Africa at the Internet Archive: Spreadsheet (5)

Here is this Friday's update about the spreadsheet listing African folktales with links to their Internet Active pages (previous updates): there are now 6979 stories listed (so that means I'll reach 7000 next for sure!)  from 251 different books and articles. You can access the spreadsheet here: African Tales Spreadsheet, and there's also a link to the spreadsheet in the tab navigation here at this blog:

The spreadsheet is chugging along with links both to the Internet Archive pages for each story, and also a link to my blog if the story is one that I have retold (571 stories, with a few new stories every day):

My new addition to the project this week is not part of the spreadsheet; instead, it's a book project I am really excited about: a "Reader's Guide" to 200 of these African folktale books that are available at Internet Archive. I'm trying to write a few blurbs each day, and if all goes well I should finish in February. This week I finished a total of 16 entries, which took me through the end of the letter A. I'm writing that book in the open, so you can see how it's going there: A Reader's Guide to African Folktales at the Internet Archive. Going forward, I'll be able to give updates on that project each week here, together with the spreadsheet updates. :-)

Africa at the Internet Archive: Ananse the Spider

Since I've been writing about Ananse stories this week (see Tuesday and Wednesday), I wanted to write about this extraordinary children's book which is like nothing I have ever seen before featuring an Ananse story from the Ashanti tradition of west Africa: Ananse the Spider: Why Spiders Stay on the Ceiling.

The illustrations are by Kathy Kifer, Dahne Solar and Charla Barnard, and the whole project seems to be the brainchild of Stanley Collins who holds the book's copyright, and who is also the author of other educational books and also sign-language books.

There are apparently four books in this series, and Internet Archive has one of the other books: Fountain of Youth, a Korean folktale.

There are two more books in the series that are not at Internet Archive (yet): Coyote and Bobcat and also Raven and Water Monster. 

I snagged used copies of those books for myself; they are available at many used booksellers online for under $5, so if you are interested in acquiring sign-language books like this, you can do that! I find the whole project fascinating, and I am really glad Ananse was part of the project too.

Ananse the Spider: Why Spiders Stay on the Ceiling

by Stan Collins

Africa at the Internet Archive: Pride of African Tales

I wrote about Kimmel's Anansi books yesterday, and today I want to share a collection of stories that includes an Anansi story: A Pride of African Tales by Donna L. Washington:

Donna Washington is a professional storyteller; you can find out more at her website which contains abundant materials for readers, students, teachers, and parents, and she also has videos at YouTube, like this one where she tells the story of Anansi and the Hat-Shaking Dance:

The illustrations are by James Ransome, a wonderful artist and book illustrator; you can find out more at Wikipedia and at his website. In the Anansi story that opens this book, Ransom depicts Anansi in human form, rather than as a spider, which is a great way to help people imagine Anansi as more than a cartoon spider; Anansi belongs to a world of people, beautifully and vividly drawn:

The book contains six stories from western and central Africa, each with a brief introduction and then additional notes in the back of the book. So, for the Anansi story, the notes suggest that people read authors like Appiah, Arkhurst, and Courlander, all of whom are available at the Internet Archive also:

So, if you are looking for a short (70 pages) introduction to the folktales of Africa, with lovely illustrations, Washington and Ransome's book is a great choice. Enjoy!

A Pride of African Tales

by Donna L. Washington

Africa at the Internet Archive: Eric Kimmel

Today I want to feature the children's books by Eric Kimmel; here's his website. He has written a series of books about Anansi (see below), and he is also the author of this book based on a North African tale: Rimonah of the Flashing Sword: A North African Tale.

The illustrations by Omar Rayyan are beautiful; for more of his work, see his website: StudioRayyan.com.

For the Anansi books, Kimmel's illustrator is Janet Stevens; here are five of their Anansi books which you can borrow from the Internet Archive, starting with the "talking melon," one of my favorite Anansi stories!

Anansi and the Talking Melon

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Anansi Goes Fishing

Anansi and the Magic Stick

Anansi's Party Time

Kimmel is also the author of many other folktale books, including a series of books inspired by Jewish storytelling traditions; you can find lots of his other books, just a click away, at Internet Archive: Eric Kimmel, in addition to his books based on African stories, all just waiting for you to read and enjoy.

Africa at the Internet Archive: Chinua Achebe

Today's book is by one of Africa's most famous authors, Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), the Nigerian novelist. Here is the book, based on a story by John Iroaganachi: How Leopard Got His Claws.

Achebe uses traditional African folktale characters to create a literary fable that is Achebe's commentary on the Nigerian-Biafran War of the late 1960s, and part of the story is a poem, "The Lament of the Deer," written by Achebe's close friend and colleague Christopher Okigbo who died in that war fighting for Biafran independence. You can learn more about the composition of the book and its original publication in 1972 here in a blog post from Ariel Winter (part of a fascinating blog about children's literature).

The edition at the Internet Archive is one that was published in Kenya in 1996 as part of the East African Educational Publishers Sparrow Readers series. This edition of the book is illustrated, but the name of the illustrator is not given:

There is one other book in that Sparrow Readers series at the Internet Archive: Why Dog Left the Forest by Barrack Muluka.

And if you want to find out more about Chinua Achebe, the Internet Archive has many of his books, including Things Fall Apart, as well as books about him: Chinua Achebe at the Internet Archive, and you can find out more about his life and career at Wikipedia. Here's a screenshot showing just a few of the many books by and about Achebe at the Archive:

I am glad that two of these Sparrow Readers have made their way to the Internet Archive, especially the one written by Achebe: both books are just a click away for you to read and enjoy!

How Leopard Got His Claws

by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi

Why Dog Left the Forest

by Barrack Muluka

Africa at the Internet Archive: Fire on the Mountain

Here we are starting Week 31 (!) of the African folktale recommendations, and I wanted to pick up with the topic of Ethiopian folktales from last week with another book by Harold Courlander: The Fire on the Mountain, and Other Ethiopian Stories. 

The book was later reissued under the title: The Fire on the Mountain, and Other Stories from Ethiopia and Eritrea after Eritrea gained its independence in 1991.

This book contains 24 stories, and the illustrations are by Robert Kane, including some full-page illustrations and some two-page spreads:

Courlander's co-author on this book is Wolf Leslau, one of the major African linguists of the 20th century and, together with his wife Charlotte Leslau, the author of a book of African folktales and also a book of African proverbs.

I have written many times about Harold Courlander at this blog, and here's a quick review of his many wonderful books that are available at Internet Archive!

The Crest and the Hide

by Harold Courlander

The Hat-Shaking Dance

and Other Tales from the Gold Coast

by Harold Courlander

and Albert Kofi Prempeh

Olode the Hunter

and Other Tales from Nigeria

by Harold Courlander

and Ezekiel Eshugbayi

Tales of Yoruba Gods and Heroes:

Myths, Legends, and Heroic Tales

of the Yoruba People of West Africa

by Harold Courlander

The Heart of the Ngoni:

Heroes of the African Kingdom of Segu

by Harold Courlander and Ousmane Sako

The Cow-Tail Switch

and Other West African Stories

by Harold Courlander and George Herzog

The King's Drum and Other African Stories

by Harold Courlander

Ijapa the Tortoise, and Other Nigerian Tales

by Harold Courlander and Ezekiel Eshugbayi

 A Treasury of African Folklore

by Harold Courlander