SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

November 9, 2015 by Betsy Bird

The Life and Death of the African Folktale in American Publishing

November 9, 2015 by Betsy Bird   15 comments

WhyMosquitoesBuzzWalk into many a children’s room in a public library and then take a trip to Dewey Decimal number 398.2.  If the room is relatively old and has withstood regular weeding schedules then you may find yourself in a remarkably large folktale and fairytale section.  The titles, however, will probably be a bit on the dusty side.  Long ago, when libraries held the primary purchasing power when it came to children’s literature, they had some sway over publishing.  Thanks in large part to their dual appreciation of storytelling and multiculturalism,  librarians exhibited a keen love for folktales.  These folktales were an attempt to inject into their collections a bit of diversity.  The likelihood that they would be able to locate picture books set in contemporary countries was even more unlikely then than it is now, so at the very least they could rely on the large swath of folktales published every year to speak a little to that gap.

The rise of the big box bookstores like B. Dalton signaled the beginning of the end of librarians’ sway in this regard.  With the public having access to children’s books above and beyond children’s bookstores (if their town was lucky enough to have one) and children’s librarians (ditto), the publishing model changed.  Librarians didn’t have the influence they used to, and the call for folktales may also have been hampered by library schools not placing the same emphasis they used to on old-fashioned storytelling.  When I joined with New York Public Library in 2004 they were still teaching new hires the finer points of storytelling.  By 2008, that training was a thing of the past.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The folktale, however, is by no means dead.  While a significant slump occurred over the years as the big publishers moved away from the form, small independent publishers picked up the slack.  This year alone I’ve seen folktales coming from folks like Inhabit Media, Wisdom Tales Press, Tuttle Publishing, Sleeping Bear Press, Red Chair Press, Albert Whitman & Co., Fontanka Publishers, and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.  These tales are Russian, Cherokee, Inuit, Vietnamese, Abenaki, and Navajo, amongst others.

Last night I sat down with my daughter and read her Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by by Verna Aardema, illustrated by the Dillons.  The book dates back to a time when African folktales (much like folktales by Native Americans) were rarely credited to a country, let alone a tribe.  In the case of African folktales the phrase, “An African folktale” was sort of roundly stamped on a book and that was that.  Why Moquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears is considered West African, and from what I can tell has been free of the controversy that would today surround a book like Gail E. Haley’s Caldecott winning A Story, A Story, which was merely said to be retelling an “African tale”.

As I read the Aardema book, I got to thinking about African folktales and how few are published these days.  Certainly very few folktales are published in general, but of these hardly any hail from specific African nations or tribes anymore.  Because New York Public Library always makes a point of including fairytales and folktales on the 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list each year, I flipped through the last ten years’ worth to see how many of the books included were African in origin.  What I’m including in this post is by NO means a systematic list.  After all, I haven’t been keeping meticulous track over the past decade.  Therefore, I would like to encourage you to let me know if you are aware of any particularly good African folktale retellings published between 2004-2015.  Tell me and I will include them here.

2015

For this year, I was able to locate two books, which was more than I initially expected.  They were:

Party Croc! A Folktale from Zimbabwe by Margaret Read MacDonald. Illustrated by Derek Sullivan

PartyCroc

Who Is King?: Ten Magical Stories from Africa by Beverley Naidoo. Illustrated by Piet Grobler

WhoIsKing

2013

I couldn’t really find anything.  I wanted to make an exception with Ashley Bryan’s Can’t Scare Me, but for all that the book makes for an amazing original folktale, insofar as I can tell it is not based on anything but Mr. Bryan’s wonderful imaginings.

Reader Lori H. was able to locate The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyr, illustrated by Piet Grobler. Alas, the book again relies on simply describing its tale as “an African folktale”, but this review from Africa Access is worth reading.

MagicBojabiTree

2012

I really thought I had a chance including the Botswana story Ostrich and the Lark by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by six contemporary San artists.  However, while it is truly beautiful and feels like a folktale, technically it’s an original story.

2011

In 2011 Nigerian Chinua Achebe’s story How the Leopard Got His Claws was republished from its original 1972 story (originally from Kenya).  It was illustrated by Mary GrandPre and was a lush and surprisingly long retelling. That said, it looks like it’s not a traditional folktale but an original story.  Worth knowing just the same.

2008

WiilWaal

One book I completely missed and am glad to discover now is Wiil Wall: A Somali Folktale by Kathleen Moriarty, illustrated by Amin Amir.  It won an Honor from the Children’s Africana Book Award (more on that at the end of this post).  Best of all, it’s bilingual in Somali-English.

TrickoftheTale

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

When John and Caitlin Matthews published Trick of the Tale: A Collection of Trickster Tales, that was really the last time I saw Anansi (in their story “How Ananse Stole All the Stories”), unless you count Eric A. Kimmel’s Anansi’s Party Time, which wasn’t really a folktale.

And that’s all I found.

