Adwoa Badoe

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!… (mehr)

This is a fascinating look at the people of Ghana, both their admirable qualities and their limitations.

It is in the voice of Gloria, who has failed her exams and so can no longer go to school. Fortunately, a family friend arranges for her to become the live-in nanny/cook/housekeeper for a young female doctor in another city. There, she is treated very well and feels like a sister to the doctor. She meets friends and joins a band. A male doctor begins paying attention to her, but only when no one else is around. She is dazzled and believes him when he says he loves her and wants to marry her, but also goes along with keeping it secret because she is still so young. Naturally, she learns that he is only using her. She finds out the truth before she gets into any real trouble, but a good friend of hers is not so lucky.

Told in spare writing, I felt apprehensive reading it knowing that Gloria, who was so innocent, was going to learn some very hard lessons.… (mehr)