Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa

by Verna Aardema

A collection of twelve African folk-tales, including: Leelee Goro, a Temne Tale / Anansi and the Phantom Food, a Tale from Liberia / The Boogey Man's Wife, a Mano Tale / Half-a-Ball-of-Kenki, an Ashanti Tale / The Hen and the Dove, an Ashanti Fable / The Sloogey Dog and the Stolen Aroma, a Fang Tale / The Cock and the Jackal, a Khoikhoi Fable / No, Boconono!, a Zulu Tale / Toad's Trick, a Kanuri Fable / Goso the Teacher, a Swahili Narrative Poem / Hapendeki and Binti the Bibi, a Swahili Tale / Kindai and the Ape, a Tale of the Emo-Yo-Quaim.

Genres: Picture Books, Africa, Fantasy, Childrens, Folk Tales

96 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 1994

About the author

A prolific American children's author and teacher, Verna Norberg Aardema Vugteveen - more commonly known as Verna Aardema - was born in 1911 in New Era, Michigan. She was educated at Michigan State University, and taught grade school from 1934-1973. She also worked as a journalist for the Muskegon Chronicle from 1951-1972. In 1960 she published her first book, the collection of stories, Tales from the Story Hat. She went on to write over thirty more books, most of them folkloric retellings. Her picture-book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, won co-illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon a Caldecott Medal. Aardema was married twice, and died in 2000 in Fort Myers, Florida. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of twelve African tales from Verna Aardema, celebrated for her many excellent folktale adaptations, Misoso introduces young readers to a diverse range of African traditions, from the Temne people of Sierra Leone to the Zulu of South Africa. The title itself is taken from the Mbundu people of Angola, and is a word used to indicate stories which are primarily intended as entertainment. The selections here certainly fit the bill, although the inclusion of a glossary and brief afterword for each tale, makes them educational as well. Here the reader will encounter:

Leelee Goro, a Temne tales from Sierra Leone, in which a series of animals must fight a young girl - aided by her Mammy's magical song - for fire. A porquoi tale, this selection explains the existence of a number of phenomena, including: the antelope's cough, the leopard's spots, the elephant's tusks, the spider's eight legs, the snail's shell, the existence of crying, and of hugging.

Anansi and the Phantom Food, a tale of West Africa's famed trickster, who sets out to find food for his starving people, coming upon a village of cassava, a village of plantains, and a village of rice, only to reject each food source in his search for something better.

The Boogey Man's Wife, a Mano tale from Liberia, in which a father agrees to give his beautiful daughter to the ugly Boogey Man in exchange for a night's lodging. Atypically, given the importance of female obedience in Mano culture, Goma proves to be a difficult wife, eventually convincing her husband to release her.

Half-A-Ball-Of-Kenki, an Ashanti tale from Ghana, in which Leopard and Fly set out to find wives for themselves, only to fall out when Fly is welcomed and Leopard is not. When Leopard ties his erstwhile friend to a tree, it is Half-A-Ball-Of-Kenki who frees him, and fights Leopard. Aardema here recycles a story she has used before, in a picture book of the same name, published in 1979.

The Hen and the Dove, an Ashanti fable in which two birds find very different homes, one in the wild, the other with people. This is a tale meant to teach the value of freedom - something more valuable even than prosperity and a full belly.

The Sloogey Dog and the Stolen Aroma, a Fang tale from Gabon, in which a wealthy miser brings a starving dog to court, for "stealing" the delightful odor of his (plentiful) food. This tale of greed and justice , in which the punishment is made to fit the "crime," is a variant of a tale seen in many traditions.

The Cock and the Jackal, a Khoikhoi fable from South Africa, in which a clever cock tricks the kackal into releasing him, by getting him to pray. I was interested to read, in the afterword, that this tale may have traveled to southern Africa with European missionaries, and is most likely an adaptation of a Reynard tale.

No, Boconono!, a Zulu tale from South Africa, in which a pint-sized young man finally obtains the spear he desires, through a series of exchanges. Apparently the dwarf-like Boconono, also sometimes known as Hlakanyana, is a well-known figure in Zulu folklore, and features in many tales from that tradition.

Toad's Trick, a brief Kanuri fable in which a toad boasts that there is something he can do, that rat cannot.

Goso the Teacher, a Swahili poem from Zanzibar, in which Goso learns that it would be best not to hold lessons under the calabash tree. This rhyming poem, adapted from a cumulative question and answer tale, "reads" very well, and would make an excellent story-hour selection.

