Raouf Mama

An interesting collection of 20 or so folk tales from the Fon people of Benin. Raouf Mama arranges the stories in thematic groups, and his prose style is clear and engaging. I didn't love the fact that Mama had edited some of the story endings to be neater/more palatable, but at least he makes clear when he's done so, and to be fair it is traditional for such tales to change in the re-telling.

A quite interesting collection of about 20 traditional stories from the Fon people in the author's native Benin. Each one is only about four pages long, and each one has a note at the end where Dr. Mama explains the moral of the story and what it says about Fon culture. What I found very interesting is how similar many of the tales are to Western fairy tales such as Cinderella, etc. This book was in the children's section of the library and certainly children would love it, but it would be show more of interest to adults too, particularly those wanting to learn more about African culture. I hadn't known anything about the Fon before I read this -- hadn't even heard of them -- but Dr. Mama's notes were revealing and made me want to learn more. show less

I absolutely love this collection of tropical tales! Each one has a hidden message and a life lesson to learn. I also enjoyed the illustrations, they are as colorful and creative as the stories. On the table of contents after each title of a story there is the place where it comes from. For example the story " a fisherman and his dog" comes from Puerto Rican culture. The story of " the call of the eagle" comes from malaysian culture.

A book set in the tropics, it is full of mythological tales and legends. Most of the stories are brought to life through the view point of animals. A fun read that keeps your attention with the colorful and vibrant illustrations.