In this trickster tale, Ananse the spider must meet Sky God's challenge to prove that he can spin stories and tales as splendid as his spider webs.

Ananse the Spider uses trickery to capture the four prizes demanded by the Sky God in payment for his stories.

The sky god Nyame owns all the stories in the world. He keeps them to himself in a box in his kingdom in the clouds. But Anansi thinks the stories should be shared by all creatures. So one day he strikes a bargain with the sky god. If Anansi can trick some of the earth’s fiercest and quickest creatures, Nyame will share his stories. Learn how Anansi wins the box of stories in this ancient tale from West Africa.

Many African stories, whether or not they are about Kwaku Ananse the "spider man," are called, "Spider Stories." This book is about how that came to be. The African storyteller begins: "We do not really mean, we do not really mean that what we are about to say is true. A Story, a story; let it come, let it go." And it tells that long, long ago there were no stories on earth for children to hear. All stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. Ananse, the Spider man, wanted to buy some of these stories, so he spun a web up to the sky and went up to bargain with the Sky God. The price the Sky God asked was Osebo, the leopard of-the-terrible-teeth, Mmboro the hornet who-stings-like-fire, and Mmoatia the fairy whom-men-never-see. How Ananse paid the price is told in a graceful and clever text, with forceful, lovely woodcut illustrations.

Anansi The Trickster Spider - Volumes One and Two (16 short stories) The stories featured in this book introduce Anansi the Spider, a traditional African trickster character. Anansi is as clever as he is lazy and he loves to prove just how smart he is by tricking the people of the village and the animals of the jungle. Luckily Anansi is not always as clever as he likes to think he is. Sometimes everything backfires on him and he becomes the victim of his own tricks. This book contains 16 short stories that were originally published as two eBook volumes, available to download from Amazon. These stories are: - Anansi and the gum doll - How Anansi got to ride Tiger - How Anansi turned an ear of corn into one hundred goats - How Anansi won the stories of the Sky God - Why spiders stay on the ceiling - Anansi and the witch named 'Five' - Anansi and the pot of wisdom - Anansi and the Tommy (Thompson Gazelle) - How Anansi missed four parties on one night - Anansi invites Turtle to tea - Anansi, Fly and Ant win the sun - Anansi and the talking melon - Anansi and the moss covered rock - Why Anansi has thin, long legs - Anansi and the field of corn - Anansi and the tug of war For FREE Anansi themed activities and downloads visit www.anansi-spider.com