A Story, a Story

Rating:
Summary: Very nice.
Review: I think that this book tells a fun story. My students will enjoy it. I do think that there are better Ananse books out on the market now. This is nice because it was one of the first and a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice.
Review: My daughter was not particularly interested in hearing a story the first time we opened this book, but within a few pages, the magic of the story, and the wonderful cadence of the words, captured her attention. She was spell bound to the end. The story was an opportunity to talk to her about another culture, teach her about the concepts of fables and oral traditions, and to just plainly entertain her.

Rating:
Summary: If it be sweet, or if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere
Review: My husband grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and well remembers the Anase stories that were told to him and his companions in their youth. For myself, Anase was not a character I heard much about as a child. This is a pity considering that books like, "A Story A Story" were striving to teach children about the great African (I apologize for not knowing the exact region) folktales. Based on one of the many spider stories, "A Story A Story" is a variation on the Prometheus tale. In this case, however, the desired gift of the gods isn't fire but the gift of stories themselves.

As the tale tells us, long ago all the stories in the world belonged to the Sky God. On behalf of mankind, Anase (presented here not as a spider but as a kind of old spider man) spins a web into the sky and requests the Sky God's stories. The big man upstairs is amused by the request and presents Anase with a series of three near impossible tasks. If the spider man is able to accomplish them, he will be granted the stories. Using his wits and some clever techniques, Anase accomplishes each trial and in the end the world receives a golden box of the Sky God's stories.

Just looking at this tale I realized that it was a perfect companion picture book to Marcia Brown's "Once a Mouse". In both cases woodcut illustrations decorate a well-known fable from a land other than America. In this particular book, children at all familiar with the Brer Rabbit tarbaby story will instantly recognize the original elements of it within "A Story A Story". Clever adults can give kids the information that slaves from Africa would often bring their stories with them, changing them in their new land with some subtle variations. The book itself is illustrated beautifully with what looks to be a series of brightly colored woodcuts. Be sure to locate other fine Anase stories (they exist in abundance, doncha know) if this one suits your fancy. It reflects beautifully the cleverness and richness of a story this is not too new to our American ears.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful myth to share with the younger set
Review: The book is the perfect match of text and illustration. The pictures are representative of the simplicity of primitive drawings of which children can relate. The prose is written in a fashion that most young readers should not have any difficulty understanding.

How Ananse was able to overcome the various characters is the basis of the theme of using ingenuity to defeat great obstacles.

Because this is a myth, the reader is able to see the connection between the characteristics of a spider and one who "weaves stories."

The book provides a glimpse of a primitive culture without being demeaning to said culture.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful myth to share with the younger set
Review: The book is the perfect match of text and illustration. The pictures are representative of the simplicity of primitive drawings of which children can relate. The prose is written in a fashion that most young readers should not have any difficulty understanding.

How Ananse was able to overcome the various characters is the basis of the theme of using ingenuity to defeat great obstacles.

Because this is a myth, the reader is able to see the connection between the characteristics of a spider and one who "weaves stories."

The book provides a glimpse of a primitive culture without being demeaning to said culture.