| Ingram’s Storytime Stars: Trickster Tales |
By Tracy Taylor, MLS
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Tricksters are one of my favorite storytime subjects, and Anansi the spider is one of the best tricksters of all. Spider stars in The Talking Vegetables, which is retold by Won-Ldy Paye, a Liberian artist and performer, along with Margaret H. Lippert, and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. Once again, Spider has no interest in helping the rest of his village with their community farm. As far as he is concerned, he has plenty of rice to eat so why indulge in hard labor? However, once the produce is looking good to eat, he has a change of heart and decides to pick some. Imagine his surprise when those vegetables start to talk!
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Borreguita and the Coyote, by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Petra Mathers, is another classic trickster story that I have used often. Coming from Ayutla, Mexico, this story of how a little lamb (borreguita in Spanish) outsmarts the coyote who wants to eat her is told with charm. Utilizing his greed for food, his fear of the mountain falling, and his willingness to be flattered, Borreguita is able to send Coyote off and to live happily ever after.
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A similar tale is the story of Love and Roast Chicken, written and illustrated by Barbara Knutson. In this trickster tale from the Andes Mountains, Cuy the Guinea Pig outwits Tío Antonio the Fox who wishes to eat him. However, Cuy is able to fool him with stories of the sky falling, the end of the world, and a plot to marry the farmer's daughter while enjoying roast chicken.
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Written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book is the 2004 Pura Belpré Award winner for illustrator. This version of a traditional tale in which Death arrives to take someone on to the next life is a colorful look at Grandma Beetle preparing for a birthday party. She counts in English while he, Señor Calavera, counts in Spanish as she gets the whole house ready. He is invited to stay for her party and decides that it was so much fun he wants to come back next year for another fiesta.
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Two other prolific authors of trickster tales are Gerald McDermott and Eric A. Kimmel. Both have written about Anansi, and McDermott has also written about Zomo the Rabbit and Raven, two other trickster characters. I recommend reading any of their versions, or adapting them to flannel board stories, creative dramatics, or puppet shows. I have had great success with a puppet show based on Kimmel's version of Anansi Goes Fishing, and Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock is a wonderful flannel board. I have also told How Spider Got a Thin Waist as a creative dramatic, based on the version in The Adventures of Spider: West African Folktales, told by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Check out the following list for other suggested titles:
Gerald McDermott
Anansi the Spider
Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest
Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa
Eric A. Kimmel
Anansi and the Magic Stick
Anansi and the Talking Melon
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