tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-274975202012-01-29T10:30:05.807-05:00Commentary on African folktales and a companion blog to www.allfolktales.com.folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.comBlogger531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-88439207404361875862011-03-06T21:44:00.002-05:002011-03-06T22:05:05.997-05:00

The words of Elizabeth Lindsey on TEDTalks, "When an elder dies, a library is burned", is so much truer for cultures that relied on oral histories. I think of all the burned libraries in African history and wonder if it matters. Why is it even important to preserve the past. What does it have to do with the future? And I do not have an answer. But I have a very strong gut feeling that it is

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-5894913647443687682009-12-08T21:28:00.005-05:002009-12-08T22:09:40.632-05:00

The author of Greedy Spider, Bakeh N. Wleh Nagbe, mailed me a copy of his children's picture book. I am delighted at the opportunity to introduce readers to Greedy Spider, a folktale from Liberia, West Africa. The review is posted at allfolktales.

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-50775473061488551632009-11-21T09:09:00.002-05:002009-11-21T09:35:25.328-05:00

Every now and then, I've had people write to ask how they can contribute stories. It would be wonderful to have as many people contribute new stories or their versions of popular tales. I am thinking (as time and other engagements allow) of how to make this easy and seamless. But in the meantime, I'm offering these options:Send me an email to omowunmi [at] allfolktales.com and I will post your

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-59589891688013381792009-03-18T22:25:00.004-04:002009-03-18T23:18:16.559-04:00

Today, I came across the subject of the Olmecs. The Olmecs were a people who lived in South Central Mexico from the 1400BC to 400BC. Apparently, there are some who believe that a large population of the Olmecs were of African origin, specifically, of West African origin. I did google searches and visited several pages but did not read anything that led credence to that claim. What piqued my

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-44393128467897870022009-03-05T21:54:00.002-05:002009-03-05T22:13:45.839-05:00

I set a goal to publish at least one book review per month and yet, February ended without any review. I intend to make it up. The good news is that the book is already picked, "Tales by Moonlight" by Nigerian Television Authority, so my review will follow shortly.In the meantime, here is one of the stories from the book about a man, his three sons and a precious cow. I was very amused by the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-10923754152324951272009-02-24T20:42:00.003-05:002009-02-24T20:48:30.515-05:00

Long before lie detector tests were invented in the Western world, Africa had a similar but deadlier test. Let's call it a destructive truth test (DTT). Destructive, because if the test subject tested negative for truth, the test subject would be destroyed. No recourse, no appeal. The result of lying during a DTT was instant death.For an example of how this ancient science, DTT worked, read the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-21387078168667968372009-02-02T21:09:00.005-05:002009-02-02T21:21:16.797-05:00

A Reviews section has been added to the site. I've started off with two reviews:Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aadema, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi River: An African version of the Good Samaritan Story, by Kunle Ogunneye and illustrated by Bruce McCorkindaleSince I'm so busy - my perennial excuse for not updating this

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-57882109918164025052009-02-02T21:03:00.002-05:002009-02-02T21:09:46.092-05:00

Do you recall a folktale about a greedy boy, his sister and gourd seeds? Or one about a monster who traps a girl in a drum? A reader, Mary, is looking for some folktale volumes she had read as a kid. Here's her note and my response.Mary said: I learned to read from a series of collected fables African fables,Aesop's fables, etc. They were old rebound volumes in 1978. they were shortchildren's

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-70190299276801041512008-12-11T22:11:00.004-05:002009-09-17T20:21:00.024-04:00

A short 5 minute survey is up at surveymonkey to help provide some insight into reader's needs.I've wondered, ever since the first visitors trickled into allfolktales.com, "who visits my site?". Are they kids reading folktales for fun? Or are they reading for an assignment? Are they teachers? Are they parents? What are they really looking for when they stumble on this site?I've received hints

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-50486309205938022982008-12-09T00:11:00.004-05:002008-12-09T00:47:08.393-05:00

For months now, I've been thinking about where I want to take this site, what I want to do next. I'm having a hard time recalling more stories, so is that it? Does that signify the end of this project? "No no no." It can't end like this. Something in me rebels against that thought. But what to do? I don't know. Or, I didn't know.In the past few weeks, my thoughts are beginning to crystallize into

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-38671202245097825872008-08-28T20:45:00.004-04:002008-08-28T21:11:46.947-04:00

