How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? And Other Tales

by Julius Lester, David Shannon (Illustrator)

An illustrated collection of twelve folk tales, ten African and two Jewish

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Short Stories, Anthologies, Folk Tales, Africa

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Julius Lester was an American writer of books for children and adults. He was an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was also a photographer, as well as a musician who recorded two albums of folk music and original songs.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lester presents a fine collection of African and Jewish folktales, with illustrations by none other than David Shannon of No, David! fame.

[SarahC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of African and Jewish folktales for children by an author who is Jewish and African American. The author writes in a whimsical way, and he creates characters who are deep, multi-faceted, and complex in only a brief vignette. This would be a great book for a parent to read to a child for bed time, since it is a collection of short folktales.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun collection of a dozen African and Jewish tales. The author note at the back describes how Lester changed the stories from his first encounter with them to make them his own. I know retellings can get a bad rap when they're watered down but since these are lesser known folk tales and Lester includes the original sources with a bibliography with reasonings for his changes such as clarifying details, the adaptations make sense to me though I would be curious to compare to the originals. The variety of people represented by the stories includes Mende, Fan, Basuto, Ngoni, Hausa, Efik-Ibibio, Xosa, Masai and Jewish. I appreciate the variety in Lester's compilation! The are two or three animal stories and the remainder are with people.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

dedicated to me!

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: The contents of this book include many tales. I read the story about how the sun and moon are in the sky and focused on it being a porqui tale.
Evaluation: The story I read did a great job in focusing on the porqui tale qualities. The illustrations were beautiful, and they went with the content of the story.
Teaching Idea:I would introduce this type of folktale to the students with this story. I would explain the specific details that made it this type of tale. After, I would have the students write their own porqui tales.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book because it was illustrated by David Shannon.
I enjoyed "What is the Most Important Part of the Body?" Lester explained that he combined 2 stories.
"Tongue took his place as teh most important part of the body because everyone agreed that he had the greatest power for good and evil.
When Maki and Kwame came to be Queen and King, they used their tongues for good.
May we do the same." page 51

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several tales were awesome. Only a couple were remotely familiar. Which makes sense because they were taken from African and Jewish traditions. I love how the author put a couple of pages in the end detailing where each story came from and what changes he made.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting collection of folk tales.

[Sandra Lemus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This book contains many tales. One of them is a Porquoi tale. Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky, explains why the sun and moon live in the sky.

Evaluation: This tale is nice and short and delivers the message clearly. Readers will see the sun, moon, and water come to life when reading the tale.

Teaching Idea: I would introduce Porquoi tales to the class by reading this tale. In the end, the students can write their own Porquoi tales based on anything they don't know the answer to, like why the sky is blue or why snakes don't walk. It will be great to see how creative students can be through their writings.

[Friend of Pixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Julius Lester, who has retold many folk tales with humor and a tenderness for the stories. He's both African and Jewish, so he chose tales from both cultures for this book. As he says in the afterword, he "has chosen to remove references to things that did not communicate to me as an American...by so doing I have chosen to emphasize the universal dimension of the story over the cultural where it was not possible to keep the two fused into one whole. To put it another way, I have done what any storyteller does: I have fitted the story to my mouth and tongue...I hope that you will fit these stories to your mouth and tongue." He includes a bibliography of where the stories came from and exactly how he changed them or if he left them intact. Retelling such stories as the Efik-Ibibio account of "Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky," the Masai tale "The Woman and the Tree Children" and the Jewish legend of "Why Dogs Chase Cats," Lester's versions emphasize the humor, tragedy, morality, and adventure of the stories. Logan's favorites were "How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have," What Dogs Chase Cats," "The Town Where Snoring Was Not Allowed," and "The Wonderful Healing Leaves." Neither L nor I have enjoyed David Shannon's illustrations in the past, but his work in this book is wonderful.

[Nichole Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of African and Jewish folktalkes for children. Lester, as a Jewish African American, makes the decision to omit parts of the folktale that are specific to the African or Jewish culture, and make the tales more universal in their message. Each story is a short read, making it easy to read the book in one sitting or to put it down and pick it back up.

This is a book that I would add to my home collection and is something that I would to add to my classroom library for elementary students. This collection could be used to teach students about folktalkes, or would make a nice read aloud.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing collection of children's stories/fables...I enjoyed them as much as the kids and they were all new themes and characters. A very enjoyable read, and each story is only a couple pages long, making it an easy pick-up/put down read aloud. Highly recommended!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of fables is a terrific one to share out loud. The stories are funny and entertaining, and just beg kids to make predictions, draw conclusions, etc. etc.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read these stories in the library the kids burst out clapping after every one. Lester is a fabulous storyteller.

[Bigcoffinhunter Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

My older brother read this book to me when i was very young and these stories have stayed with my all my life.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

TPL

[Naomi]

awesome

[Benjamin Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful illustrated collection of twelve folk tales, ten African and two Jewish told by award-winning author Julius Lester and with richly detailed full-color paintings by David Shannon.

[Manasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

good, enjoyable, but some stories did not make sense.