Creighton University

After happening to find "Animal Tales 3" I sought out the other three in the series.  Again we have spicy stories from South Africa with surprising and engaging illustrations.  Again there is a chip out of the book's cover.  After two volumes in 2011, they produced one in 2012 (Animal Tales 3) and one in 2013 (Animal Tales 4).  Wielligh and Blankenaar collaborate throughout.  I notice that they are also available as "Dierestories" in Afrikaans.  The introduction "Telling tales Khoikhoi style" (11) is endearing.  It will warm the heart of anyone who loves to hear good stories.  These are spicy stories from South Africa. I find less use of standard fable tropes here than I did in "Animal Tales 3."  Typically the stories pit the smart jackal against the stupid wolf.  A short introduction tips off the reader what he or she can learn from the story, which is often a "pourquoi" story.  That is, they tell why porpoises chase after fish and why jackals' tails droop.  In fact the first story, "The battle between walking and flying animals," explains these and a great deal more of animal behavior.  Closest to the fable world here might be "Dig in our heels, Brother Wolf!" (82), which has jackal talking wolf into having his tail tied to the tail of a sleeping horse.  It will not go well for Brother Wolf!  "Wolf learns to fly" (76) picks up a theme from the Aesopic fable of the turtle learning how to fly.  "Wolf and the human animal" (71) echoes several fables about strong animals encountering a surprisingly effective human being.  As I mentioned about "Animal Tales 3," the art is as creative as the stories.  I like these books!

Once again, these engaging stories tend toward pourquoi stories and tend to have jackal outwitting wolf regularly.  For me the last story is particularly clever.  Wolf wants to get even with jackal and draws honey badger into his plot.  They will lure jackal into what he thinks is a stash of honey but is really the tigress' lair where she cares for her four young cubs.  Then they will close off that cave with a rock.  They execute the plan perfectly.  Jackal is trapped inside the cave.  But the tigress is not there.  When she returns, jackal cleverly says that he saved her cubs from the wolf, who is probably somewhere close by.  He will pass one cub at a time to her for feeding, and she can pass the cub back.  So they do and she rests and then goes off to search for the wolf.  In the meantime jackal eats one of the cubs.  Repeat the process four times.  Then jackal asks the tigress to remove the stone so that they can corner wolf, whom he knows is in the area.  She does and soon finds that he is not flushing the wolf out but rather that he has left.  Then she finds that she has lost her cubs!  See "Animal Tales 1" and "Animal Tales 3" for further comments on the series.  As I mention there, the art is as creative as the stories.  I like these books! 

Here is the Afrikaans version of a book we already have in English.  As I wrote there, once again, these engaging stories tend toward pourquoi stories and tend to have jackal outwitting wolf regularly.  For me the last story is particularly clever.  Wolf wants to get even with jackal and draws honey badger into his plot.  They will lure jackal into what he thinks is a stash of honey but is really the tigress' lair where she cares for her four young cubs.  Then they will close off that cave with a rock.  They execute the plan perfectly.  Jackal is trapped inside the cave.  But the tigress is not there.  When she returns, jackal cleverly says that he saved her cubs from the wolf, who is probably somewhere close by.  He will pass one cub at a time to her for feeding, and she can pass the cub back.  So they do and she rests and then goes off to search for the wolf.  In the meantime jackal eats one of the cubs.  Repeat the process four times.  Then jackal asks the tigress to remove the stone so that they can corner wolf, whom he knows is in the area.  She does and soon finds that he is not flushing the wolf out but rather that he has left.  Then she finds that she has lost her cubs!  See "Animal Tales 1" and "Animal Tales 3" for further comments on the series.  As I mention there, the art is as creative as the stories.  I like these books!

Here are spicy stories from South Africa.  I have read the first half dozen.  Though they are told with fine literary flair, these stories use -- and sometimes combine -- basic fable tropes.  Thus the first story is about getting into the sheepfold but not being able to get out.  The second is about duping a predator by getting the wrong things down his gullet.  The third uses several motifs but among them is a right-before-death plea to one animal holding another: "Please put your paws together and say grace before the meal I am."  The fifth is a race between baboon and tortoise.  Tortoise plants look-alike tortoises at a number of spots along the path.  The art is as creative as the stories.  I immediately ordered the other three books in the series.  I learned on Amazon that the crazy-shaped chip out of the cover is not a quirk of just this copy.  How nice to run into people who do things a bit differently!

Here are again spicy stories from South Africa.  I have read the first half dozen.  Though they are told with fine literary flair, these stories use -- and sometimes combine -- basic fable tropes.  Thus the first story has jackal persuade poor wolf to fish with his tail in freezing water.  The third story has crab racing well against jackal because he grabs onto jackal's tail and allows himself to be brought to the finish line.  Story #6, "Illness in the royal household" (39) has a fable motif; in fact it is very close to a traditional fable except for its ending.  King lion needs healing for a sick member of his family.  Jackal gets there after wolf -- in this case because Jackal is stealing half of Wolf's Kudu through a false note to Wolf's wife -- and then recommends to the king that the best cure is the skin of a living wolf.  The difference in this case is that wolf runs off before he can be skinned -- and returns with his grandmother as the proper victim, whose skin is fortunately no longer needed.  Story #12, "Where Turtle came from" (71) includes another fable motif.  Tortoise flies across a river when two crows carry him on a stick which he clasps in his mouth while they hold it in their beaks and fly.  In this case Tortoise finally answers when a frog addresses him in kindly fashion.  He comes splashing down and stays in the water and becomes Turtle.  The art is again as creative as the stories.  My favorite picture is for that twelfth story on 74.  The crazy-shaped chip out of the cover is not a quirk of just this copy.  How nice that Wielligh and Blankenaar continue the series!

Here is the Afrikaans version of a book already in the collection in its English version. As I wrote there, here are again spicy stories from South Africa.  I have read the first half dozen.  Though they are told with fine literary flair, these stories use -- and sometimes combine -- basic fable tropes.  Thus the first story has jackal persuade poor wolf to fish with his tail in freezing water.  The third story has crab racing well against jackal because he grabs onto jackal's tail and allows himself to be brought to the finish line.  Story #6, "Illness in the royal household" (39) has a fable motif; in fact it is very close to a traditional fable except for its ending.  King lion needs healing for a sick member of his family.  Jackal gets there after wolf -- in this case because Jackal is stealing half of Wolf's Kudu through a false note to Wolf's wife -- and then recommends to the king that the best cure is the skin of a living wolf.  The difference in this case is that wolf runs off before he can be skinned -- and returns with his grandmother as the proper victim, whose skin is fortunately no longer needed.  Story #12, "Where Turtle came from" (71) includes another fable motif.  Tortoise flies across a river when two crows carry him on a stick which he clasps in his mouth while they hold it in their beaks and fly.  In this case Tortoise finally answers when a frog addresses him in kindly fashion.  He comes splashing down and stays in the water and becomes Turtle.  The art is again as creative as the stories.  My favorite picture is for that twelfth story on 74.  The crazy-shaped chip out of the cover is not a quirk of just this copy.  How nice that Wielligh and Blankenaar continue the series in both languages!