I am very excited to receive an email from a reader, Enitan. She (I'm assuming she) sent me an email with lyrics to the story of the three brothers and the pot of porridge and she says the name of the youngest brother, yeah, the culprit, is Tegbe. The song goes like this:`To ba se pe emi ni mo je koko arugbo (If I ate the koko yam)Ko'kun o gbe mi, (Let the ocean take me)K'Osa ko gba mi, (Let the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-6577570859740872772008-07-15T18:28:00.003-04:002008-07-15T19:37:53.231-04:00

There's an African folktale that tells the tale of how all the stories in the world were lost, and then recovered. I can't recall this tale in detail but think one of the Magic Cellar episodes was based on it. Or maybe I read the story somewhere.Perhaps the story illustrates an actual event - one where the entire (village?) populace forgot their stories or history and needed a concerted effort to

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-41616885995238112672008-06-12T18:32:00.004-04:002008-06-12T19:00:23.430-04:00

Phetolo wrote to ask "May u pls send me the origin of the story about how the chimpanzees bottom got swollen and red."Well, this was one of the stories that I remembered just a small fragment of, but I clearly remember where I knew the story from. It was one of the stories that I learned from Alawiye (by J.F. Odunjo), the textbook that we used for Yoruba when I was in primary school. I can't

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-22029048950487547012008-04-29T22:44:00.004-04:002008-04-29T23:18:36.687-04:00

One of the earliest stories I posted is the story about how Dog hid his mother in the sky during a famine. There's a song that goes with that story and I can't remember why I left it out. I've now updated the story to include the song.Fela Anikulapo Kuti (late Nigerian Afrobeat musician) used it in one of his songs and you can listen to that clip on BBC. The story is narrated on that page, but it

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-71262346309682423822008-04-22T21:07:00.003-04:002008-04-22T21:23:26.268-04:00

The Aesop story of the Tortoise and the Hare is a very popular one and it teaches us that "Slow and steady wins the race". However, when I was growing up, there was another version that was also popular where Tortoise won by tricking Hare.I tried to come up with a short phrase/adage/wise words that perhaps explains the moral of this 'win by trickery' version (which I also think predates the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-91463235717691192422008-04-13T15:55:00.003-04:002008-04-13T16:11:22.765-04:00

I was told the story of why mosquitos buzz in people's ears over a year ago but I didn't want to post it until I read the book that goes by the same title (by Verna Aardema). After all, I didn't want to be accused of plagiarism in case the stories were the same. Well, how could they be the same? I ordered the book and read it and it's a very interesting story but completely different from my mine

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-24586205182335140862008-03-30T21:43:00.006-04:002008-03-30T22:13:48.131-04:00

Sikulu the spider and Harambe the hippo are two characters developed by Kunle Oguneye. The first book in the series, Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi river: An African version of the Good Samaritan Story should be published in July 2008.Now, I haven't read the story, but I'm already won over by the cover illustration. I hope it is representative of illustrations throughout the book. One of the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-46349271838050331262008-03-30T20:31:00.006-04:002008-03-30T21:41:56.326-04:00

It took about 5 months for me to quit feeling guilty about not even trying to post a new story or say something on the blog. Initially, I blamed the site inactivity on various things - laptop crashed and I replaced it with a desktop instead of another laptop, then I moved to a new city, have a new 'busier' job and now a new baby. When SOLOMONSYDELLE said "Haba, update nah!", I was long gone. And

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-72541130488706098572007-06-21T19:51:00.000-04:002007-06-21T20:25:54.656-04:00

I posted a new story last night - The tortoise and the igbako. In line with other tortoise stories, the tortoise gets greedy and is subsequently punished. But I feel the punishment is unfair in this case since the tortoise was trying to feed every animal during a famine - an admirable act even if his goal was self-aggrandisement. The water goddess who supplied the magic igbako didn't give a

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-36558426465386779072007-06-20T17:07:00.000-04:002007-06-20T17:23:51.500-04:00

I've been away from allfolktales.com for 2 months now. And even before that there was a dwindling down of activity. Well, moving did take more energy than I expected but I'm way past that. Already settled into the new job and new environment for some time now...but yet I found it difficult to work up the energy will to post a new story or comment. It wasn't for lack of energy or lack of time,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-12848160112561082442007-04-19T19:03:00.000-04:002007-04-19T19:08:02.969-04:00

