Search results for ""Anansi""

Enjoy a rich collection of folktales, myths and legends from all over Africa and the Caribbean, re-told for young readers. From the trickster tales of Anansi the spider, to the story of how the leopard got his spots; from the tale of the king who wanted to touch the moon, to Aunt Misery's magical starfruit tree. This book includes traditional favourites and classic folktales and mythology.

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Anansi is king of the spiders: he may be small, but he's very clever. One day, offended that Elephant hardly even notices him, he challenges her to a tug of war. How can a tiny spider win against the mighty Elephant, or against the determined Rhino?With fun activities after the story, and online audio in both British English and American English. CEFR level: low A1. 300 headwords, 571 words.

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Anansi the Spider meets Jon Klassen in this wickedly witty debut.When a suspiciously polite fox attempts to coax his next meal out of a burrow, he is met with a clever rabbit who has been cooking up a surprise for this very moment!Careful readers may spot what is in store for fox before he does in this darkly funny cautionary tale that roots for the underbunny.

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A collection of favourite tales gathered from the many different islands of the Caribbean, one of the world's richest sources of traditional storytelling. From the very first Kingfisher to Anansi the Spider Man, these lively retellings full of humour and pathos, are beautifully retold by Trish Cooke.The book includes endnotes with a glossary, additional information as well as ideas for activities that children can do to explore the stories further.

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A unique principal named Mr. Bundy runs PS 88 and gets turned into a spider in this silly, fun-to-read Aladdin QUIX chapter book that’s perfect for emerging readers!Acclaimed author Stephanie Calmenson turns fairy tales on their ears with silly adventures featuring Principal Bundy. In this Mr. Bundy (mis)adventure, PS 88’s beloved principal is turned into a spider thanks to a trickster named Mr. Anansi Araknid. How will Mr. Bundy get himself out of this tangled web of trouble?

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'Sometimes characters are so lively and entertaining, you don't want to say goodbye to them ... A stunning feat of storytelling in itself' Suzy Feay, Financial Times Growing up in Brooklyn with their Caribbean parents, Zora and Sasha Porter's days were enchanted by stories from the islands - the mischievous spider Anansi both seductive and vengeful; the flame-breathing Rolling Calf who haunts butchers; and ocean-dwelling Mama Dglo, said to be half snake, half human. Now they are teenagers, and life at home has become unbearable. Their parents' tempestuous relationship has fallen apart, their mother Beatrice desperately ill, their father Nigel living with another woman. While an unsettled Zora escapes into her journal, dreaming of being a writer, Sasha discovers sex and chest binding, spending more time with her new girlfriend than at home. But they can't hide forever. The Anansi Stories that captivated them as children begin to creep into the present, revealing truths about the Porter family's past they must all face up to. The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts is an extraordinary debut novel, a celebration of the power of stories that asks - what happens when ours are erased? Do we disappear? Or do we come back haunting? A Today Show Most Anticipated Book of 2023 An Electric Literature Recommendation for 2023 A Goodreads Buzziest Debut of 2023

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Whom the Gods Would Destroy...Age of Anansi: Dion Yeboah leads an orderly, disciplined life... until the day the spider appears. What looks like an ordinary arachnid turns out to be Anansi, the trickster god of African legend, and its arrival throws Dion’s existence into chaos. He is summoned to America to take part in a contest of trickery. It’s a life-or-death battle of wits, and in the end, only one person will be left standing...Age of Satan: 1968. Guy Lucas is sent to an old-fashioned boarding school, where he is bullied and abused. A fellow student persuades him to perform a black mass and plead with Satan to intervene, with horrific consequences. For the next ten years, the shadow of Satan is cast across his life; he flees, but tragedy follows him. Eventually, he must confront the Devil, and learn the truth about himself...Age of Gaia: Billionaire Barnaby Pollard, energy magnate, has the world at his feet. The planet’s fossil fuel resources are his to exploit, as are the size-zero girlfriends he loves and leaves in endless succession. Until he meets Lydia, a beautiful and opinionated eco-journalist. She’s the very opposite of the kind of woman he normally dates: large and outspoken, with a firm belief that Mother Nature is not to be tampered with...

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What starts as an adventure ends in disaster when Rapunzel, Anansi and Jack and his talking chicken, Betsy, are captured by a wicked witch and locked up in a tower! It's up to Red (the sustainable woodcutter's daughter) to save the day. With the help of the witch's servant, Ella, and her magical fairy god-brother, can Red save her friends and all the other magical creatures the witch has kidnapped - including a fearsome troll?The Great Troll Rescue is the second book in this brilliant new highly-illustrated series by Tom Percival, featuring all the fairy-tale characters you know and love having brand-new adventures!

