Verna Aardema

A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit.

A cumulative rhyme relating how Ki-pat brought rain to the drought-stricken Kapiti Plain.

Long ago, when the world was new, the ostrich's neck was so short that he couldn't reach the succulent berries in the trees, and he had to sit on the ground to eat bugs. All that changed on the fateful day when the crocodile awoke with a terrible toothache that no one dared to help her with-no one, that is, but a naive and compassionate young ostrich. Compromising his own safety to help a needy stranger, he was rewarded with a most amazing surprise....

A tall tale sets off a comic chain of mishaps from Mosquito to Iguana to Python to Rabbit to Owl, but all is wisely resolved by King Lion at the jungle council meeting.

Anansi and his wife outsmart the Sky God and win back the beloved folktales of their people.