When Spider and his workers - Lion, Buck Deer and Rat - are confronted by a strange hairy creature called the Vingananee, who steals their stew every day and eats it, the companions each try to defeat the thief. But the Vingananee is too strong, and each of them ends up tied to a tree. Finally, tiny Tree Frog steps in, and with a little help from heaven, has better luck...

Retold from the tale Try Your Strength in the Liberian collection, Spider and Other Stories, this tale teaches the lesson that sometimes it is better to be small, if you are willing to ask for help, than big and strong, but determined to do it alone. Accompanied by Ellen Weiss' charming illustrations, which portray the Vingananee as a sort of blob with limbs, The Vingananee and the Tree Toad is sure to please young folklore lovers.

I myself was charmed by the little postscript, which informs the reader that Aunt Clara (Mrs. Clara Letitia Blaine-Wilson), the original collector of this tale, and a well-known radio storyteller, was so well-regarded in Liberia, that she was given a state funeral upon her death in 1979. Now that's appreciation for story! ( )

Traditional literature, trickster tale from West Africa
In this spider story, the tree frog is the hero who outsmarts the huge "Vingananee" shown as a gorilla-type creature. None of the other animals in the household are able to keep the Vingananee from eating their nightly stew. Trickster tales are more engaging when cleverness vs bravery are the cause of the win. This is a ho-hum tale. Cartoony illustrations.