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From the West African fable of Anansi the Spider, to Michabo, the magical hare who rebuilt the world and Tanuki, the sweet but troublesome racoon-dog of Japanese folklore, Mythopedia is an encyclopedia of mythical creatures that covers legends, tales and myths from around the world.Lovingly created by the illustration duo behind popular flipbook Myth Match, Good Wives and Warriors, this book contains pages upon pages of cultural folklore from around the world.Let these weird and wonderful creatures spark your child's imagination for their own storytelling and drawing while teaching them about international cultures.

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Tricksters and animals play an important role in West African folklore with stories that entertain but serve a moral purpose. Traditions and local tales revel in the antics of these characters: from Nigeria to Benin, from the cunning spider god Anansi to the equally crafty Tortoise, animals teach humans to farm, to love, to survive and thrive, and offer inspiration for moral purpose. This collection gathers these vital animal stories alongside tales of origin, life, death and human folly. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales, ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

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Superheroes have always been with us, from gods with mighty powers to human heroes who don disguises to save the day . . . Join six larger-than-life mythic and legendary heroes from around the world in this colourful, illustrated collection of Ladybird Tales. Meet tricksters, fighters, shape-shifters and even people who save the day with just the power of speech.Anansi the Spider-ManLoki and the Magical HammerHanuman, Demon FighterInanna in the UnderworldShahrazad the StorytellerThe Legend of Hua Mulan Perfect for bedtime, to read aloud or enjoy alone, these thrilling tales breathe marvellous life into ancient tales. Includes a special introduction from award-winning author David Solomons.

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A selection of stories to support the teaching of English literary heritage and the influence, appeal and characteristics of myths and legends. The text also encourages pupils to read a wide range of styles and genres. Stories include: Persephone in Hell, Garfield and Blishen; The Fight with Grendel, Serraillier; The Princess in the Suit of Leather, Carter; The Invisible One, Leland; What are Friends For?, Dandapa; the Wicked King and His God Son, Jaffery; Whose Footprints?, McGaughrean; Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden, Long; John Barlecorn, Burns; How Coyote Stole Fire, Sherwood, Haurland; Under Ben Bulben, Paul' Poor Man's Reward, Gratti; Balder, Sherwood; The Death of Gelert, Francis; Anansi and the Mid of god, McGaughrean; Pandora's Box Horowitz; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Morpurgo; What Icarus Saw, Francis

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Winner of the Jhalak Prize & Plutarch Award A New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Newsweek, TIME Book of the Year 2023Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can' Publishers WeeklyThe astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century's longest and most audacious frauds.When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country's gold and hiding it overseas.Into this story stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Bl

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Professional Storyteller Wendy Shearer has gathered together stories from many Caribbean islands and countries, drawing on oral history and written texts to bring these folk tales to life. Many stories are of West African origin, kept alive through rhythm and song. These tales and their languages were blended with European and East Indian folklore, with royalty, heroes and spirits exacting revenge. Alongside the stories are newly collected reminiscences of migration to Britain from Caribbean countries during the Windrush years. These first-hand accounts mirror the themes found in the folk tales with love and loss, magic and mystery, caution and justice.Cric! Crac! Prepare to be enchanted by La Diablesse from Haiti, outsmarted by the trickster Anansi, or terrified by the shapeshifting Old Higue in Guyana.

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The Good Ship Story Compass sails you away on a potentially life changing journey! Story Compass is a book of word and action, leading the reader on a ship's journey through the Four Directions Medicine Wheel! You step onboard, put on your captain's hat and sail away! Compass points take you sailing North, East, South and West to visit the story fields of the author, lifeline, ancestral banks and the mythical realms. Story becomes understood in a way you have possibly never been able to appreciate before. Archetypes for Mother Goose, Wild Merlin, the Prince from Sleeping Beauty and Anansi the Spider appear as the inspirational teachers for each compass point. Playful in tone, interactive in design and deeply explorative in its action, this startlingly original book is both a healing journey and an instruction manual.

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Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level In these two animal stories from the Caribbean, find out in the first why Tiger wanted to get rid of all the other animals and keep the jungle for himself and what clever Anansi did about it, and in the second how shy Owl nearly lost everything because he didn't have the courage to show his face. Topaz/Band 13 books offer longer and more demanding reads for children to investigate and evaluate. Text type: Two stories from another culture. The feelings roller coaster for Owl on pages 30-31 help children to discuss the different emotions addressed in the story. Curriculum links: Geography: Passport to the world; Citizenship: Living in a diverse world; ICT: Combining text and graphics. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

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The fifth book in the exciting Little Legends series, The Secret Mountain by Tom Percival sees the fairy tale friends on a thrilling adventure to the mysterious mountain home of the trolls.Everyone in Tale Town knows that trolls mean trouble, and the Mayor and his guards have captured a fearsome troll spy. But when Jack, Red and Anansi see the prisoner, they find out the so-called spy is just a lost troll child . . .With the help of all their friends, the Little Legends decide to rescue the young troll and take it back to its secret mountain home. But what they find out when they get to Troll Mountain changes everything they've ever known!Little Legends is a brilliant highly illustrated series featuring all the fairy-tale characters you know and love having brand-new adventures!

