Inspired by: "The Wild Boar and the Ram" in The Fables of John Gay.
Notes: The illustration is by William Harvey.
This is the first in what I hope will be a long series of books about African animal tales. You will meet tricksters here like Rabbit (ancestor of Brer Rabbit and Tio Conejo), along with Tortoise, Spider, and more. There are “pourquoi” stories about why Bat flies at night and why Lemur’s eyes are big. There are also stories of magical transformations, like the woman who became a lion. The stories come from many different African traditions; see the list of sources in the back of the book. You can find out more and also listen to an audiobook at Africa.LauraGibbs.net.
The paragraph you just read is 100 words long, as is this paragraph, and that’s also the length of each story in this book. The stories go fast, but you can slow down when you find one you like. Read it again. Read it aloud. Let it sink in. Maybe even write your own version of the story, using your imagination to add more details. Meanwhile, if you don’t like a story, don’t get bogged down; just move on to the next one. You can find many more African animal tales, along with 100-word stories from other cultural traditions, at 100Words.LauraGibbs.net.