Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti ~ Gerald McDermott (1972, Hold, Rinehart & Winston)

Summary: Anansi the Spider is folktale about where the moon comes from. Anansi is the father of six sons, who all have different gifts. Anansi runs into trouble one day and all of the sons come together to save their father. Anansi wants to give a prize to the one that was most helpful to him but he cannot decide between them. He asks Nyame, the God of All Things to help him. Nyame cannot decide either. Instead of giving the gift to one son, Anansi places the beautiful white light in the sky for all to see and share. 


My Review: I loved this book as a child and I still love it. Another great production of McDermott. The pictures are awesome and the story itself is something to be shared with young readers everywhere. 


About the Author: McDermott is a well-known author, illustrator, designer and director. He has helped to create over 25 books and films. He has been an artist since he was very young. At the age of 4 he was admitted to the Detroit Institute of Arts. He was award the National Scholastic scholarship and attended New York's Pratt Institute. He left school during his junior year to become the first graphic designer of Channel 13. He has written several well known books that have won Caldecott Honors and Caldecott Medals. 


Genre: Multicultural, Folktale
Theme / Skill: Teaching students about cultures different from their own. 
Age Level:  5-10


Pre-reading Activity: I would do a book walk and ask students what they think this book will be about. Write down predictions. As we read, I would also fill in a Storyman (version of a story web by Colleen Meier) as I read to help students keep track of what is going on in the story. 


Post-reading Activity: I would check students predictions to see if they were right. I would ask the students what word describe Anansi. For a writing activity, students would need to pick one of the adjectives and write about Anansi.