Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kimmel, Eric. 1988. Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. Ill. by Janet Stevens. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 082340689X

PLOT SUMMARY

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock is a retelling of an African folktale. “Once upon a time,” Anansi, a trickster spider, discovered a strange moss-covered rock that knocked out anyone who recited the phrase, “Isn’t this a strange moss-covered rock!” Because he is too lazy to collect his own food, Anansi decided to trick his neighbors. Several of Anansi’s neighbors were knocked out by the moss-covered rock long enough for Anansi to steal the produce they worked hard to collect. 

Little Bush Deer witnessed Anansi’s trickery and decided to teach him a lesson. The deer did not fall for Anansi’s trick but played it against him. While Anansi was knocked out, Little Bush Deer returned all the produce to the rightful owners. Unfortunately, Anansi did not learn his lesson as he still continues to trick others.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Anansi exhibits his ability to trick his naïve neighbors. The characters in this tale are simple, hard-working animals that live in the rainforest. All too trusting, one-by-one they fall for Anansi’s tricks. The repetition of the actions makes each encounter with a neighbor reliable and predictable. That is, until Little Bush Deer outsmarts the deceitful spider. 

While many events seem unfair to the unsuspecting neighbors, the conclusion is rather satisfying—Anansi is taught a lesson in being dishonest and his neighbors get their produce back.

Kimmel only describes the setting as “the forest”, but Stevens expands that description with her images of bamboo porches and tropical vegetation. The illustrations follow the quick-moving events in the story to complement the actions as they occur. 

Notably, Stevens never illustrates Anansi’s face. All of the spider’s emotion is shown through his eight legs—pointing, moving, stomping. The illustrations show more feelings than the text alone provides—the expressions of exasperated animals when they discover their missing fruit, Anansi’s irritation with Little Bush Deer, and the satisfaction of the animals when their food is returned.

Themes of justice and work ethic present themselves in this folktale. With the help of Little Bush Deer, the creatures in the forest are vindicated. Anansi finds that weaseling his way out of the effort to gather his own food leads him back to having no food of his own.

Kimmel retells the story in a simple way that allows readers to sympathize with the victims of Anansi’s trickery. Great satisfaction comes when Anansi’s actions come to justice. Kimmel stays true to the various original stories of Anansi—a trickster who spends more time conniving his friends out of food than it would take to collect his own produce.

REVIEWS

“The stylized exaggeration of words and pictures is just wry enough to avoid cuteness and maintain the mischief of a true trickster tale.”

–Betsy Hearne, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, October 1988

“The text is rhythmic, nicely building suspense to the inevitable conclusion.”

 —Maria Salvadore, School Library Journal, November 1988

CONNECTIONS

Reader’s Theatre: Children make paper bag puppets of each animal character to use as props.

Sequencing: use student-drawn illustrations to make a timeline of events, especially noting the order of animal friends Anansi stole from.

Counseling Lesson: Discuss with children actions and consequences, possible incorporating cause and effect. Students create and act out other scenarios that may happen in their own lives.

Music Appreciation: Listen to African music. Students offer observations and opinions about the music. (Suggested activity from http://www.liveoakmedia.com/client/guides/26754.pdf)

Research: Search for and read the many variants of Anansi folktales. Compare and contrast similarities and differences. Students can make a judgment about their favorite one.