I've been away from this website for a long while now but for a good reason. I have been very busy rounding up at work, packing, getting ready to move to a new city and a new job. Exciting. But stressful.So before I pack my computer in a box, I thought I should explain why I have been silent...especially since a few people have posted comments on the blog. I'll be responding to those (and

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-54878827159657082992007-03-19T06:23:00.000-04:002007-03-19T12:09:36.510-04:00

I am trying to catch up on writing folktales I have been told and have just posted two new ones. The first is about Olomuroro and the second about a woman who stole the aroma from her neighbor's soup.Olomuroro is a Yoruba word that literally translates into 'one with droopy breasts' but I have no idea what that has to do with the story. Olomuroro is a monster who stole a boys meals while the boy

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-92111751443143711562007-03-05T19:26:00.000-05:002007-03-05T19:56:52.454-05:00

The creation myth of the Yoruba people is one of the earliest stories I posted to this website as it was one of those I 'remembered'. I always loved the story - the climbing down from heaven on a rope, the chicken (or lizard or chameleon - I have probably heard versions with these) spreading the earth which was contained in a calabash and especially one of the creators (Orunmila) getting drunk on

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-9923659412700918552007-03-04T13:06:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:02:54.567-05:00

The first two stories were posted on allfolktales.com on February 13, 2006 and twenty-two other stories have followed. So it’s been one fun year of allfolktales.com and time to look back at the year.The BeginningI wanted to share folktales I heard while I was growing up with my daughter. I planned to buy folktale books during a trip to Nigeria in 2005 but did not find any. Don't get me wrong,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-3342748116878413492007-02-04T12:29:00.000-05:002007-02-04T12:32:11.649-05:00

Every fairytale lover is only too familiar with the big bad wolf. I had never come across this character in West African folklore though…at least, not until recently when I was told two separate stories by two separate people that involved ‘creatures’ which swallowed people who were later rescued by being cut out of the ‘creatures’ stomach.Here is the first of those stories – the monster who had

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-12675248904495018332007-02-04T12:16:00.000-05:002007-02-04T12:18:56.318-05:00

Happy New Year everybody! It’s already February and I am just making the first update in 2007 to this site. After my bunch of excuses for slow/irregular updates late last year and promises of many new stories to post, that seems pretty lame. I apologize. The new year is a time of reflection and reprioritization, and that’s what I did. The result? Updating allfolktales.com dropped several

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-66188667909481010772006-12-20T16:20:00.000-05:002007-02-28T19:47:45.303-05:00

Recovered somewhat from the computer crash and enjoying the holiday season with family visiting.I was told the story of the farmer, his wife and their son…their son who wanted to be a hunter to the parents dismay. Then I was asked what the moral of the story was and before I had a chance to think about it, I was told “let your children be what they want to be”.As I write this, there are three

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-81268378143632301482006-11-27T10:03:00.000-05:002006-11-27T10:25:35.977-05:00

To all those in the US, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving day and wonderful Shopping thereafter.It's been a while since my last post here, not because I had no story to post (in fact, I do) but because:1) There are work related projects to be completed before the end of the year2) I'm entertaining family from Nigeria (who have supplied me with more folktales)Two very good excuses for not having

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-29882538162976383412006-11-06T18:20:00.000-05:002006-11-06T18:47:35.618-05:00

Posted this folktale yesterday about a bird that stole Iyawo's baby, then rewarded the woman. Iyale gets greedy and tries to get same reward but is punished instead. Iyale and Iyawo are Yoruba words meaning "senior wife" and "junior wife" respectively. They are terms used to label wives in a polygamous situation to indicate their order of seniority and many tales abound in Yoruba folklore

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1162422996133801732006-11-01T18:16:00.000-05:002006-11-05T22:03:43.848-05:00

Turn the World Around - a Guinea folklore inspirationI enjoy Harry Belafonte's music. This video is of a 1977 appearance he made on the Muppet Show where he sang Turn the world around - a beautiful song. In the video, he explains that his inspiration for the song came from a storyteller he met in Guinea.I went deep into the interior of the country and in a little village, I met with a storyteller

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1161907835895077312006-10-26T20:05:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.708-05:00

