Full AspenCat Catalog

"The stories of West Africa are about men and animals, about kings, warriors, and hunters. They tell about clever people and stupid people, about good ones and bad ones, about how things and animals got to be how they are. Sometimes they are just tall tales. There are stories about Frog, Rabbit, Turtle, Guinea Fowl, and all the other animals that West Africans know. Some of the stories make you think. Some make you laugh. Here are some of the stories...

Anansi the Spider uses a strange moss-covered rock in the forest to trick all the other animals, until Little Bush Deer decides he needs to learn a lesson.

Zomo the Rabbit, an African trickster, sets out to gain wisdom.

Donso, a West African hunterman, learns the importance of living in harmony with nature and the necessity of placing humans among, not above, all other living things.

In this retelling of a West African tale, Ma Sheep Thunder and her impetuous son Ram Lightning are forced to leave their home on Earth because of the trouble Ram causes.

A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying buzzing habit. A mosquito annoyed the iguana, who frightened the python, who scared the rabbit ... and now the whole jungle is in an uproar because the sun won't rise. The animals discuss the situation and decide to punish the mosquito. Even today, whenever we hear a mosquito buzz, we smack it hard!

Osebo the leopard has a magnificent drum that he won't share with anyone else, so Nayme, the Sky-God, offers a reward to the animal who will bring him the drum.

A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit.

A simple farmer is startled when first a yam and then a dog, a tree, and a stone talk to him.

Lazy Anansi seeks to trick someone into doing the heavy work of laying his fish trap, but instead he is fooled into doing the job himself.