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Chart your way across continents and oceans built from the stuff of myths and legends and you will pass the winged Pegasus of Ancient Greece, come face to face with Anansi the Spider in West Africa and fly over the powerful Thunderbird of North America. Combining mythology and folklore from all across the globe, this 1000-piece jigsaw enables you to experience the fabled creatures in their places of creation, all from the comfort of your living room.• 1000-PIECE PUZZLE: The 1000-piece fantastical jigsaw puzzle features the world as you''ve never seen it before: a magical place full of mythical creatures!• FUN, COLORFUL ILLUSTRATIONS: Feast your eyes on a the variety of colorful artwork across the mythical world map. Combining mythology and folklore from all across the globe.• POSTER INCLUDED: Includes a keepsake fold out poster with a guide to the illustration.• EASY HANDLING: The 1000 puzzle pieces are thick and sturd

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In this horror graphic novel from award-winning writer Jazmine Joyner and illustrator Anthony Pugh, American Gods meets Get Out in a dark retelling of the West African legend of Anansi the Spider.In the Deep South, something evil waits in the darkness . . .Devour tells the story of the Turner family, who move to Alabama to care for their ailing matriarch, Vassie, when she begins suffering from dementia. But Vassie isn’t just any old lady; she’s the last of a line of powerful root women who have been caring for the community since her ancestors were first captured and enslaved by white plantation owners. Patsy, the eldest daughter in the family, is immediately suspicious; the locals’ fear and superstition of her grandmother leads Patsy to take a closer look at the Turner family home, and what she finds is beyond her wildest nightmares.Devour is a terrif

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Stand up for the small and not especially cuddly!Back in September 2019 we were inspired by Lady Hale and distracted by her spider brooch. Then we realised we were coming up to our 8th Anniversary in August 2020. What better way to celebrate than with a book of Spider related stories and poems?Poets and authors from around the world responded in astonishing numbers to our call out for work that celebrates the spider, and in which the spider survives, triumphs, and provides a role model. Our writers have given the nod to Anansi, Robert the Bruce, Miss Muffet, and of course, Arachne herself, as well as discovering whole new worlds of spider influence and metaphor, with many stories dipping into Fantasy and Science Fiction. A joy for any arachnid fancier, and anyone who can’t stand small lives being trampled, in prejudice or phobia.

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''It''s virtually impossible to read more than ten words by Neil Gaiman and not wish he would tell you the rest of the story'' OBSERVERA box set collection of five iconic novels by Neil Gaiman. NEVERWHERE. STARDUST. AMERICAN GODS. ANANSI BOYS. THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE.--NEIL GAIMAN. WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.''To give him his full title: Neil Gaiman, Architect of Worlds, Svengali of Plot, Shaman of Character, Exploder of Cliché, Master Craftsman of Style, Dreamer Laureate of the Republic of Letters'' DAVID MITCHELL''Beyond all the borders that divide us, there is a place of infinite possibilities and pure magic. I think of Neil Gaiman as a writer who wears the key to that land around his neck - the key to Storyland'' ELIF SHAFAK--NEVERWHERE: Under the streets of London lies a world most people could never dream of. And for Richard

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A Libreria Book of the Year 2023 'A beautiful ode to the power of storytelling, this novel is steeped in the folklore of the Caribbean and weaves a powerful narrative of identity, trauma, resilience and hope' Eleanor Shearer, author of River Sing Me Home Zora and Sasha Porter don't know much of their Jamaican father Nigel's and Trinidadian mother Beatrice's pasts. What they do know: the mythic stories of Nigel's flight to America on the string of a purple balloon, the violent histories in Beatrice's book of Anansi Stories, that Nigel had a brother, once, and that Beatrice has a tangle of silvery scars on her back. With their parents' marriage falling apart, the pair navigate their own relationships and secrets - Zora has impure thoughts about a jock, and Sasha drinks cheap beer with a girl who binds her chest. A celebration of the power of stories, this startling debut presents a tale of slippery contradictions and an examination of the limits of resilience.

