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Cautionary Fables & Fairytales
The Girl Who Married a Skull and Other African Stories
Have you heard the one about the skull who borrowed body parts to pass himself off as a human so he could trick the village beauty into marriage? No? Well, what about when the daughters of Frog and Snake had a playdate? Okay, fine. But surely you've heard the story of the crocodiles who voted on whether or not to eat a man that had saved one of their lives? NO? Wow, have we got some stories for you! In this vibrant comics treasury, some of storytelling's finest talents reimagine classic African folktales with a modern twist. Funny, warm, and wildly inventive, these timeless tales are brand new all over again. Featuring the work of Jarrett Williams, Carla Speed Mcneil, Chris Schweizer, Faith Erin Hicks, and many more!
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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925 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
June 22, 2019
This is a black and white graphic novel full of 15 African Fairytales.
There were several that I did enjoy and most of them I have not heard of before. I do love a good fairytale. There is always more meaning there than just a story. I think the artwork is fun and the stories included were interesting. I hope to read more in this Fairytales series.
I had fun reading this.
The List:
The Disobedient Daughter who married a skull
Anansi tries to steal wisdom
Demane and Demazana
Hyena and Jackal
Snake and Frog never play Together
Why Turtles live in the water
The story of the Thunder and the Lightning
Gratitude
The Lion's Whiskers
Isis and the Name of Ra
Queen Hyena's Funeral
The Girl who Married a Lion
Concering the Hawk and the Owl
Chief 5 Heads
The Stranger
There were several that I did enjoy and most of them I have not heard of before. I do love a good fairytale. There is always more meaning there than just a story. I think the artwork is fun and the stories included were interesting. I hope to read more in this Fairytales series.
I had fun reading this.
The List:
The Disobedient Daughter who married a skull
Anansi tries to steal wisdom
Demane and Demazana
Hyena and Jackal
Snake and Frog never play Together
Why Turtles live in the water
The story of the Thunder and the Lightning
Gratitude
The Lion's Whiskers
Isis and the Name of Ra
Queen Hyena's Funeral
The Girl who Married a Lion
Concering the Hawk and the Owl
Chief 5 Heads
The Stranger
January 17, 2019
I get this is a kids book, but there was no narrative or collective thought to putting these stories together. It didn't feel cohesive, like a fairytale book, and most of the stories were so short that the meaning was glossed over. Excellent, varied artwork, and I loved some of the tales that were reminiscent of the western folklore I grew up with, but I would have preferred fewer stories with more depth.
November 15, 2019
3.5? some of them were really wonderful but some were just okay. not sure whether the people doing these retellings were actually culturally qualified to do so...?
February 6, 2019
I picked this book up for work - I was writing an article bout new books recently added to our collection for the newspaper, and chose this one as one.
I enjoy learning other culture's fairytales and folklore, especially because, as a German, I read so many of the "norm" tales, it's refreshing to read other takes.
The artwork in this was mostly wonderful. Some artists were not in my particular aesthetic of choice, but they were nice. Some of them were a little fuzzy, like they weren't printed good quality, but that was my biggest flaw.
Some of the tales are only a few pages long, so it was easy to pick this up and read one here or there.
I enjoy learning other culture's fairytales and folklore, especially because, as a German, I read so many of the "norm" tales, it's refreshing to read other takes.
The artwork in this was mostly wonderful. Some artists were not in my particular aesthetic of choice, but they were nice. Some of them were a little fuzzy, like they weren't printed good quality, but that was my biggest flaw.
Some of the tales are only a few pages long, so it was easy to pick this up and read one here or there.
April 5, 2022
Very entertaining collection of african stories.
These must be classic african tales cause I knew some of them and was happy to enjoy the illustrations.
Each story has a different "spice", different drawings, different ways to present the texts (some are manga / comic style, others more like illustrated books) and it provides well appreciated diversity.
It's also ery funny !
These must be classic african tales cause I knew some of them and was happy to enjoy the illustrations.
Each story has a different "spice", different drawings, different ways to present the texts (some are manga / comic style, others more like illustrated books) and it provides well appreciated diversity.
It's also ery funny !
February 22, 2019
I liked this book a lot it was great learning about African culture but the book would be better if the words were different because some of the pages I couldn’t even read.
March 27, 2019
Some of the myths were very basically told but the art was really nice throughout. High quality.