This was one of my favorite TV shows on NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) when I was a little girl. I looked forward to watching Tales by Moonlight every Sunday evening when ‘aunty’ told folktales to a group of boys and girls perched on the floor listening intently to her story. Each tale was enacted by actors (and some of the kids) where they played many animal roles (the folktales were full

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1161647461199973142006-10-23T19:49:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.642-05:00

In search of books on early African history, I came across “A corpus of early Arab sources for West African history”. It looked like a good source since the Arabs had the earliest (recorded) contact with West Africa but I suspected it may be a difficult book to read. I went to Barnes and Noble, hoping to glance through a copy before purchasing but it was not in the store, so I ordered it in,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1160937511584543502006-10-15T14:30:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.580-05:00

A long while back, while searching for West African folktales, I stumbled across The Internet Sacred Text Archive where there is have a collection of old books online. Amongst them are two books, Yoruba Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa by A.B. Ellis (1894) and Yoruba Legends by M. I. Ogumefu (1929), both of which contain a nice collection of folktales. I remember some elements

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1159569930454577842006-09-29T18:41:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.441-05:00

Here are some statistics for allfolktales.com from April (when we signed up for Google Analytics) to September. It will be interesting to monitor the trend as time goes on. From the graph below, our traffic dropped in May and June before it started to pick up again. Several of those May/June visits can be attributed to myself - fixing, tweaking things and checking the pages - but I've applied the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1158799563138355682006-09-20T20:45:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.381-05:00

A little digression here to talk about West African history.I was chatting with a colleague when the subject of ancient West Africa came up. And I was ashamed to learn that I knew too little. I know of the Fulani and Ashanti empires, I know of Uthman Dan Fodio who was a great Islamic scholar and his influence in Northern Nigeria, then there was the slave trade accompanied by inter-tribal wars,

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1158152547384758652006-09-13T09:01:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.318-05:00

Rather than wait till we have all the pieces of a story, in which case we keep asking pestering the few people we have access to keep digging into their memory, we have decided to post the tale fragments we have here on the blog...and hopefully down the line, we'll develop the story enough to add to our folktale collection. If you know any part of this story, please do not hesitate to chime in.A

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1157141378982078942006-09-01T16:08:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.205-05:00

Rev P E Adotey Addo is a Ghanian-born folklorist and poet living in North Carolina. He has contributed two stories, Ananse and the pot of wisdom and Kweku Ananse outsmarts himself from his book, How the Spider Became Bald: Folktales and Legends from West Africa. So, we at allfolktales.com heartily welcome Ananse, the popular Ghanian trickster spider to our site.Rev Addo's website is at

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1156122219462024432006-08-20T20:47:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.089-05:00

Here's a story about Oluronbi, a young woman who makes a foolish promise. I remember the song pretty well but I'm a bit hazy about the story or where the song features in the story. I decided to go ahead and post it since everyone I ask about the story bursts out in the song but are less able to recall all of the story.Based on the apparent popularity of the song and the number of people who

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1155079315823072092006-08-08T19:13:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:43.031-05:00

A new story is long overdue so here is the story of two half-sisters and an old man.This story is based on the “wicked half-sister” theme ever so popular in folktales and fairy tales the world over. The result of this popularity is that elements from other sources/stories got jumbled into my recollection, however I believe those have been sifted out now (with some effort). It reminds me of

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1154392991788112842006-07-31T20:32:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.970-05:00

Magic Cellar which was reviewed here has received a 3 Star endorsement from the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media in the KIDS FIRST!® program. As I understand it, the 3 Star endorsement is pretty rare, so we throw out 3 big happy cheers for the production team. Read the entire press release below.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MAGIC CELLAR RECEIVES RARE ALL-STAR ENDORSEMENT BY

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1152665119649086902006-07-11T20:27:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.909-05:00

The CD contains 8 stories and includes one Anansi folktale. Anansi is a spider, the West African trickster character from Ghana. Read the complete press release below.Long-Awaited 'Tell Me A Story' CD Debuts with a Storytelling Event at Village BooksLOS ANGELES, CA - July 11, 2006 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE)-- Stand-up comedian and recording artist, Poppie Champlin; singer and director, Lori Ada

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1152471832276432782006-07-09T14:46:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.852-05:00

I got it this afternoon when I checked allfolktales.com mailbox and found that someone had emailed some feedback."What a pleasant surprise to happen on your site. I am a storyteller and I'm often looking for stories out of Africa. It hasn't been an easy task tofind a rare story. Thank you for what you are doing! "Other than the obvious reason (it is positive feedback), I really liked this because

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1151703926567392262006-06-30T17:37:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.796-05:00

I found this interesting Central African folktale about the tortoise and the eagle accompanied with nice illustrations too. The folktale described Tortoise as kind and generous - a different Tortoise from the West African folktale depictions, but not too different as this tortoise still kept his cunning ability.

