There is a cautionary tale in this book about judging a person by his or her appearance. All of these stories come from a long oral tradition. Some of these stories may even be familiar to many children. ( )

Summary: In Africa, a young boy named Anansi wanted to catch fish, but he also wanted a partner. Nobody wanted to be his partner because they knew he was very lazy and would make them do all the work. Well one afternoon Anansi asked another young boy named Onini to be his partner, and Onini agreed. As they went to the river, Anansi had to cut reeds in order to put the fishing traps. He was going to trick Onini, until Onini stated that if he cut the reeds, Anansi was going to have to be very tired and have a sore back for him. Well, Anansi did not want to be tired, so he cut the reeds while Onini pretended to moan in pain and discomfort. This happened throughout the whole story, which made Anansi actually do all the work while Onini didn't have to.

Personal Reaction: I thought this book was very humorous. Especially because Anansi never caught on that he was actually doing all the work.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
A. This book could be read while learning about African culture. The book had a map of Africa and some illustrations had pictures of markets and places where the characters fished.

B. A good idea would be to make a dish that was from Africa that the students could try. ( )

One day, Anansi gets a great idea to go fishing, and if successful, sell the fish at the marketplace. He thinks that it is a good idea, but soon realizes that the work will be too much for just one person. Anansi heads to the marketplace in search of a fool willing to go into business with him, but everyone already knows that Anansi likes to cheat people. A boy named Onini agrees to be his partner, but what Anansi doesn’t know is that Onini has a few tricks of his own. By the end of the story, Onini walks away with all the profit, and Anansi finally realizes that he was the real fool all along. ( )

A Pride of African Tales by Donna L. Washington, Illustrated by James Ransome, is a unique book that includes six stories coming from different regions of Africa. The books illustrations are attractive watercolor paintings accurately reflecting the characteristics of people, land, animals, villages, etc. Because each story featured is from a different area in Africa, a painted map of the regions precedes the stories, geographically orienting the young readers. At the beginning of each story, the author has included a brief explanation of what the story is about, along with a portion of the map reflecting the exact area of Africa the story is from. At the end of the book, the author has “Story Notes and Further Reading” which features more information about the region, characters in the story, and other related stories. The first story is from Ghana. “Anansi’s Fishing Expedition” is about a fellow who is lazy and well-known for this characteristic. He is always looking to get something for nothing. He tries to find someone to partner with him in his finishing business, but has trouble until he comes across Onini. However, Onini, knowing Anansi’s reputation is able to outsmart Anansi and beat him at his own game. In short, Anansi’ does all the work, gets none of the money, and the last laugh is on him. Another story, “Shansa Mutongo Shima” is a “cautionary tale from the Democratic Republic of the Congo”. In this story, a clever girl named Bwalya sought a man suitable for marriage, but no one in her village was equal to her match. One day a stranger came to town. He was able to persuade Bwalya to marry him against the advice of the village and her father. Soon, however, Shansa Mutongo Shima found favor with everyone by bringing much meet to the village. While everyone began to trust him, Bwalya felt there was something not right about the man she was going to marry. She secretly follows him one day to the bush and watches him hunt. She discovers Shansa is really a lion in disguise of a human and that he charms the animals so they dance until they die. Bwalya know that if she tells everyone what she has found out, they will not believe her. So, she has her father go on a walk to discuss things before she gets married. She leads her father to watch Shansa’s hunting; he is appalled and runs back to his brother. The three devise a plan to outwit Shansa, it works and he is never seen again. The lesson cautioning strangers and to not judge anyone but appearance is clear. ( )