Tricksters: Tales of Tricksters

I wrote about an August House trickster anthology yesterday, so today I wanted to follow up with another August House anthology, this one by Pleasant DeSpain: Tales of Tricksters.

You'll find nine stories here (it's part of the August House "Book of Nine Lives" series): Reynard and the Fisherman (France) ~ The Smuggler (Persia) ~ The Turkey and the Fat Mayor (United States) ~ Lindy and the Forest Giant (Sweden) ~ The Dancing Wolves (Native American) ~ The Alligator and the Jackal (India) ~ The Rascal Donkey (Switzerland) ~ The Court Jester (Poland) ~ That Tricky Rabbit! (Native American).

The illustrations are by Don Bell; here's the trickster Rabbit who makes Wolf his riding horse:

And Pleasant DeSpain is a professional storyteller and a prolific author of story anthologies; you can find lots more of his books at the Archive. 

More about DeSpain at Wikipedia.

And now: enjoy the book! :-)

Tales of Tricksters

by Pleasant DeSpain

Tricksters: Trickster Tales: Forty Folk Stories

For this week of trickster anthologies, I get to feature a book by a favorite folklorist from a favorite publisher today: Trickster Tales: Forty Folk Stories From Around the World by Josepha Sherman from the World Storytelling series at August House Publishers, along with a very useful introduction by John West:

The stories come from Africa, Europe, the Near East, Asia and Polynesia, Meso- and South America, North America, plus some Trickster Immigrants. 

The illustrations (of course I approve of a fox on the cover!) are by David Boston. As one example, here's his illustration for a wonderful "theft of fire" story from the Philippines:

And here's a two-spread page for the title page featuring lots of tricksters:

Josepha Sherman provides excellent notes for all the stories plus an abundant bibliography in the back. You can find out more about Sherman's work at Wikipedia, and you will also find lots more of her books at the Archive:

So, there's lots to enjoy here, and it's all just a click away at the Internet Archive:

Trickster Tales: Forty Folk Stories
from around the World

by Josepha Sherman 

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

Tricksters: Trick of the Tale

The theme for this week is anthologies of trickster stories, and today's anthology is by John and Caitlin Matthews: Trick of the Tale: A Collection of Trickster Tales From Around the World, with lovely illustrations by Tomislaw Tomic.

You'll find 20 stories in this book from a range of cultures: How Anansi Brought Stories to the People ~ Brer Rabbit and the Fatal Imitation ~ How Raven Stole the Light ~ A Home of One's Own ~ Coyote and the Little Tune ~ Chaunticleer's Dream ~ Frog and Crow ~ Tricks and Truths ~ Raven and Crayfish ~ Revenge Is Sweet ~ Lion and Unicorn ~ The Making of the World ~ The King of All Birds ~ Partners ~ An Ocean Cruise ~ A Nose for a Nose ~ Vijaya and the Elephant's Oath ~ The Coldest Night ~ The Deep, Deep Well. One drawback is that the authors do not cite the sources that they used, although these are well-known stories, so just a bit of Googling can provide helpful leads.

Meanwhile, the biggest advantage of the book is the gorgeous, lavish illsutrations by Croatian artist Tomislaw Tomic. Here is his rendering of the Japanese tricskter hare for example:

And here are the illustrations for two different stories about Raven:

Plus some wonderful two-page spreads like this banquet scene (click on the image for a larger view):

So, if you like having illustrations to pull you into the story, this book is an excellent choice!

Trick of the Tale: A Collection of Trickster Tales
from around the World
by John and Caitlin Matthews

Tricksters: Tales from Many Lands

Yesterday's trickster collection focused on African and African Diaspora animal tricksters, while today's book is more wide-ranging with trickster characters, both animals and humans, from around the world: A Book of Tricksters: Tales From Many Lands by Jon Stott.

Here is a list of the stories you will find here: How Anansi Brought Stories to the People ~ How Brer Rabbit Got Out of Big Trouble ~ How Nanabozho Lost His Big Feast ~ How Kancil Built a Crocodile Bridge ~ How the Billy Goats Gruff Got Across the Bridge ~ Why the Shining One Shines No More ~ How the Tortoise Defeated the Willy Wagtail ~ How Gretel Made Things Get Better ~ How Fin Defeated Cucullin ~ How the Hodja Used His Wisdom ~ How Zhao Paid His Taxes ~ How Eugene Escaped Poverty ~ Why Robin Hood Became a Butcher ~ How Maui Discovered the Secret of Fire ~ How Raven Freed the Sun.

The artwork is by Theo Dombroswki, and each story has a fun opening illustration. Here is Kancil the mouse-deer trickster of Indonesia in a story about Kancil and Buaya, the crocodile.

There's also a story about a trickster tortoise, but this tortoise is not from Africa; this is a trickster tortoise story from Australia:

You will find helpful notes from Stott about his sources in the back of the book, and many of the books that he used as his sources are also available at the Internet Archive, so that gives you many more paths to follow, on the trail of the tricksters!

A Book of Tricksters: Tales From Many Lands
by Jon Stott

Tricksters: Ring of Tricksters

After the Iktomi books last week, I decided to look at some anthologies of trickster stories this week, starting with a book by one of my favorite writers: Virginia Hamilton. I've featured this book before, in fact, because you will find African tricksters here, African American tricksters, and Caribbean tricksters too: Ring of Tricksters: Animal Tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa.

There are 11 stories in the book, and you will find familiar tricksters here like Brer Rabbit and Anansi, but also the "Cunnie Rabbit," the tiny royal antelope of western Africa. You can find out more about Hamilton's sources in her notes at the back of the book.

The illustrations are by Barry Moser, who was one of Hamilton's regular collaborators. Here's a two-page spread showing Rabbit and Wolf in Hamilton's version of the famous tops-and-bottoms folktale:

And here's another two-page spread showing how Tortoise made Leopard his riding horse, another famous folktale type:

So if you're already familiar with the stories, you can kick back and enjoy Hamilton's storytelling style and Moser's illustrations... and if the stories are new to you, you'll get the added benefit of being surprised by the tricksters' tricks!

Ring of Tricksters:

Animal Tales from America,

the West Indies, and Africa

by Virginia Hamilton