Book Review Module 2
TWU assignment
LS 5603 - 20
Anansi and the Talking Melon
Bibliographic Data:
Kimmel, Eric A. 1994. Anansi and the Talking Melon. Ill. by Janet Stevens. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823411044
Plot Summary:
Anansi, the sly spider gets into a tight spot by eating his way into a melon. When he tries to exit the melon, he has gotten fat, and cannot get out. Always ready for a good joke, Anansi devises a plan that involves making the other animals think that a melon can talk.
Analysis:
Eric Kimmel records the Anansi stories, folktales told in West Africa. Anansi is a lazy, but crafty spider who uses his wits to make up for any shortcomings, like being much smaller than most of the other animals. This element is very appealing to young children, who know how the small spider feels. It demonstrates that you can be small, yet triumph over larger people. This is cleverly done by making Anasi and all of the animals have human qualities, except for their physical bodies.
The best lesson Anansi gives the reader is to use your brains. This is done in a very playful manner, with plenty of insults by the protagonist, which makes the reader want to quickly turn each page tot see what the spider will do next. The story concludes as Anansi, now inside a banana, starts the entire trick over,
“You melons got me in trouble with the king!” Elephant said. “From now on, you
can talk all you like. I’m not going to listen to a word you say!”
Good for
you, Elephant!” Anansi called from the bananas. “We bananas should
have warned you. Talking melons are nothing but trouble.” (Kimmel, 1994)
The illustrations are an integral part of the folktale. They are cartoon like, colorful, and have a fun quality. Characterization is a strong point in the Anansi illustrations, with little details like putting a hippo in a chair and having him read a book really adding to the story’s appeal. The King is also a very expressive, and is clearly drawn as being not so intelligent, which shows the creativity and talent of Stevens.
In addition, the illustrations show many close ups of Anansi and the melon. This detail reminds the reader that Anansi is not really small in all ways. It also has the effect of making the reader feel as if he/she were in the book, eating and becoming trapped in the melon.
Review Excerpts:
Booklist
“ With perfect pacing and repetition and with surprising reversals up to the very last page, this is a great choice for reading aloud and storytelling.” Hazel Rochman
School Library Journal
“The same elements that made Kimmel's earlier books popular are in evidence here,” and, “Stevens's anthropomorphic animals are both expressive and endearing. A surefire hit.”Heide Piehler
The review excerpts above are taken from Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Anansi-Talking-Melon-Eric Kimmel/dp/0823411672/ref=sr_1_1/104 77039227921511?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190402236&sr=1-1. (Accessed on September 18, 2007)
Connections:
Some books with similar themes:
Ananse's Feast: An Ashanti Tale, by Eric Kimmel; Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti, by Gerald Mc Dermott; Papagayo: The Mischief Maker, by Gerald McDermott; Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa by Gerald McDermott; and Anansi Does The Impossible!: An Ashanti Tale by Verna Ardema.
Activities:
Anansi and the Talking Melon is a good book for using finger puppets and having the children take the charter’s roles to participate in the story.
The book also makes a good starting point to have the class listen to before writing their own stories about playing tricks.
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