African Myths

Retold African Myths is superior to many of the books of African myths that I have read. For one thing, it clearly gives the tribal/country's origin of each story and has a map in the front where each story's origin is clearly shown. Included are myths which represent Uganda, Yoruba, Togo, Zulu, Ashanti, Chagga, Hausa, Swahili, Nigerian, Bambara, Kono, Congo, Sotho, and Mende cultures. The themes covered are creation, death, gods and mortals, tricksters, how and why, and right and wrong. Each story includes a vocabulary preview with definitions, a list of main characters with brief descriptions, and a commentary which explains the historical and cultural context. Intended for high interest, low reading level, the book is written at 6th grade level, but is earmarked for 6th-12th grade students. The cover and layout are very appealing. A great resource for the history or language arts teacher.