Peggy Appiah (1921–2006)
Author of Tales of an Ashanti Father
About the Author
Image credit: Peggy Appiah nee Cripps
Works by Peggy Appiah
A dirge too soon 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Cripps, Enid Margaret (birth name)
- Birthdate
- 1921-05-21
- Date of death
- 2006-02-11
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Maltman’s Green School, Buckinghamshire, England
- Occupations
- children's book author
novelist - Awards and honors
- Order of the British Empire
- Relationships
- Appiah, Kwame Anthony (son)
Cripps, Richard Stafford (father)
Parmoor, Lord (grandfather - Charles Alfred Cripps)
Webb, Beatrice (great aunt) - Short biography
- Enid Margaret "Peggy" Cripps was the daughter of a British chancellor of the exchequer who defied the conventions of her time with her marriage and career. She studied art in Florence and then attended secretarial school at home. Peggy Cripps met the Ghanian law student and political activist Joseph Emmanuel Appiah in England in 1951 and announced their marriage two years later. The union of an aristocratic white woman and a Black political figure caused an international sensation at the time. She became the author of several children’s books, including The Pineapple Child and Other Tales from the Ashanti, Why There are So Many Roads, and Afua and the Mouse. Peggy Appiah was also the author of two adult novels as well as a volume of poetry and a collection of thousands of Ashanti proverbs. Widowed in 1990, she spent her remaining years in Ghana.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Goodfellows, Gloucestershire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Goodfellows, Gloucestershire, England, UK (birth)
Mbrom, Ghana - Place of death
- Kumasi, Ghana
- Associated Place (for map)
- Goodfellows, Gloucestershire, England, UK
Members
Reviews
Ananse lovers are in for a treat in this delightful collection of traditional tales from the Ashanti people of Ghana, with the famed arachnid trickster appearing in the majority of the twenty-two selections contained within! Here you have some old favorites, like How Kwaku Ananse caught the Python, which opens the collection, and tells the story of how the massive snake was tricked into allowing himself to be tied up; and Kwaku Ananse and the Donkey (which always makes me feel a little sad show more for the donkey), in which Ananse fools his erstwhile friend and makes off with his betrothed. Some of the stories, like Kwaku Ananse and the Kingdom of the Dead, in which Ananse fakes his own death, in order to have a year of gluttonous indulgence, free from his family, were variants of tales I already knew, but with slightly different resolutions (Ananse isn't caught faking his death, in Appiah's telling). Others, like How Kwaku Ananse won a Kingdom with a Grain of Corn, were unknown to me, making my enjoyment of Appiah's work all the greater!
Of course, not every story in Tales of an Ashanti Father concerns Ananse, and some of the other selections also have a lot of appeal. Why Nephews inherit Property in Ashanti, as the name would suggest, offers an explanation of the inheritance customs of the Ashanti people; The Left-handed King explores Ashanti ideas of leadership, and what makes a good king; while The Gift of Densu is just a fun, cumulative tale that reminded me of many other such stories, like Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy, or Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale. Whether the tales featured Ananse or not, they entertained me, made me think, and transported me to another place and culture. The accompanying illustrations by Mora Dickson - they look like etchings - added to my enjoyment. All in all, this is a collection I would highly recommend to all folklore enthusiasts, particularly those with an interest in West African traditions, and Ananse stories. show less
Of course, not every story in Tales of an Ashanti Father concerns Ananse, and some of the other selections also have a lot of appeal. Why Nephews inherit Property in Ashanti, as the name would suggest, offers an explanation of the inheritance customs of the Ashanti people; The Left-handed King explores Ashanti ideas of leadership, and what makes a good king; while The Gift of Densu is just a fun, cumulative tale that reminded me of many other such stories, like Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy, or Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale. Whether the tales featured Ananse or not, they entertained me, made me think, and transported me to another place and culture. The accompanying illustrations by Mora Dickson - they look like etchings - added to my enjoyment. All in all, this is a collection I would highly recommend to all folklore enthusiasts, particularly those with an interest in West African traditions, and Ananse stories. show less
Each of these stories is a delightful tale featuring Ananse, the Spider. He is a trickster, sometimes doing the tricking, sometimes getting tricked. My favorite is the Tortoise and the Hare. This is not the Aesop version, but has a similar premise.
These stories are fun, well written, and the illustrations fit nicely. And while each story has a moral (eg don't be prideful, help the community, etc) the stories do not preach.
The introduction has a line that says "I hope that one day, these show more Ashanti Stories will be shared by children in homes and schools of many lands." and I agree. show less
These stories are fun, well written, and the illustrations fit nicely. And while each story has a moral (eg don't be prideful, help the community, etc) the stories do not preach.
The introduction has a line that says "I hope that one day, these show more Ashanti Stories will be shared by children in homes and schools of many lands." and I agree. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 14
- Members
- 110
- Rating
- 4.3
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 20