September 28, 2021
fun, i guess. stories vary wildly in quality. kind of weird to have white ppl retelling african stories. couldn't quite get over the discomfort of that.
February 11, 2024
This third in this series of fairy tales retellings, I already the one adapting european fairy tales and the one retelling asian fairy tales, but this one is all about african, and it felt like a breath of fresh air, because despite being from Africa, I never really delved into the muthology as I did with the european and the asians ones, and the myths were really interesting.
These books are enjoyable as a taste test as well to test each of the graphic artists art and style to see if you'd love to read full-length graphic novels done in their art. I just wish these books were done in color. being in black and white makes it miss some thing
These books are enjoyable as a taste test as well to test each of the graphic artists art and style to see if you'd love to read full-length graphic novels done in their art. I just wish these books were done in color. being in black and white makes it miss some thing
September 2, 2019
A talented mix of creators bring out the humor of these African folktales. I prefer the Asian collection in this series with its strong horror vibe, but this is pretty darn good also.
September 4, 2022
The title story is wonderful. A couple of the others could have been smoother in the retellings but this another good collection.
June 1, 2019
This was a very enjoyable read. I wasn't really familiar with any of the stories except the one Egyptian myth they included, so it was fun to see some stories that are not often retold in American media. All the different artists were very good as well. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a fun book to widen their mythology knowledge.
April 25, 2019
As stated in my review of the first book, there's some back story to this... Crappy excuse incoming!
So, I have the 3rd edition on my pc to read via Netgalley, only I didn't know know it was a 3rd in a series and I don't have excess money to buy the previous books or time to get to the library to see if they have it before it expires (which they probably won't have anyway as local libraries are quite outdated, rarely have newer releases and certainly super rare when it comes to their manga, graphic novel or comic section, plus I like to think that if I like it enough I will support and purchase my own copies anyway as well as spread the word (but yes, excuses, excuses)) so I restorted to finding it online, but please don't do what I do and please support creators in monitary ways. I'll keep putting this message in the ones I've read online, so people don't follow my terrible example, now that that's all said and done, here is the review:
It was nice to see some familiar artist from the first volume and super cool to learn that a few of them have worked on some of my favourite cartoons such as Adventure Time and Regular Show.
I like that it has a little explanation on the non-sexual nudity... To some cultures and people in general, nudity is nothing to be ashasmed and bashful about and so I think this statement is a way to explain to maybe parents as I think its sort of aimed at younger people generally (got that vibe from the previous one and the whole idea seems to be) so they can decide if they want to let them read it knowing the innocence behind it.
The disobedient daughter who married a skull was so good. It was equally hilarious and a good warning about running of with strangers and being disobedient ... yet did she really learn her lesson? I'd question that! In fact I enjoyed them all very much!
The hyena and jackal story was super short (as was why turtles live in the water and the woman who married a lion... lots of odd marriages! Quite a few short ones to be fair, but those must have been the more fableesque, quick moral teachings). I feel like the original was of the actual animals but this was the twist with the people and the wine? Interesting but very very short.
I liked the Egyptian mythology included in Isis and the name of Ra. These characters are familiar to me as I love mythology.
The stranger was a cool sci fi one. I feel like it didn't fit the traditional fable, fairy tales theme, but it was a refreshingly different but sad and left me wondering the real meaning...
I enjoyed this even more than the previous volume, probably because of them being new to me stories and thus feeling even more magical (though I feel like I recognise the names Demane and Demezana). All the art work was fantastic and the stories were both funny and educational. I would totally reccomend this to give you a glimpse at some other cultures fables and folk more, to hopefully inspire you to research some more or the full stories.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
So, I have the 3rd edition on my pc to read via Netgalley, only I didn't know know it was a 3rd in a series and I don't have excess money to buy the previous books or time to get to the library to see if they have it before it expires (which they probably won't have anyway as local libraries are quite outdated, rarely have newer releases and certainly super rare when it comes to their manga, graphic novel or comic section, plus I like to think that if I like it enough I will support and purchase my own copies anyway as well as spread the word (but yes, excuses, excuses)) so I restorted to finding it online, but please don't do what I do and please support creators in monitary ways. I'll keep putting this message in the ones I've read online, so people don't follow my terrible example, now that that's all said and done, here is the review:
It was nice to see some familiar artist from the first volume and super cool to learn that a few of them have worked on some of my favourite cartoons such as Adventure Time and Regular Show.
