The Fish Snatcher

by Miranda Paul (Adaptor), Cornelius Gomez (Adaptor), Antara Majumder (Illustrator)

"The Fish Snatcher" is a West African Wolof tale about an old woman and a thief. The woman is upset when her fish disappear night after night, so she vows to catch the culprit all by herself. But is that wise?

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 7, 2013

Reviews

[Meghan Milliken]

This children book is centered around an older west african woman named Maam. She goes and buys fish from the market. When she comes home and starts to prepare the fish she gets sleepy and falls asleep. When she wakes the fish are all gone. This happens two nights in a row so the third night she stays awake and tries to catch the "fish snatcher". When the snatcher comes she realized it was a hyena. Maam fights the hyena and the villagers come to help her and once she is free she shows her thanks by giving them fish. The villagers tell her next time she needs help all she has to do is ask.

This children book shows a different culture and diversity and is a folk tale in West African Culture. It teaches the lesson that when you need help you should ask for it. It has exotic animals, different cuisine, and shows a respect for animals and community. The story illustrates a close nit community that help each other when they are in need. This was a sweet story but at the same time a little bizarre and I probably wouldn't use it in my classroom.