The Orphan Girl: And Other Stories, West African Folk Tales

By: Offodile, Buchi

Book Overview

collected and retold by Buchi Offodile Once upon a moonlit night, children gathered elbow to elbow, lying on the ground, while the adults sat near by, drinking and snacking. They listened to the storyteller, who held adult and child alike rapt with animal noises and spooky voices, gesture and song, call and response, until the wick of the palm-oil lamp ran down and the storyteller tired. It wasn't that the stories themselves were over--no, many more were yet to be told: tales of the ever-scheming tortoise, spider, or hare; tales of spirits tempting children; tales of fate punishing whole villages for their folly, or rewarding them for their perseverance. Though almost all the tales have morals, the most popular characters are the tricksters: the tortoise, the spider, and the hare. The Orphan Girl includes a fascinating introduction exploring the roots of the storytelling tradition in the history and culture of West Africa. History's boundaries divide this book by nation, from Mauritania into the continent's interior, to the hinterlands of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and down the Atlantic coast as far as Cameroon. Each country is represented by several stories, a map and brief information. Invariably though, as all of these countries share common origins and cultures, the stories overlap and play off each other. For example, a Ghanaian story featuring Anansi, the spider, is almost the same tale told by the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria starring Mbe Nwaniga, the tortoise.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566563755
• ISBN13: 9781566563758
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Interlink Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years

Customer Reviews

Story Time Fun!

I'm a teenager and I still enjoy reading the stories. Offodile adds such a creative touch to the stories that keep me enchanted. I'm glad that he has captured so many of these folktales in writing so that I can share them with my children as well. I am lucky, being born of Igbo parents, since my mother can sing the songs to me the way they are supposed to be sung. It is very interesting how similar the stories that aren't even from Nigeria are to the ones that my mother knows. Get this book and keep it in your library for fun stories to enjoy in the future.