When Ananse the spider discovers that the chief's daughter is to be given in marriage to whomever can guess her name, along with half of the chief's kingdom, that arachnid trickster immediately sets out to win such a prize for himself. Although fortunate enough to overhear the chief's daughter in conversation with her servants, and thereby learn her name, Ananse is himself tricked when he entrusts this information to Lizard, who makes good use of it for his own benefit...

As someone who has loved Ananse stories since childhood, and who has read many different retellings of many different tales, I picked up Ananse and the Lizard: A West African Tale with great anticipation, especially as I have had the pleasure of meeting author/illustrator Pat Cummings many times through my former job managing a children's bookstore. I am happy to say I was not at all disappointed, finding both the story and artwork both engrossing and amusing. It was fun to watch the trickster himself get tricked in this story, and I enjoyed the bright, colorful illustrations, created using watercolor, gouache and colored pencils. The only thing I would critique would be the fact that not enough information was given about this specific tale's source. We learn in the rear dust-jacket blurb that Cummings traveled to Ghana and Nigeria, and listened to many tales, before finding this one in a bookstore in Accra. My question would be: which book did it come from? Was it one of the ones by Peggy Appiah, or something more recent? I would have loved to know! Other than that, this is one I would recommend to all young folklore enthusiasts, as well as to fellow Ananse fans like me. ( )

Ananse and the Lizard: A West African Tale (Pat Cummings) NY: Henry Holt & Co. LLC: 2002

Multicultural: Middle

Summary: Ananse the spider went to the Chief's Kingdom to marry his daughter, only if he could guess her name. Spider met some friends then went to the mango tree by the palace to find out the princess's name. When he found out, lizard offered to announce his name to the Chief, as well as the daughters name. Lizard lied to the Chief and ended up marrying his daughter instead of Ananse.

Critique: A cute tale about truth and deception. Teaches readers to be honest about their intentions.

Activity (before): What could Ananse and the lizard be doing?

This was a very interesting book to read that had a surprising ending. The first reason I liked this book is because of the plot. The setting was in a West African village where the chief told his people that whoever can guess his daughter’s name would become the new chief and inherit the village. If the suitor guesses her name incorrectly, their head would be chopped off. A spider named Ananse luckily comes across the daughter and her friends and hears her name said aloud. The spider tells his friends about his good fortune and then goes to the castle to claim his title, but his friend Lizard had already used the information and became the new chief. Ananse was very mad and stated that if he ever saw Lizard again, he will kill him. The final page of the book explains that if you ever see a lizard craning his neck back and forth today, it is because he is scared of Ananse coming to kill him. I thought this elaborate story was a clever way to explain the odd nature of lizards and that children would get a kick out of it. I also liked this book because of its multicultural aspect. It depicts a West African village and the people who live there, including the hierarchy of inhabitants. The illustrations depicted women carrying baskets of fruit on their heads, walking around the dirt paths to the village. They also showed the lush jungle and palm trees that are unique to West Africa. The big idea of this story was to explain why lizards stretch their necks back and forth, but I also think a theme that could be seen in this book is to be careful who you trust. ( )

This is a great book. I love the illustrations in this book. The details are done pretty well from what people wear to what they eat. In the story there are African people holding vases on their head representing their culture and also different food such as mango, pineapple and apples. The clothes that the people are wearing are very colorful and also have a lot of details in them. You can see the details in the women dresses and also the spider and the lizard have clothes. Every page on the book is more colorful than the other and there are not a lot of words to read in the book. I also love the plot and the story itself. It starts with a spider listening to the kings daughter name and trusting his friends that they will not say anything. Then the story continues with the lizard breaking that promise and talking about how lizards always look around because they are scared a spider will get them for breaking that promise. The main idea of this book is to learn about the folktale and also about not breaking promises to your friends. A great story to read. ( )

The village chief wants to marry off his daughter but he makes it a contest. The one who wins it by guessing his daughter’s name will have half of the king’s land plus his daughter’s hand in marriage. If they lose, they forfeit their life. Ananse the spider boasts that he will become Chief Ananse and marry the daughter to the other characters. Just by chance one night he learns her name. When he tells his version of how he found out the name, he embellishes it and brags to no end. All the other characters think he is very smart and wish him well except Lizard. Lizard approaches Ananse and plays to his vain nature by telling him that he will act as Ananse’s servant and tell the Chief that Ananse is coming to claim his daughter’s hand. Of course this is not true and Lizard tells the Chief his daughter’s name and wins the contest. When Ananse finds out he swears by the Great Oath that he will tear Lizard limb from limb if he ever sees him again. That is why lizard stretches his neck back and forth. He is looking to make sure that Ananse is not around.
This is one of the few trickster tales I have read about Ananse where he is bested by another. The illustrations are culturally relevant and add to the story. ( )