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Till Owlglass can paint pictures that only those of noble birth are able to see ... or at least, that's what he tells the pompous Count! Anansi, the naughty spider, puts his tricks to good use when his friend Antelope is in trouble. Brer Rabbit outfoxes the fox when he finds himself stuck in a well! Three lovable tricksters are brought together in this collection of stories from around the world. TreeTops Greatest Stories offers children some of the worlds best-loved tales in a collection of timeless classics. Top children's authors and talented illustrators work together to bring to life our literary heritage for a new generation, engaging and delighting children. The books are carefully levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book. Each book contains inside cover notes to help children explore the content, supporting their reading development. Teaching notes on Oxford Owl offer cross-curricular links and activities to support guided reading, writing, speaking and listening.

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In the title story, Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and his sidekick Rudeyard Fly are sent for by the Criminal Investigation Department of Middleham-by-Sea - a little town known for tea shops, pet shops, and florists - in short, a rustic retreat for naughty weekends. Keen to kick-start their diversity policy, the Department sends for two Black cops who see this as a chance to prove their cross-cultural mettle and solve the brutal attack on Lord Montagu, a controversial political figure found unconscious with a courgette by his side. In other stories, an Anansi spider stows away on the Windrush, Cod and Chips are usurped by Chicken Tikka Marsala, and a white landscape gardener who admires Capability Brown has a mixed-race child, Cosmopolitan Brown, who is dispossessed by voices from history, including that of Martin Luther King. Surreal and playful, John Agard's stories reveal hidden truths that subtly change our view of who we are and where we come from.

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Featuring stories such as The Prince Who Insisted on Possessing the Moon, How the Squirrel outwitted the Elephant, and The Water-Fairies save a Child, tales from Central Africa share many aspects of the same themes across the continent because ancient ethnic groups expanded and migrated over many centuries bringing the oral traditions with them. Tales in the Bantu and Banda languages abound, the Sara and Gbaya too, each bringing their unique inflections to the stories of Anansi-style spiders or other tricksters, where in the Congo, the clever water antelope or gazelle is pitched against the brutish or pompous lions, leopards or elephants.A lively and powerful read.FLAME TREE 451. The bestselling paperback series on myths, legends, warriors, leaders and epic literature. Although Norse, Greek and Celtic mythology dominate the popular imagination in Western countries, there are so many other tradition around the world that contribute to the rich exploration of o

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This A-to-Z treasury of stories and poems features plants of Africa and the wider Caribbean region. With each entry, plants become much more than material for humans to use. They serve as links to the orisha deities of African diasporic religions. They speak for themselves, forming alliances with people and animals. They serve as points of connection between the many generations of people who share their stories. In The Encyclopedia of Rootical Folklore, botanical folklorist Natty Mark Samuels keeps the oral tradition of plant lore thriving in the present day. The stories sometimes involve characters of his invention (as well as age-old folklore staples like Anansi) and invoke contemporary situations, from bad bosses to mental health struggles. A baobab tree misses his old friend Birago Diop, a poet of the Negritude movement. Basil comes to the rescue for a woman who''s had a rough day. On moonlit evenings in a square in Kingston, kids gather round a Rasta elder to hear tales of dates,

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John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. "Alternative Anthem" is a live album of poems from books published over three decades, including "John Agard Live!", a DVD of filmed highlights from recent performances made by filmmaker Pamela Robertson-Pearce. It includes poetry from "We Brits" in which the Guyanese-born word magician gives an outsider-insider view of British life in poems which both challenge and cherish our peculiar culture and hallowed institutions; "Weblines" that contains three powerful Caribbean myths of transformation: the steeldrum, the limbo dancer, and Anansi, the spider trickster god; and, "From the Devil's Pulpit" that is a Devil's eye view of the world, sweeping from Genesis across time; and, other collections including "Mangoes and Bullets" and "Lovelines for a Goat-Born Lady", as well his children's books, featuring some of Agard's best-known poems - "Listen Mr Oxford don", "Palm Tree King", "Half-Caste", and "English Girl Eats Her First Mango".

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'This collection is [like] the Beatles' "White Album": massive in size and scope, with individually brilliant pieces presented together because the only context they need is how good they are' MARLON JAMESA captivating collection of fiction from one of the world's most beloved writers, introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author, Marlon James.With a writer as prolific as Neil Gaiman, where do you begin? Or how do you know what to try next? Spanning his career to date, this collection of ambitious, groundbreaking and endlessly imaginative fiction will be your guide.Curated within this book are nearly fifty of Gaiman's short stories and novellas, interposed with excerpts from his five novels for adults - Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.It is both an entryway to his oeuvre and a literary trove Gaiman fans old and new will return to time and again. Start where it suits you. There aren't any rules.NEIL GAIMAN.WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.

