I suppose the plots of these stories were pre-determined, but they all fell flat for me. ( )

This collection of folk takes from Botswana and Zimbabwe in most cases are interesting and some are very clever. The intention with many is to teach moral lessons to youth using humans and animals often in the same story talking to one another. Greed, jealousy and dishonestly are frequently highlighted as is generosity and taking care of those who may look or smell differently than you. Some stories try to explain why some animals are different such as humans and baboons.

Entertaining and one should be able to read these to children although some do contain violence. ( )

These short and simply told stories were personally collected (via interpreters) by Alexander McCall Smith. His version is unadorned, told respectfully and with affection; it reminds me of Laurens van der Post. Quite different from "literary" collections of folktales or those collected from various previously published sources. A keeper. ( )

This is a collection of fables, legends and myths from two countries in Africa – Zimbabwe and Botswana. These traditional stories share many characteristics with folk tales from neighboring regions. But while they may be a part of the oral literature of Southern Africa, the lessons taught are universal in that they explore emotions common to all humankind – greed, envy, pride, ambition, love, kindness, generosity.

Smith explains in the forward that he has done little more than record the stories, though he has added some description of landscape and expanded on emotional reactions to make them more understandable and entertaining to a wider readership.

I found them interesting – some more than others – but I got bored. Part of this I think is due to my realization about half way through the collection that I was missing the humor and “lilt of the language’ present in Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I guess I had expected to find more his signature style in his telling of these stories. I’m sure I would be similarly bored by a steady diet of Aesop’s fables or The Brothers Grimm. After all, in an oral tradition you would hear only one or two such stories at a time, not 30 in one sitting.
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A collection of traditional stories from Botswana and Zimbabwe. Brought this home as another read aloud, not sure how it would be received, but once we started, Noa finished it quickly on her own. I enjoyed the stories, and found some of the titles themselves entertaining: "The Grandmother who was Kind to a Smelly Girl" and "Tremendously Clever Tricks are Played, but to Limited Effect." Hare is the trickster always up to no good in these stories, and each makes a strong moral statement. My favorite was perhaps "Greater than Lion" in which hare humbles lion by introducing him to a beast greater than lion himself. ( )