Who is Ananse?
Ananse is a folktale character from the stories of the Akan, peoples originating in the south of the former Gold Coast - an area we now call Ghana. Arguably the most famous and popular character in West African and Caribbean folklore, Ananse embodies the spirit and knowledge of all told tales. He is a trickster and a shape-shifter who commonly takes the form of a spider.
Spelling variants: Anansi, Anansy
Ananse
image from Wikimedia Commons
Ananse Compendium
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Spider-Man Anancy
by
Call Number: JUV 398.2B534sISBN: 0805012079Publication Date: 1989-10-01A collection of twenty tales recounting the antics of the West Indian trickster Anancy and his companions Bro Monkey, Bro Dog, and Bro Tiger
Ananse Variants
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Ananse's Feast
by
Call Number: JUV 398.2M72aISBN: 0395674026Publication Date: 1997-04-17Unwilling to share his feast, Ananse the spider tricks Akye the turtle so that he can eat all the food himself, but Akye finds a way to get even -
Ananse and the Lizard
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Call Number: JUV 398.2C9717aISBN: 0805064761Publication Date: 2002-10-01Ananse the spider thinks he will marry the daughter of the village chief, but instead he is outsmarted by Lizard -
Anansi and the Magic Stick
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Call Number: JUV 398.24K49amISBN: 0823414434Publication Date: 2001-01-01Anansi the Spider steals Hyena's magic stick so he won't have to do the chores, but when the stick's magic won't stop, he gets more than he bargained for -
Anansi and the Talking Melon
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Call Number: JUV 398.2K49anISBN: 0823411044Publication Date: 1994-03-01A clever spider tricks Elephant and some other animals into thinking the melon in which he is hiding can talk -
Anansi Does the Impossible!
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Call Number: JUV 398.2A113aISBN: 0689839332Publication Date: 2000-11-01Anansi and his wife outsmart the Sky God and win back the beloved folktales of their people -
Anansi the Spider
by
Call Number: JUV 398.2M13a2ISBN: 080500310XPublication Date: 1972-05-15In trying to determine which of his six sons to reward for saving his life, Anansi the Spider is responsible for placing the moon in the sky -
Anansi the Spider Man
by
Call Number: JUV 398.4S55aISBN: 9780690089059Publication Date: 1954-01-01Originating in West Africa, these Anansi stories were heard by the author when he was a child in Jamaica. Marcia Brown also lived in Jamaica, so her gay black & white line drawings capture the spirit of these tales. -
Brother Anansi and the Cattle Ranch - El Hermano Anansi y el Rancho de Ganado
by
Call Number: JUV 398.2D44bISBN: 0892390441Publication Date: 1989-04-01A bilingual folk tale in which Brother Anansi persuades Brother Tiger to go into the cattle-raising business -
Tiger Soup
by
Call Number: JUV 398.2T28tISBN: 9780531068595Publication Date: 1994-09-01After tricking Tiger into leaving the soup he has been cooking, Anansi the spider eats the soup himself and manages to put the blame on the monkeys