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'This collection is [like] the Beatles' "White Album": massive in size and scope, with individually brilliant pieces presented together because the only context they need is how good they are' MARLON JAMESA captivating collection of fiction from one of the world's most beloved writers, introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author, Marlon James.With a writer as prolific as Neil Gaiman, where do you begin? Or how do you know what to try next? Spanning his career to date, this collection of ambitious, groundbreaking and endlessly imaginative fiction will be your guide.Curated within this book are nearly fifty of Gaiman's short stories and novellas, interposed with excerpts from his five novels for adults - Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.It is both an entryway to his oeuvre and a literary trove Gaiman fans old and new will return to time and again. Start where it suits you. There aren't any rules.NEIL GAIMAN.WITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES.

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In a collection that encompasses both Siri and the trickster god Anansi, in his travels from West Africa via the Caribbean to Black working class communities in the Midlands and North East of England, Degna Stone demonstrates not only how well she tells stories, but also of her awareness of the difficulties of communication, where “You know what he’s saying / but not what he’s getting at”, or where the injunction against lying doesn’t count in every situation. But if human interactions are at the heart of her poems, she also writes with telling precision about both place and animal nature. Not since Ted Hughes has anyone written so totemically about the crow, ominous, but also emblematic of tenacity, boldness and a harsh kind of beauty. When the poet declares, “I want to be as black as the crows”, it is much more than an embrace of blackness in resistance to prejudice. “It's a cliche of poetry that we often say that it transforms the ordinary; this pamphlet disproves this, showing us that the ordinary and everyday have always been transformational, and Degna's poems allow us to see that. These are poems written from the outskirts -- of cities, of love, of the body -- with a pure distillation of language where no word is wasted.”Andrew McMillan

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Zero Adedji dreams of joining one of the Saba guilds—groups of intergalactic travelers who explore space, retrieve lost treasures, and hunt down criminals. Instead, he must scrape by as a guide to travelers stranded on his home planet of Anansi 12. Then he meets Wanderblatch, a strange creature with an even stranger object: a golden pyramid that houses a legendary Kobasticker called the Jupiter. When the Jupiter chooses Zero as its next host, he is recruited by a top Saba guild so he can harness his newfound powers. But the stakes are rising, and Zero and his friends Camih and Ladi are tasked with recovering an artifact known as the Mask of the Shaman King, which can grant wishes at a terrible price. And they’re not the only ones on the hunt—Space Mafia head Rozan Leombre is desperate to use the Mask to break his family’s curse. The trio must use their wits, courage, and friendship to achieve their quest and protect the galaxy. Action-packed, wildly imaginative, and laugh-out-loud funny, Children of Stardust is a fast-paced space adventure that launches a brand-new and unique voice in children’s literature.

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Zero Adedji dreams of joining one of the Saba guilds—groups of intergalactic travelers who explore space, retrieve lost treasures, and hunt down criminals. Instead, he must scrape by as a guide to travelers stranded on his home planet of Anansi 12. Then he meets Wanderblatch, a strange creature with an even stranger object: a golden pyramid that houses a legendary Kobasticker called the Jupiter. When the Jupiter chooses Zero as its next host, he is recruited by a top Saba guild so he can harness his newfound powers. But the stakes are rising, and Zero and his friends Camih and Ladi are tasked with recovering an artifact known as the Mask of the Shaman King, which can grant wishes at a terrible price. And they’re not the only ones on the hunt—Space Mafia head Rozan Leombre is desperate to use the Mask to break his family’s curse. The trio must use their wits, courage, and friendship to achieve their quest and protect the galaxy. Action-packed, wildly imaginative, and laugh-out-loud funny, Children of Stardust is a fast-paced space adventure that launches a brand-new and unique voice in children’s literature.

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Four tales of the greatest rogues up to mythological mischief inspired by visionary Jim Henson’s beloved television series.WHO IS THE GREATEST MISCHIEF MAKER OF ALL TIME? Is it the King of Stories, Anansi? Or Eshu, the Nigerian trickster god? Perhaps Thor’s infamous brother, Loki? Or cunning Reynard the Fox? Discover these legendary tricksters and judge for yourself through the lens of The Storyteller as he regales his faithful canine companion… and you! Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters showcases four clever tales of mischief makers and the lessons they teach us. Each one inspired by folklore from around the world and told in the spirit of Jim Henson’s beloved television series by some of today’s most exciting voices including New York Times bestselling author Jordan Ifueko (Raybearer) and artist Erin Kubo (The Christmas Creature), Nebula and Hugo Award winning author Amal El-Mohtar (This is How You Lose the Time War) with illustrations by Isa Hanssen, graphic novelist Robin Robinson (The City on The Other Side) and artist A.L. Kaplan (Full-Spectrum Therapy), and comic book writer Jonathan Rivera (Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye) and illustrator Jade Zhang. Collects Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters #1-4.

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What terrible secret was buried in Shi Huangdi's tomb? Did nomads like lizard stew? What happened to Anansi the Spider in the Village of the Plantains? And how did a six-year-old become the last emperor of Rome? Told in a straightforward, engaging style that has become Susan Wise Bauer's trademark, The Story of the World series covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas—find out what happened all around the world in long-ago times. This first revised volume begins with the earliest nomads and ends with the last Roman emperor. Newly revised and updated, The Story of the World, Volume 1 includes maps, a new timeline, more illustrations, and additional parental aids. This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children. Enjoy it together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world's civilizations. Each Story of the World volume provides a full year of history study when combined with the Activity Book, Audiobook, and Tests—each available separately to accompany each volume of The Story of the World Text Book. Volume 1 Grade Recommendation: Grades 1-5.

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What terrible secret was buried in Shi Huangdi's tomb? Did nomads like lizard stew? What happened to Anansi the Spider in the Village of the Plantains? And how did a six-year-old become the last emperor of Rome? Told in a straightforward, engaging style that has become Susan Wise Bauer's trademark, The Story of the World series covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas—find out what happened all around the world in long-ago times. This first revised volume begins with the earliest nomads and ends with the last Roman emperor. Newly revised and updated, The Story of the World, Volume 1 includes maps, a new timeline, more illustrations, and additional parental aids. This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children. Enjoy it together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world's civilizations. Each Story of the World volume provides a full year of history study when combined with the Activity Book, Audiobook, and Tests—each available separately to accompany each volume of The Story of the World Text Book. Volume 1 Grade Recommendation: Grades 1-5.

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Science tells us that young children develop best when they are read to. In this follow-up to Read to Your Baby Every Day, soothe your toddler with retellings of traditional folk tales, fairy tales and fables from around the world paired with images of Chloe Giordano's charming hand-embroidered illustrations on cloth. Every tale is the perfect length to read aloud to your toddler before bedtime and carries a message of empathy, friendship and care for the world around us. Bond with your toddler and help them grow as you read to them these timeless stories: THE THREE WISHES, Scandinavia THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, Ancient Rome BRER RABBIT AND THE WELL, North America HOW THE BEAR LOST HIS TAIL, Iroquois THE MAGIC PEAR TREE, China WHY THE BANANAS BELONG TO THE MONKEY, Brazil THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE, Syria THE STONECUTTER, Japan THE RAINBOW SERPENT, Indigenous Australia THE CLEVER LITTLE TURTLE, Mexico THE SCRUFFY DUCKLING, Denmark THE LION AND THE THORN, Ancient Greece ANANSI AND THE TURTLE, Caribbean KING MIDAS, Ancient Greece A BAG FULL OF STORIES, Cambodia THE MICE AND THE ELEPHANTS, India SNOWFLAKE, THE SNOW CHILD, Russia WHY CATS CHASE MICE, Nigeria HOW THE WREN BECAME KING OF THE BIRDS, Ireland THE FEAST, Mali

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Lunch is an annual, student-edited design research journal at the University of Virginia School of Architecture that aims to facilitate conversations across disciplines and communities, publishing articles, research, interviews, and projects that critically engage with contemporary design topics. Schools of Architecture; Design Academic Community; Student-run Journals; Architecture and Design Journals; Students of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Design-related fields; Design Research. Throughout history mischief-makers have plagued the over-powerful, puncturing the smug assumptions of Fat Cats, Big Cheeses, and High Muck-a-Mucks. From Coyote to Anansi to Shakespeare's fools, the trickster holds the trump card when the chips are down, the stakes are high, and the owner of the casino is the President of the United States. We posit the wicked pleasures of the trickster tale as an enticing alternative to dreary disaster-capitalist narratives, technocratic solutionism, and universalist fictions of Authority, Progress, Unity, and Truth. This issue of Lunch (13: Mischief) is a collection of articles, letters, manifestos, anti-manifestos, graphics, games and narratives that approach design more impishly than urgently, that uproot assumptions that solutions are the solution, that wiggle under the garden fence and leave the farmer with a fistful of fur - but no bunny.

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Black performance theory is a rich interdisciplinary area of study and critical method. This collection of new essays by some of its pioneering thinkers—many of whom are performers—demonstrates the breadth, depth, innovation, and critical value of black performance theory. Considering how blackness is imagined in and through performance, the contributors address topics including flight as a persistent theme in African American aesthetics, the circulation of minstrel tropes in Liverpool and in Afro-Mexican settlements in Oaxaca, and the reach of hip-hop politics as people around the world embrace the music and dance. They examine the work of contemporary choreographers Ronald K. Brown and Reggie Wilson, the ways that African American playwrights translated the theatricality of lynching to the stage, the ecstatic music of Little Richard, and Michael Jackson's performance in the documentary This Is It. The collection includes several essays that exemplify the performative capacity of writing, as well as discussion of a project that re-creates seminal hip-hop album covers through tableaux vivants. Whether deliberating on the tragic mulatta, the trickster figure Anansi, or the sonic futurism of Nina Simone and Adrienne Kennedy, the essays in this collection signal the vast untapped critical and creative resources of black performance theory.Contributors. Melissa Blanco Borelli, Daphne A. Brooks, Soyica Diggs Colbert, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Nadine George-Graves, Anita Gonzalez, Rickerby Hinds, Jason King, D. Soyini Madison, Koritha Mitchell, Tavia Nyong'o, Carl Paris, Anna B. Scott, Wendy S. Walters, Hershini Bhana Young

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Since its inception in the early 1830s, southern frontier humor (also known as the humor of the Old Southwest) has had enduring appeal. The onset of the new millennium precipitated an impressive rejuvenation of scholarly interest. Southern Frontier Humor: New Approaches represents the next step in this revival, providing a series of essays with fresh perspectives and contexts.First, the book shows the importance of Henry Junius Nott, a virtually unknown and forgotten writer who mined many of the principal subjects, themes, tropes, and character types associated with southern frontier humor, followed by an essay addressing how this humor genre and its ideological impact helped to stimulate a national cultural revolution. Several essays focus on the genre's legacy to the post-Civil War era, exploring intersections between southern frontier humor and southern local color writers--Joel Chandler Harris, Charles W. Chesnutt, and Sherwood Bonner. Mark Twain's African American dialect piece ""A True Story,"" though employing some of the conventions of southern frontier humor, is reexamined as a transitional text, showing his shift to broader concerns, particularly in race portraiture.Essays also examine the evolution of the trickster from the Jack Tales to Hooper's Simon Suggs to similar mountebanks in novels of John Kennedy Toole, Mark Childress, and Clyde Edgerton and transnational contexts, the latter exploring parallels between southern frontier humor and the Jamaican Anansi tales. Finally, the genre is situated contextually, using contemporary critical discourses, which are applied to G. W. Harris's Sut Lovingood and to various frontier hunting stories.

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WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2020___________________________________'A singular achievement.'Michael Donkor, Guardian'Heartbreaking, important and original.' Christie Watson, author of THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS'Derek Owusu's writing is honest, moving, delicate, but tough. Once you lock on to his words, it is hard to break eye contact. A beautiful meditation on childhood, coming of age, the now, and the media. This work is heartfelt.' Benjamin Zephaniah 'Honest and beautiful.' Guy Gunaratne, author of IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY 'When writing is this honest, it soars. What an incredible use of language and truth.' Yrsa Daley-Ward___________________________________Anansi, your four gifts raised to nyame granted you no power over the stories I tell...This is the story of K.K is sent into care before a year marks his birth. He grows up in fields and woods, and he is happy, he thinks. When K is eleven, the city reclaims him. He returns to an unknown mother and a part-time father, trading the fields for flats and a community that is alien to him. Slowly, he finds friends. Eventually, he finds love. He learns how to navigate the city. But as he grows, he begins to realise that he needs more than the city can provide. He is a man made of pieces. Pieces that are slowly breaking apartThat Reminds Me is the story of one young man, from birth to adulthood, told in fragments of memory. It explores questions of identity, belonging, addiction, sexuality, violence, family and religion. It is a deeply moving and completely original work of literature from one of the brightest British writers of today.

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A New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Newsweek, TIME Book of the Year 2023 ‘Fabulously entertaining’ Daily Telegraph ‘Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.’s Catch Me If You Can’ Publishers Weekly The astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century’s longest and most audacious frauds. When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn’t already stripped. The military ousted the new nation’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country’s gold and hiding it overseas. Into this story stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and ’80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon’s former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe. In Anansi’s Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.

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Myths and legendary tales from around the world are packed with gigantic rivalries; gods, monsters and giants compete for supremacy over the land, the creatures within and the universe beyond. Zeus clashes with the all-powerful Typhon, Odin is destined to face the great wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok. And yet monsters such as the Minotaur, and giants of all kinds, dragons even, are monsters only to those too fearful to understand them, while others such as the Sirens, or the weird sisters, are malevolent without remorse. Such mythical gods and their foes, make great adventures for the modern reader tracing the roots of The Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Witcher, where good and evil are morphed into real avatars and creatures of vivid imagination. In these pages you'll find the gods of the heavens and mountains, and the spirits and demons of the deep sea, the dark woods and the burning sands. From the gods of Babylon and Ancient Egypt to the Norse Aesir, from the pantheon of mighty Greek deities to the gods of the earth and the sky in Pacific legends, most of the great traditions are featured here, with monsters galore: Anansi the trickster spider, the chaos serpent Apep, the Wendigo (or Windegoo spirits), the Greek Sphinx, the drought demon dragon Vritra and the Chimera to name a few. The Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy, Classic Stories and Epic Tales collections bring together the entire range of myth, folklore and modern short fiction. Highlighting the roots of suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories the books in Flame Tree Collections series are beautifully presented, perfect as a gift and offer a lifetime of reading pleasure.

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Bold reader - open your mystical map and get ready to travel through time with 21 dazzling stories of daring and deceit, reward and punishment. Meet gods, goddesses and demigods, serpents, coyotes, talking fish and clever spiders, and cavort with sea nymphs, mystical women, terrifying beasts and volcano people - as you discover different tales of how the world began. These powerful, fascinating myths and legends will transport you to every corner of the globe. You'll journey from ancient to modern times, from hot climates to freezing temperatures, from mountaintops to seafloors. The stories in this book link you to past generations; these tales have been passed down through a long line of oral traditions. The souls of ancestors, the lives of heroes and the fates of mortals are waiting to be discovered. Myths and legends are retold by Alli Brydon and beautifully illustrated by Julia Iredale. Myths from Africa include: 'The Creation of the World' from the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo 'The Tale of the Ghosts and the Flutes' from the Beba people of Cameroon 'Anansi and the Box of Stories' from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana Myths from Europe include: The Selkies from Scottish mythology 'Athena, Arachne and the Duelling Looms' from Greek mythology Myths from Asia include: Lord Ganesh from the Hindu pantheon 'Nyai Loro Kidul, Queen of the Sea' from Indonesian mythology Myths of Oceania include: 'The Legend of Maui' from Polynesian mythology Uluru from the Anangu people of Australia The Rainbow Serpent from the Aboriginal people of Australia Myths of the Americas include: 'Coyote Steals Fire for the People' from the Native American people of the United States 'The Hero Twins Visit the Underworld' from the Mayan People of Mesoamerica The Mapinguary from Brazilian mythology Myths from the Arctic include: Sedna, the Mother of the Sea from Inuit mythology Niekija and the Northern Lights from Sami Shamanism About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids - an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet - published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travellers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more. We want to inspire the next generation of global citizens and help kids and their parents to approach life in a way that makes every day an adventure. Come explore!

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I'm ill-equipped for this. I sit by a fake fireplace that frames a real flame. I've been crossed by two crows today. 'Multi-vectored, Rogers's poems hum with life and tension, their speaker poised as mother, seer, reporter and daughter. They speak of loss and cold realities (misplaced charms of luck, a tour of an assisted-living facility, coins thrown into Niagara Falls). They also interweave dreams and visions: "O Lion, I am / an old handmaiden; I will not lay the pretty baby in the lap / of the imposter." Simple but evocative, at once strange and plain, Rogers's poems of address ricochet off the familiar "Dear Reader" or Dickinson's "Dear Master" ...Rogers's poems provide instructions for what to leave, what to take and what to fight. They act as selvage between the vast mother-ocean -- the mem of memory -- and the fabric we make of the uncertain in-between.' -- Hoa Nguyen, The Boston Review 'How can we live with the kind of pain that worsens each day? Dear Leader explains through bold endurance, enumerated blessings and the artistic imagination. By pasting stark truths over, or under, images of strange, compelling beauty, Rogers creates a collage, a simulation of the human heart under assault, bleeding but unbroken. Part Orpheus, part pop-heroine who can "paint the daytime black," all, an original act of aesthetic violence and pure, dauntless, love.' -- Lynn Crosbie 'In Dear Leader, Damian Rogers re-invents the same-old poetic lyric to offers us one-of-a-kind insights on childbirth and party bars, rolling blackouts and old rock standards. Here, what looks at first like familiar language always reveals itself to be a rare mineral. And that's the magic: this is a poetry that refuses to be staged or to succumb to cliche or mannerism, insisting on celebration and condemnation, caution and cosmic vibrations. "Say you're a poet," Rogers advises us, tongue-in-cheek, "Maybe you mean / Hi, I have a lot of feelings." Striking that balance between one-liners and mourning is no small feat.' --Trillium Award Jury Citation Praise for Paper Radio: 'Paper Radio jumped out at me and I can't say why, but that's what you want poetry to do, and I never want to say why. Because it's real and talking to me. Because it's bloody and horrifying beauty. It's the Clash and Buckminster Fuller, Auden and Bowie. -- Bob Holman Originally from the Detroit area, Damian Rogers now lives in Toronto where she works as the poetry editor of House of Anansi Press and as the creative director of Poetry in Voice. Her first book, Paper Radio, was nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award.

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