Don't Leave an Elephant to Go and Chase a Bird

by James Berry, Ann Grifalconi (Illustrator)

Colorful stylized art inspired by African sculpture and patterns complements a traditional cautionary tale from Ghana about Anancy Spiderman, whose good fortune turns to naught when he allows his greed to get the better of him. By the author of Celebration Song.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Africa, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

James Berry, OBE, Hon FRSL (1924-2017) was a black Jamaican poet and writer who settled in England in the 1940s. His poetry is notable for using a mixture of standard English and Jamaican Patois.

Reviews

[Molly Cluff (Library!)]

I liked the folktale nature of this book, but it did feel like the story kept changing directions

[CH_Emily Scholnik]

Grade Range 1-4
A story from Ghana, Africa with a message of the power of greed. Anancy Spiderman goes out into the village one day and trades with the locals. At first it seems Mr. Spiderman is very helpful, always coming upon a person who just so happens to need what he has to trade. Then he comes upon a group of elephants and all he has to trade is a sack of flour for which the elephants have no use. Wary of Anancy Spiderman, but not wanting to be rude, they make a bet(which they thought was safe) that if all the elephants jumped over the river, Anancy could have one if it were to fall in. The baby elephant did fall in, but Anancy got distracted by a bird and wandered off. When he finally remembered to claim his elephant, it and the flour had disappeared, leaving him with nothing.

[Beverly]

Humorous Spiderman Anancy story; left me chuckling at the end. Stylized illustrations in poster colors.

[Michael]

This story meanders a bit: it could have been told in 10 pages instead of 30. The length causes it to lose its meaning a bit. Also, what's up with trading babies??