Anansi and the Talking Melon

by Eric A. Kimmel, Jerry Terheyden (Read by)

Overview

"The expressive male narrator charms the listener by impersonating the characters...Short segments of music and brief sound effects add interest...useful for all reading and listening situations." - Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781430129769
Publisher:	Live Oak Media
Publication date:	01/01/2018
Series:	Live Oak Media eReadalong
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	30 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Eric A. Kimmel has been writing for children for more than 40 years. His 100-plus titles include such classics as Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock and The Chanukkah Guest. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2-Another of Kimmel's retellings of the fabled African spider and his escapades, joining Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock (1990) and Anansi Goes Fishing (1992, both Holiday). In this tale, lazy Anansi eats his way into Elephant's melon but is then too bloated to crawl out. The always sneaky spider decides it is a perfect opportunity to play a trick and so convinces the animal that he owns a talking melon. Elephant can't wait to share his discovery with King Monkey. Along the way he is joined by Hippo, Warthog, Ostrich, Rhino, and Turtle. King Monkey, skeptical at first, becomes irate when the melon insults him. Of course, the resulting mayhem only adds to Anansi's delight. The same elements that made Kimmel's earlier books popular are in evidence here. The snappy narration is well suited for individual reading or group sharing. The colorful line-and-wash illustrations are filled with movement and playful energy. Stevens's anthropomorphic animals are both expressive and endearing. A surefire hit.-Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

In a very funny trickster tale, Anansi the Spider outwits all the great galumphing gullible animals, including Elephant, Hippo, Warthog, and even the stupid king. Hiding inside a melon, the wily spider tricks the animals, one by one, into believing that the melon can talk, and what he says is usually an insult. The setting is vaguely tropical, and Stevens' double-page comic illustrations show the furious animals in all their ridiculous contortions as they try to work out what's going on with the swelling luscious fruit that is badmouthing them. The melon's most outrageous insult is that the animals are stupid enough to talk to melons. With perfect pacing and repetition and with surprising reversals up to the very last page, this is a great choice for reading aloud and storytelling.

Hazel Rochman

"A surefire hit."—School Library Journal (Starred Review)

"Stevens's funny animals are delightfully expressive, while Anansi's spider-level perspectives provide generous close-ups of melons, a hippo, a warthog, et al. Good-spirited tomfoolery, with storytelling that reels along with the ease of a seasoned prankster."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher