Trickster Tales

by Richard Walker