The Pot of Wisdom: Ananse Stories

by Adwoa Badoe, Baba Wagué Diakité (Illustrator)

One of the major figures in African folklore is the round-bellied trickster-spider Ananse, who outwits enemies large and small. With The Pot of Wisdom, a wider audience can enjoy these delightful tales. Adwoa Badoe’s witty retellings and Baba Wague Diakite’s colorful images bring Ananse and his amusing — and instructive — adventures to life.

Genres: Picture Books, Africa, Folk Tales, Childrens, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Folklore

64 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 2001

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adwoa Badoe, who trained as a physician in her native Ghana, has turned her attention to music and storytelling since moving to Canada - something for which readers can be very thankful! This collection of ten Ananse stories, as told to Badoe when she was a child, is immensely entertaining, featuring selections both familiar and strange. The accompanying illustrations by Malian artist Baba Wagué Diakité - created on handmade polychromed and glazed earthenware tiles - are simply gorgeous: colorful, humorous, attention-grabbing!

Here the reader (or listener) will discover Why Ananse Lives on the Ceiling, in which the spider trickster, so ashamed at being caught stealing food from his sons, climbs up to the highest corner of the house, in order to hide his face. In Ananse and the Feeding Pot, Ananse's jealousy of his own son, Ntikuma, and his inability to follow directions, lead to a humiliation in front of the entire village! Ananse Becomes the Owner of Stories chronicles our hero's capture of an entire house of honeybees, Aboatia of the forest dwarves, and Nanka the python; while Ananse, the Even-handed Judge sees his defeat, when he thinks to attend a funeral and wedding at the same time.

Six other selections round out The Pot of Wisdom, from the titular Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom, which I recognized from Joyce Cooper Arkhurst's The Adventures of Spider: West African Folktales , where it is called How the World Got Wisdom; to The Mat Confidences, which I had not previously encountered. Well-written and well-illustrated, this collection is one Ananse lovers will not want to miss! Highly recommended!

[HadiDee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Anansi! These stories are perfectly told and beautifully illustrated.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

We really enjoyed all the tales in this one.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

The folklore of Western Africa fills the pages of this Ananse collection. The author/illustrator explains how pig lost his trunk and ends up with a snout, why the chamelion changes its colors, why Ananse spins webs rather than flies, and sundry other explanation about West African animals.
The rich and vibrant illustrations showcase a menagerie of West African animals, as well as the not-so-humble spider, Ananse.

The artist, Baba Wague Diakite, painted a mural for us in the ISD library. We are fortunate to have this artist's work for our students.

[Michelle Teasdale (Yeshe Lhatso) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6yr old son and I enjoyed reading about the adventures of Ananse. We tied this into his history learning Story of the World vol. 1. Beautiful colourful pictures too.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm thouroughly impressed by this collection of Ananse stories! Some I had heard as a child, and others were entirely new. Recently I used 2 stories with my kindergarten class and really appreciated the rich academic language contained in the stories. My students (and me) really enjoyed, "Ananse and the Feeding Pot," where Ananse's greed gets the better of him. Some passages were challenging for my students to understand during the first reading, but these are definitely stories that deserve a 2nd and 3rd read for content, morals, and vocabulary building.

[Ryan D'angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Pot Of Wisdom: Ananse Stories, Ghanaian author Adwoa Badoe draws upon the African Ananse folktale tradition to retell ten lively, witty, and entertaining stories about a trickster spider.The writing is excellent and engaging, while the illustrations are beautiful and fun. I definitely recommend this book for students grades 2 and older.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to be a true fan of Ananse. He's a trickster. He's very clever. And finding out how he gets himself out of sticky situations is always interesting, but the problems are often of his own creation. He's selfish, greedy, and prideful. Fun to read a very different flavor of folk tail though.

[Jackie Bicas · Rating 5 out of 5]

West African tales. One of the stories explains how the stories of West Africa became about Anansi (or Ananse), sometimes as a spider and sometimes as a person. It is a really good complement when talking about Ancient West Africa.

[SmokingMirror · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warm and generous retelling of Ananse tales from Ghana. Pictures blend well with text.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a cute children's book. Love it even more because it is Ghanaian tales!

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR 5.5 - 1.0

Interesting collection of African folktales featuring Ananse, the spider.