I like that it has a little explanation on the non-sexual nudity... To some cultures and people in general, nudity is nothing to be ashasmed and bashful about and so I think this statement is a way to explain to maybe parents as I think its sort of aimed at younger people generally (got that vibe from the previous one and the whole idea seems to be) so they can decide if they want to let them read it knowing the innocence behind it.
The disobedient daughter who married a skull was so good. It was equally hilarious and a good warning about running of with strangers and being disobedient ... yet did she really learn her lesson? I'd question that! In fact I enjoyed them all very much!
The hyena and jackal story was super short (as was why turtles live in the water and the woman who married a lion... lots of odd marriages! Quite a few short ones to be fair, but those must have been the more fableesque, quick moral teachings). I feel like the original was of the actual animals but this was the twist with the people and the wine? Interesting but very very short.
I liked the Egyptian mythology included in Isis and the name of Ra. These characters are familiar to me as I love mythology.
The stranger was a cool sci fi one. I feel like it didn't fit the traditional fable, fairy tales theme, but it was a refreshingly different but sad and left me wondering the real meaning...
I enjoyed this even more than the previous volume, probably because of them being new to me stories and thus feeling even more magical (though I feel like I recognise the names Demane and Demezana). All the art work was fantastic and the stories were both funny and educational. I would totally reccomend this to give you a glimpse at some other cultures fables and folk more, to hopefully inspire you to research some more or the full stories.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
Read
September 2, 2019I couldn't decide how to rate this book. On the one hand the stories were all well drawn and strong stories that deserve to be told. On the other I'm confused why not a single African comic artist and very few African American artists were found to participate in making this book.
November 9, 2019
This book was amazing! The Girl who Married a Skull and tales is a spectacular graphic novel filled with a bunch of African tales. These tales all teach a good lesson in one way or the other and really make you think about what you’re reading. An example of one of the amazing stories is my personal favorite, it’s about Isis the Egyptian goddess and her journey to become a highly renowned goddess. The books colors and pictures are terrific too, you can tell exactly what is going on in each scene by just looking at the drawings. Overall I highly recommend this book to everyone!
August 4, 2023
I have read a few graphic novel anthologies now, and it's always interesting to see how different artists take the same theme and illustrate them differently. These illustrated fables were a lot of fun to read, though I don't know the original stories and so can't compare these versions to any other tellings. Still, it was a lot of fun.
Read
October 25, 2024as always with this i wish it provided more historical context - what specific regions these myths come from, what was changed in this adaptation, what was the moral meant to be in the time period, etc etc.
a quick glance at the reviews shows that. uh. only 2 of the 20 contributors to this project are Black. that seems weird.
a quick glance at the reviews shows that. uh. only 2 of the 20 contributors to this project are Black. that seems weird.
May 19, 2021
A collection of fairy tales and foklore from Africa, ranging from Egypt to Nigeria and other countries. It was fascinating and interesting to read some different cultural stories than I have read in other comics and books and these are fun to read as well.
April 3, 2020
Delightful. Lovely art, great and very funny stories, and lots of fun to see tales drawn from different traditions than I'm used to.
July 16, 2020
Stories and cables from the African continent, all from different parts and labeled as such in the beginning. I enjoyed the book, but some of the stories seemed to cut off a bit.
July 20, 2020
First thing from the Hubble Bubble BLM bundle I read. Nothing wrong with it just mostly morality stories which I'm not much of a fan of.
February 7, 2023
Like all anthologies, some stories are better than others. The interesting part of this is deciphering the lessons in the stories from a historical standpoint.
September 16, 2023
Good introduction to African myths and folktales
January 18, 2024
3 1/2 stars
My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:
https://youtu.be/FjWfd6q9l5U
Enjoy!
My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:
https://youtu.be/FjWfd6q9l5U
Enjoy!
September 4, 2019
Fairy tales are weird.
September 7, 2024
Unusual thought provoking
June 9, 2019
Updated for a modern audience, but you can still see the bones of what the original fables would have been. So interesting to see the different types of themes from other parts of the world! There are a lot more stranger danger and cannibalism lessons in African stories!
November 5, 2018
Well, it's high time to continue my fairy tales world tour. This time let's fly to Africa.
