Elephant works industriously in his garden while that trickster spider Anansi watches, yearning after the melons he is too lazy to cultivate himself. When Elephant goes inside for a rest, Anansi eats his way into the ripest melon, but gorges so much that he is too fat to get out again. Convincing Elephant that his voice is that of the melon, that the melon can in fact talk, the trickster is carried along to the king, with a growing procession of animals accompanying him on his journey. When his sarcasm earns the king's ire, the melon is smashed and Anansi released...

Anansi and the Talking Melon is the second picture-book about this famous West African trickster figure that I have read from author Eric A. Kimmel and illustrator Janet Stevens, following upon their Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. It pairs an amusing cumulative tale with expressive artwork that perfectly captures the humor of the story. The ending here, in which Elephant vows never to listen to talking melons again, only for Anansi, hidden inside a banana he is eating, to commend his choice, had me laughing out loud. It was such a pleasant and amusing ending to the story that I raised my rating from three to four stars. My only criticism of the book, and it is the same I made for Kimmel and Stevens' earlier book, is that no source material is given for this retelling, something I really look for in folkloric works. Recommended to Anansi fans, and to folklore lovers in general. ( )

Anansi, the spider, has got some tricks up his sleeve when he decides to mess with an elephant one day. Anansi decided he was going to eat one of the elephants melons because they looked so good and he was too lazy to plant one of his own. However, after Anansi got into the melon he could not get out. Anansi tricked all of the others in town into thinking the elephant had a talking melon, but he was just having fun messing with everyone. This story was a great story to read, and students would probably get a good laugh out of it. This book could also open up discussions about right and wrong, and if the students thought what Anansi did was right or. wrong. Anansi never gets punished in the end, but maybe he should for the trick he played on everyone. Overall, it was a great book and I would absolutely read it to a class of students. ( )

The few Anansi folktales that I have read are some are the quirkiest books I’ve read in a while. This one is particular is fairly strange but nothing compared to the other I’m reviewing later. This is so great for younger readers for how differently these are retold. Anansi is a great character for younger kids to live through, especially considering how flawed he is as a person. He isn’t necessarily bad, but mischievous and kids would be able to tell that he isn’t the greatest role model. I would defiantly recommend this to children. ( )

Children will get a good giggle when this talking melon tricks fellow animals. Anansi is a spider who climbs into a melon but eats too much he cannot get out. When an elephant comes along and finds the talking melon, he is so impressed and take it to the king. But Anansi isn't going to let him get away without a few bumps along the way!

In this picture book, Anansi, the talking spider, pretends to be a talking melon when he gets stuck inside the melon due to his gluttony size and fools the elephant into believing a melon can talk. From there, other animals are convinced that the melon can talk and go with the elephant. Anansi enjoys his amusement of deception of fooling the other animals into thinking a non-talking melon can talk and when the king meets the "talking melon," Anansi insults the king. The king gets angry and throws the melon far away from his land. Anansi is freed and continues to satisfy his hunger by eating bananas.

This is a great humorous book I enjoy as I am laughing how trickery Anansi is with the melon. I like how Eric Kimmel incorporates personification with the animals in addition to making the other animals into believing a melon can talk. Also, you can't believe everything you see until you see it yourself. Basically, it's seeing is believing as it is illustrated of how the animals are fool into thinking there's a talking melon when there isn't. All in all, a fun, enjoyable I love to read and this book would be great to read to young children. ( )