LionMouse1Mind you, if we could include Aesop’s tales as African folktales then we get a slightly larger pool from which to draw.  The most notable of these would be Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion and the Mouse in 2009, which set the Aesop classic against the Serengeti.  In 2014 we saw the stunning The Fox and the Crow by Manasi Subramaniam, illustrated by Culpeo S. Fox, and in 2013 there was Aesop in California by Doug Hansen.

And of course there’s Egypt.  In 2011 Marcia Williams published Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Pharaohs and in 2013 National Geographic published The Treasury of Egyptian Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Christina Balit.  Not really what I’m talking about either, though.

By the way, if you are not aware of them, I encourage you to learn more about an award that would speak to these books.  The Children’s Africana Book Awards are of note.  As their website reads,  “In 1991, the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association accepted a proposal from Africa Access to establish awards honoring outstanding books on Africa published or republished in the United States. The first Children’s Africana Book Awards were presented in 1992. Annually since that time awards are presented to authors and illustrators in two categories, Young Children and Older Readers. Click here for Past Winners for Older Readers.”

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
African folktalesfolktale review

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

14 Women Writers Every Aspiring Author Should Know

First Books About Large Gatherings | Milestones

Zines: Cut-and-Paste Publishing by and for the People

Eight Graphic Works that Offer Fresh Perspectives on the Past | Stellar Panels

Women's History Flourishes in Graphic Novels | The Year in SLJ Covers

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    November 9, 2015 at 11:17 am

    I just did a big fairy tale adventure at my library and hardly anybody knows any fairy tales, other than the Disney-fied ones. My teen aide had never heard of Hansel and Gretel. My ex-teacher associate had never heard of Anansi. Seriously? How can you not know who Anansi is??

    • MotherLydia says

      November 9, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      I know Hansel and Gretel. But the only thing I know about Anansi was I think it was a term used in my World of Darkness games. They are were-spiders I believe.

    • John Aardema says

      November 11, 2015 at 8:45 pm

      Gerald McDermott illustrated that wonderful tale of Anansi (which was also a favorite *filmstrip* back in the day) oh-so many years ago.

  2. Lori H. says

    November 9, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyer, illustrated by Piet Grobler, 2013. It was a Washington State Children’s Choice nominee last year. The setting is the African Savannah.

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      November 9, 2015 at 10:33 pm

      Noted! And I found an interesting review of it on Africa Access, which I shall include as well. Thanks!

  3. Yapha Mason says

    November 9, 2015 at 9:59 pm

    Wow. I just searched my library catalog for African folktales, sorted by date, and I have nothing since 2003.

  4. Kahla Jourdan says

    November 11, 2015 at 10:02 am

    How about Niki Daly’s “Pretty Salma : a Little Red Riding Hood story from Africa” from 2007?

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      November 11, 2015 at 10:38 am

      Interesting! If the tale originates in Africa then it could certainly count. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’ll see if I can add it!

      • Kahla Jourdan says

        November 11, 2015 at 12:50 pm

        There are not any notes in the book about its origin, so I just thought I would mention it in case! And I finished sharing “Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile” with some of my students today…too old for your list, but a favorite that states it is from Liberia.

  5. Kahla Jourdan says

    November 11, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    I thought of another possibility! What about John Kilaka’s “The Amazing Tree” from 2009, which is attributed to Tanzania?

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      November 11, 2015 at 11:16 pm

      Again, a new one to me! Thanks!

  6. Jeanine Lancaster says

    November 12, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    Here’s another: “The leopard’s drum: An Asante tale from West Africa” by Jessica Souhami (2006).

  7. Nathalie Mvondo says

    November 22, 2015 at 9:14 pm

    Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales (2007) has a collection of folktales with country of origin for each.

Trackbacks

  1. and clunk clunk clunk went the folktale market - The Horn Book says:
    November 10, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    […] Betsy Bird at Fuse #8 is rightfully mourning the relative dearth of African folktale publishing and simultaneously celebrating one of its legends from the glory days, Verna Aardema. All I can say is God bless Verna Aardema, who knew just how to write a picture-book text that would bring any library story hour to life. Authentic? Not especially; as Barbara Bader wrote for us back in 2007, “in writing picture books, with their special needs, [Aardema] did more than adapt the stories — she pretty much remade them.” But she did something else, too: “Aardema lit upon juicy stories, in a variety of forms, from a number of tribal cultures. In her hands, they didn’t sound alike, and with a judicious selection of illustrators by Atha Tehon and other art directors, they didn’t look alike. Heterogeneous and vigorously alive, Aardema’s improbable body of work was absorbed into the omni-American experience.” […]

  2. The Life and Death of the African Folktale in American Publishing — @fuseeight A Fuse #8 Production | The Neophyte Writer says:
    November 22, 2015 at 11:22 am

    […] Source: The Life and Death of the African Folktale in American Publishing — @fuseeight A Fuse #8 Productio… […]

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023