When lazy Anansi, the famed West African trickster figure, decides to go fishing, he looks around for a fool he can convince to do all the work. Imagine his surprise when Bonsu, also known for his cleverness, offers to accompany him. Will Anansi be able to trick his friend? And what do their wives, Aso and Laluah, have to do with it...?

This Ashanti folktale, which illustrates the point that "When you dig a hole for someone else, you will fall into it yourself," is a humorous story of a trickster being caught in his own trap. I particularly enjoyed the sly humor of the women here, who know perfectly well what their husbands are up to. Taken from Robert S. Rattray's Akan-Ashanti Folk-tales, published in 1930, Aardema's retelling is an engaging adaptation. Bryna Waldman's watercolor illustrations, which depict Anansi in his human form, perfectly express the humor of the story. ( )

Traditional literature, trickster tale from West Africa (Ghana)
Anansi wants to trick a friend into doing all the work at fishing, but he ends up being the stupid one. I loved the pastel full page watercolor illustrations, with ombré text boxes. The "tricks" in this story, however, are so easy to spot they border on ridiculous.

This book takes place in West Africa and it tells the story about a man named Anansi who wanted to have a fish buisness but wanted someone else to do all the work while he took the glory. His wife, Aso, tells her friend and her friend tells her husband about Anansi's plan. So the husband, Bonsu, decides to help Anansi, but shows him a lesson about treating others like fools. From making fish traps to catching fish, Bonsu tricks Anansi into doing all the work and shows him that Anansi is the fool.

This book is good in teaching a lesson on how to treat people fairly. The artwork is very good and shows how people in West Africa dress and hunt. The texts were a bit long for me, but it's informational about how fish traps are made and set in West Africa.

This is a good book to read to aclass when you are learning about Africa and how people there live. This is also a good way to teach kids a lesson in how to treat people.

A great fable that teaches a lesson, don't be lazy, and would also be good for discussing different cultures. ( )

Aardema, V., & Waldman, B. (1992). Anansi finds a fool. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.
The motif of the book is a trickster. The story is about a trickster who wanted to fool a man, but it ended that the trickster is actually the one who gets fooled. It is of African origin.