Hapendeki and Binti the Babi, a Swahili tale, also from Zanzibar, in which a young man convinces the beautiful Binti to become his wife, only to find that she expects him to go to extraordinary lengths to find beautiful clothing for her.

And finally, Kindai and the Ape, a tale of the "Emo-Yo-Quaim" of the Ondo jungle, in which a man's kindness to an injured ape is rewarded when his child is kidnapped by the troop.


I enjoyed the tales in Misoso, and found Reynold Ruffins' colorful pencil and acrylic illustrations a pleasant accompaniment. That said, the extremely patriarchal nature of The Boogey Man's Wife, in which obedience is seen as the highest virtue in a woman, did make me feel somewhat uncomfortable. I'm a strong believer that folklore should not be "watered down," but I did wonder how the tale would read for young girls. I was also quite interested in the "Emo-Yo-Quaim" - the source given for Kindai and the Ape - described by Aardema as a Jewish tribe, descended from refugees who fled to northern Africa from Jerusalem in 70 CE, and who mixed with the Berber people there. I have done a (very) little internet investigation, and it appears that there is some controversy as to whether this claim is true. Here again, I wonder about giving this tale to children, when the factuality of the accompanying information is in serious question.

[Jodie Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a traditional literature book because it contains 12 stories, fables, and pourquoi tales from Africa. It includes some background information and a map showing the regions where each story originated. The author includes a glossary before each story that contains African words from the story translated into English. There is also an afterword with each story that explains the African history and tradition of the story. This book contains colorful illustrations that enhances and helps tell the stories.

This book could be used in an interdisciplinary unit on Africa with connections made in social studies and geography. I think this could be a wonderful reader’s theater project with a small group for each story. Each group could make African mask depicting their characters and retell the story to an audience. I recommend this book for grades 3-6.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We liked this collection of 'creation' type stories. Each is short enough that you can read one or two a day. Good selection from various countries with a map showing where each story is from.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated children's book. The stories take you to magical places,and the illustrations are eye-catching and memorable. Highly recommended.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve encountered Ms. Aardema’s work in another book about the clever Anansi and his equally brilliant wife Aso. There, the illustrator was different. But the same style is evinced here. With storied persona, flora and fauna, etc., looking like colorful cutouts, the illustrations emphasize the childlike wonder, humor and delight that must have been evinced around the campfires when these tales were told.

Here men, women and children must learn to survive in a world that may be hostile and amidst animals that could be dangerous. This widens the scope of these stories, as evidenced by a map of Africa that displays where the various tales originated. A big, beautiful, haunting land that gave birth to funny, terrifying and wonderful story—Ms. Aardema reminded us that African storytelling is more than the sum of its parts.

[Matthew McElroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are excellent. And it is nice to MOSTLY see stories of Africa presented in the same way that a collection of European folk tales and fairy tales might be presented. The art is very good. There is a map at the beginning that shows where the different stories originate. Before each story, there is a pronunciation guide which is helpful.
The one criticism, which I believe is significant, is in the afterwords. Each one briefly discusses the story and provides some context. Many of the afterwords are fairly condescending about African traditions and the phrase 'discovered' comes up fairly often.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes folklore and fairy tales, but go into understanding who collected the stories and their perception of their role in preserving the stories.

[Kalilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, sometimes very witty, short stories with nice illustrations.

[Lindsey Johnson]

I really like how in the first couple pages it has a map of Arica on it. The map would be a good idea for teaching your students what Africa looks like. This book is really long and has a table of contents on the first page for you to be able to pick out what section you would like to read. The pictures are very enjoyable with vibrant colors on every page. How they are done up you can tell it is about African cultural. My eyes just go straight to the pictures just because of how they are all done up. Some look like they are done up with paint and others look like they were done with markers and color pencils.

[Katie Bathke]

This book is full of fairytales from Africa. This book would also be very good to use in a lesson about different cultures and their version of fairytales. This book is a very long book so would not recommend reading it to lower elementary students. The artistry of the book is very colorful which makes you think of African culture as being very colorful. It gives the reader an image of what the African culture is like. There are also very dark pictures. Painted pictures that remind me of art work on vases in museums. This book also has a table of contents and a glossary in the back which I thought was interesting.

[Azurise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are going to read everything by this author. The stories are fun and educational and the children love them.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's all good - the stories, the illustrations, and the historical and rich cultural background information that is found at the end of each story. Very well done!

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and lovely stories.

[Haley Hoenke · Rating 5 out of 5]

#social studies