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African Folktales for the Young at Heart
African Folktales for the Young at Heart brings together twenty captivating tales from Northern Nigeria—stories passed down through generations around evening fires, now illustrated and retold for families everywhere. Watch a tiny spider defeat the tallest man in all of Hausaland, armed with nothing but cleverness and courage. Meet a mosquito with a secret, a hungry billy goat who outsmarts a hyena, and Moyi, a boy who gathers ten life-changing lessons from the forest. For ages 8–12—perfect for family read-alouds and classroom libraries. Drawn from the rich storytelling tradition of Hausaland, these short, satisfying tales sparkle with humor, courage, and consequence. You'll discover why dogs chase cats and goats dash from the road, how a tiny spider outwits a giant, why a horned king fears a barber's whisper, and how kindness—and its absence—can shape a destiny. Animal adventures, trickster turns, and a touch of African mythology invite kids to think, laugh, and talk about choices, character, and community. Great for independent readers and shared reading alike, this collection fits bedtime stories and 15-minute read-alouds, supports social-emotional learning, and opens doors to Nigerian culture and West African history. For fans of classic folktale collections like The People Could Fly and Her Stories, Anansi the Spider Stories, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, and Gerald McDermott's folktales, this collection celebrates the rich oral tradition of the Hausa people while exploring universal themes of friendship, loyalty, patience, and the triumph of intelligence over brute strength. Readers who enjoyed Verna Aardema's African tales and Baba Wagué Diakité's vibrant storytelling will treasure these adventures filled with talking animals, magical transformations, and laugh-out-loud trickster moments. Each story offers gentle moral lessons wrapped in humor and wonder—from why dogs chase cars to how the jackal earned his reputation for survival smarts. It's a lively companion on every shelf of folktales for kids and a welcoming pick for multicultural bedtime stories. By Abubakar Yusuf Ibrahim; illustrations by Malachy Nwabuzor. Ages 8–12. Published by Iskanchi Press, a US-based home for authentic African storytelling.
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The stories are great and flow really well, these are great stories to bring into your home or classroom! A needed addition for any mythology collection! The illustrations were odd and not very consistent.
African Folktales for the Young at Heart is an accessible collection of short African folktales. It's a quick and enjoyable read for children and adults alike, with morals to reflect on and nice little illustrations throughout. It was great to learn about folktales I'm not familiar with and I enjoyed my time with the stories. The book can be easily enjoyed in one sitting, but I think it's strength is with the option of reading the stories individually to a younger audience in a story-a-night kind of format.
African Folktales For The Young At Heart by Abubakar Yusuf Ibrahim is a collection of very short folktales. As a child growing up in Nigeria, I read/heard some of the folktales in this book and I felt some nostalgia reading this. Most of the stories are aimed to provide some moral lessons, some are funny and a few are just ridiculous; but overall the book is a quick, fun and easy read. I got the ARC from Iskanchi Press via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are mine