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1151261819065889142006-06-25T14:52:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.742-05:00

Kiigbo Kiigba is a Yoruba phrase meaning, "one who neither listens nor obey". That's the name of the main character in this popular Yoruba tale. In some versions of this story, he is simply known as Kiigbo. It is a tale that illustrates the importance of obedience.

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1151027412130321302006-06-22T21:44:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.688-05:00

Just posted a folktale about the Chipmunk and how it got its stripes. I was told the story last week as the story of Edun in Yoruba. I asked, what is Edun and was told it's the squirrel-like creature that's got stripes. I thought "that's a chipmunk but we don't have any in West Africa" but apparently, I'm very wrong. It's a pity that all my knowledge of chipmunks came from Alvin and the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1150333769949695712006-06-14T20:54:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.627-05:00

Here I am, an individual actively (a couple of moments a month) trying to collect West African folktales (at least the ones from Nigeria), yet whenever my two and a half year old asks “mummy, tell story” I instinctively begin to narrate the three little pigs, goldilocks and the three bears, snow white and the seven dwarfs or any of a myriad of fairy tales I read as a child. All of these I

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1149821778935427302006-06-08T22:52:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.564-05:00

I expressed a simple wish to see Magic Cellar which since my last post has won two bronze Telly awards in the “Children’ and “Use of Animation” categories. The producer, Firdaus Kharas granted my wish by sending me the first three episodes in the series. Thank you. He also let me know that he is interested in featuring West African folktales in future episodes and would welcome story suggestions

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1149608971388210022006-06-06T11:34:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.503-05:00

Here's a folk tale I posted about how the chimpazee's bottom became swollen and red. It's a story translated from Yoruba and provided a challenge in writing about fecal matter without sounding disgusting. The Yoruba version never seemed that way whenever the lion shouted "Su dundun", but how do you translate that into English? I had run into a similar situation with the folk tale of the three

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1148514972952016502006-05-24T19:55:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.436-05:00

Magic Cellar, the first 3-dimensional animated series based on African folktales was awarded the prestigious Platinum REMI Award at WorldFest in April. Hopefully, this success will encourage other attempts. I have not yet seen it, I look forward to doing so and in the meantime, I accept the award as a proof of the quality of the production.You can find out more about the characters and the

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1147435178607310742006-05-12T07:56:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.376-05:00

In my first first post, I alleged that very few African folktales had been documented out of the huge collection that must exist. Now, here is a reference which I found on http://web.cocc.edu/hum299/colleen/african/ to back that claim up. It says:"Struck has estimated the number of African folktales at nearly a quarter of a million. Klipple estimates that five thousand different African myths and

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1147139318857371822006-05-08T21:45:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.312-05:00

This story of the three brothers and the pot of porridge was told to me recently.I forgot to ask what happened to the youngest brother after he fell into the river. Did he drown, or did he get rescued and learn a lesson he would never forget? I resisted the urge to “fill in the gap” there, but could not resist creating a logical reason why the brothers declined the offer of supper in the first

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1146924995624718782006-05-06T10:07:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.256-05:00

I discovered FeedDigest which made it amazingly easy to incorporate a feed from this blog into the website.So here is an archive of the former content that is now replaced by the blog feed:23 Apr 2006 - Added The lost heir, a folk story about a king and his barren wives.22 Apr 2006 - Added glossary of African terms and a links page for folktale resources.3 Apr 2006 - Thanks to Caxton Olumide

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27497520.post-1146699470803158802006-05-03T19:36:00.000-04:002006-11-05T22:03:42.188-05:00

This is a companion blog to www.allfolktales.com - a website where I intended to post all the West African stories I can recollect from my childhood. I set up the site, got ready to write and realized to my dismay that I could hardly recollect any of the many folktales I surely know. Fragments of many different stories lay in a mangled mess in my memory, defying attempts to be put together in a

folktalerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02217826102982560968noreply@blogger.com0