Still smarting from the trick that Turtle played on him in Anansi Goes Fishing, that celebrated arachnid trickster from West African lore decides to get his revenge. Inviting Turtle to a party, Anansi keeps adding conditions for attendance - wearing a costume, bringing a dish - just as his guest gets to his house, causing him to miss the party altogether. Turtle gets his own revenge in turn, inviting Anansi to an underwater party that eventually lands him (with the help of some balloons) on the moon...

I have always loved Anansi stories, since first encountering them as a child, and I am always attracted to new tellings of them. Recently I have been reading the picture-book versions done by author Eric A. Kimmel and illustrator Janet Stevens, of which Anansi's Party Time is the fifth and final example. Unfortunately, although the story itself was very much in the classic Anansi tradition of the tricksters tricked, I was distracted by some of the non-traditional elements in the story, such as the use of balloons. I was also disappointed that Kimmel included no note as to his source material, leaving me to wonder whether this was a traditional tale at all, or an original one featuring a traditional character. There are tales of Anansi and the moon, but I am not familiar with those one, making the absence of a note particularly troubling. I'd still recommend this to those who enjoy Anansi stories, but I am unsure as to its provenance. ( )

This book is my favorite out of the two Anansi books I’ve read. It shows how cynical both of these characters were to each other. It teaches a valuable lesson that what goes around comes around. It clearly isn’t a story to take too seriously considering what happens in the end, but it defiantly is an interesting story. It keeps you guessing and invested in how each character would respond to each circumstance. ( )

In this picture book, Anansi, the talking spider, plots a trickery against Turtle, his friend. He invites Turtle to a party by writing him a letter. He makes Turtle life miserable by making Turtle meeting the criteria of the list he forget to bring to the party. Anansi succeeds in playing a trick against Turtle. In return, Turtle hatches a revenge plan against Anansi and succeeds in doing so. Anansi gets send up and away from to the moon.

I love the twist at the end of the book especially what happen to Anansi. Revenge isn't always sweet as it is demonstrated with Anansi being in the receiving end of the situation. Furthermore, it shows that you don't mess with anyone, you won't get any trouble. Eric Kimmel is a great storyteller in this humorous tale. ( )

Revenge is not always sweeter. Anansi realizes this after he was unable to eat any cake and then wound up on the moon! The consequence for playing tricks turns into more tricks as two unlikely friends go head to head in a comical tale. ( )

Cute fable about the African god Anansi. Would be a good introduction to how people would create a story to explain natural phenomena they would observe around them. This would be a good book for Kindergarten through maybe 2nd grade to address Common Core standards related to diverse folklore and fairy tales.
Reading Level: 1.6 Interest Level: K-3 ( )