Favorite African Folktales

Very well written and great African stories. I love this book so much. Thanks for sharing it.

They love it. This collection of stories serves as an excellent opportunity to expose kids to African thinking, culture, mythos, folklore, etc. Right away the first thing they noticed was the map of Africa showing where each story comes from. Really good source to get their minds wrapped around the continent.

Both my 8yr old son and 7yr old neice loved reading the book. They just keep re reading it over and over again. Thanks to the LA public library for recommending this one to us.

If you are at all considering getting a collection of folk tales, get this one. I liked it so much I'm using it in a college research writing course I'm teaching. Very readable, fascinating tales of all kinds. Honestly, the only story that didn't impress me was the final one, and other than that one tale, I'm sure there is plenty to satisfy anybody. The stories reveal quite a bit about the African cultures they derive from, but they also compare well to other mythic stories, fables, and traditions, and are thus a great addition to an overall exploration of world folk myth.The stories are great for children, too, and I found myself reading a few of the stories to my kids at bedtime. They were sad when the book was finished, for they, too, really enjoyed the tales.

I love folk tales. I love the insights they give about the cultures they come from, and I love the morals many of them leave at the end (think Aesop). Almost all of the stories in this collection succeed because they do at least the first of not the second of these things. Greed, love, lust, trickery, joy & sadness … it’s all in here. There’s also a “Brer Rabbit” element to many of them, with animal main characters who talk with one another — and sometimes with humans.A couple of the stories weren’t really African folktales, though, but new short stories written by contemporary authors to sound (sort of) like the others, but with references to modern technology, themes, and events. These didn’t work for me, either as folktales or as satire thereof: they felt like they belonged in a different book, perhaps specifically intended and billed to be modern spins on the classics. But here, they broke the overall flow of the rest.Also, the “Edited by Nelson Mandela” tagline on the front cover seems slapped only for the purpose of drawing customers’ attention. “Wow… If these are Nelson Mandela’s favorites they must be superb!” And indeed some are. He also has a short introductory message just inside the front cover. But I had a hard time believing that South Africa’s former president would have had either the time or inclination actually to “edit” this book.

Bought this to read to my 1-3rd grade students and my own older children kept reading it before I could get it into the classroom. Well written and fun to read aloud.

My kids (8 & 10) loved this book. They were sad when it was finished. We will probably read it again.

Favorite story hands down The lion ,hare and hyena.

Very interesting read

excellent arrival! the content is super fun to read! very comforting. very interesting how animal orgin folktales are that fascinating

A very poetic, evocative collection of beautiful, wise African folktales. Great for both adults and children.

interesting, good choices of stories, suitable for reading aloud to grandkids

Varied and attractive stories