The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull by Nicole Chartrand: ★★★
Well, this is a nice starting for this anthology. The little skull kind of remind me more of the Mexican día de los muertos than African culture but it was a good story with nice drawings.
Anansi Tries to Steal All Wisdom by Joe Pimienta: ★★★
The art is quite original and the story is Ok.
Demane and Demezana by Katie & Shaggy Shanahan: ★★★
Maybe the art is less original than Pimienta's but I really like the two protagonists.
The Jackal and the Wolf by Chris Schweizer: ★
Meh. The art is too dark and the story - only two pages - doesn't make that much sense.
Frog and Snake Never Play Together by Carla Speed McNeil: ★★★★
One of the best stories of this anthology. The art is beautiful and the story is so sad.
Why Turtles Live in the Water by Jarrett Williams: ★★★
Extremely funny. And I love turtles! A bit on the short side.
The Story of Lightning and Thunder by Kate Ashwin: ★★
Well, the art is Ok and the story is quite nice. I just didn't like the characters.
Gratitude by D. Shazzbaa Bennett: ★★
Meh. Don't like the protagonist.
The Lion's Whiskers by Mary Cagle: ★★★★
Another very good story. A wife needs a potion to make her marriage good again. In the end, she realizes she doesn't need anything, just a little bit of courage.
Isis and the Name of Ra by Nina Matsumoto & Cameron Morris: ★★
An Egyptian setting for a meh story. But the setting is very good.
The Funeral of the Hyena's Mother by Ma'at Crook: ★★★
The art is extremely simple and it would have been way better in full colors. The story is OK.
The Girl Who Married a Lion by Kel McDonald: ★★★
Quite funny.
Concerning the Hawk and the Owl by Meredith McClaren: ★★
Meh.
Chief 5 Head by Sloane Leong: ★★★
This has one of the best art of this book. It's just boobs... I don't understand why Americans are so scared by them!
The Stranger by Faith Erin Hicks: ★★
A little bit of sci-fi that doesn't fit in with the rest.
I'm extremely happy I've backed this project. I really like folk stories and this one are interesting and varied. I'm looking forward to reading the other two collections.
The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull by Nicole Chartrand: ★★★
Well, this is a nice starting for this anthology. The little skull kind of remind me more of the Mexican día de los muertos than African culture but it was a good story with nice drawings.
Anansi Tries to Steal All Wisdom by Joe Pimienta: ★★★
The art is quite original and the story is Ok.
Demane and Demezana by Katie & Shaggy Shanahan: ★★★
Maybe the art is less original than Pimienta's but I really like the two protagonists.
The Jackal and the Wolf by Chris Schweizer: ★
Meh. The art is too dark and the story - only two pages - doesn't make that much sense.
Frog and Snake Never Play Together by Carla Speed McNeil: ★★★★
One of the best stories of this anthology. The art is beautiful and the story is so sad.
Why Turtles Live in the Water by Jarrett Williams: ★★★
Extremely funny. And I love turtles! A bit on the short side.
The Story of Lightning and Thunder by Kate Ashwin: ★★
Well, the art is Ok and the story is quite nice. I just didn't like the characters.
Gratitude by D. Shazzbaa Bennett: ★★
Meh. Don't like the protagonist.
The Lion's Whiskers by Mary Cagle: ★★★★
Another very good story. A wife needs a potion to make her marriage good again. In the end, she realizes she doesn't need anything, just a little bit of courage.
Isis and the Name of Ra by Nina Matsumoto & Cameron Morris: ★★
An Egyptian setting for a meh story. But the setting is very good.
The Funeral of the Hyena's Mother by Ma'at Crook: ★★★
The art is extremely simple and it would have been way better in full colors. The story is OK.
The Girl Who Married a Lion by Kel McDonald: ★★★
Quite funny.
Concerning the Hawk and the Owl by Meredith McClaren: ★★
Meh.
Chief 5 Head by Sloane Leong: ★★★
This has one of the best art of this book. It's just boobs... I don't understand why Americans are so scared by them!
The Stranger by Faith Erin Hicks: ★★
A little bit of sci-fi that doesn't fit in with the rest.
I'm extremely happy I've backed this project. I really like folk stories and this one are interesting and varied. I'm looking forward to reading the other two collections.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews