Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott

Anansi the Spider tells how the moon came to be in the sky. When Anansi’s sons save him from a fish and falcon, Anansi has a hard time deciding who to reward with a “glowing orb.” He gives it to Nyame, The God of All Things, to keep it until he can decide. Nyame puts it in the sky, and thus it is the moon.

This version of the story is obviously written for children unfamiliar with Ashanti folklore. I think McDermott did a good job of including information necessary for the unfamiliar reader while telling the story simply and concisely. For instance, at the beginning he writes, “Anansi. He is “spider” to the Ashanti people.” And later after introducing Nyame, he writes: “For Ashanti people, Nyame is The God of All Things.”

Geometric shapes abound in the illustrations. Each of the six sons has a different attribute and it is represented by a unique shape. River drinker has waves on his body, while Game Skinner has two pointy triangles like the ends of knives. I imagine that Ashanti people may have used the same shapes when telling the story.

This book was a Caldecott Honor book and I can see why. Without the illustrations, the story would be incomplete. For instance, the text says: “He [Anansi] fell into trouble” while the illustration shows him falling off the land and in the next illustration you see Anansi in the river being eaten by a fish. Nowhere in the text, though, does it tell you that he was eaten by the fish.