Anansi and the Magic Stick

Lazing about while all of his neighbors work hard on their houses and in their gardens, Anansi the spider is annoyed when he becomes a laughing stock, and sets out on a walk. Happening upon Hyena's place, which is neat and tidy despite its owner's indolence, Anansi discovers that Hyena possesses a magic stick which does all of the work for him. Quickly making off with this wonderful object, our arachnid trickster puts it to work for him, but finds the magic getting out of control when he dozes off, and subsequently forgets how to end the enchantment...

As author Eric A. Kimmel notes in this brief author's note, the story here, adapted from the Liberian tale of The Magic Hoe, bears some resemblance to The Magician's Apprentice. It's the show more classic narrative of magic getting out of control, when used by somebody who doesn't have the training to master it. This telling is entertaining, and the accompanying artwork from Janet Stevens, who also worked on Kimmel's previous Anansi retellings (Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, Anansi and the Talking Melon, and Anansi Goes Fishing), is humorous and appealing. I particularly liked the flood scene, in which both Kimmel and Stevens are depicted - the one with a pencil, the other with a paintbrush - as being swept along with all of the animals. Recommended to readers who enjoy Anansi stories, and to young folklore enthusiasts in general. show less

I loved reading this colorful story of a trickster spider who was sick of being called lazy. Before reading the story, I had no idea what exactly it was going to be about, which made reading much more enjoyable. The spider’s determination to find a way to be lazy, but also keep his living area clean, motivated me to keep reading. The message of this book, to make the best of the situation you brought yourself into, was really fun to read. The spider’s laziness lead the whole town into a flood after accidentally watering plants for too long, but everyone made the best of it! I loved reading and looking at the pictures of the pool party with the whole town. This was a really fun and cute read, and I would definitely love to read more show more stories from this author. show less

Even though working hard seems like a boring job to do, sometimes it is better than what will happen when you take the easy way out, just like Anansi did when he used a magic stick instead of just cleaning his house by himself. The illustrations in this book were really good and added a bit of humor to the story that was already funny. The color in the story, like the hot pink house, and the realistic looking animals were really cool to look at throughout the story. The writing of this book also lends itself to being a really fun read aloud for children. There are a lot of repeated words that could add a little interest and excitement when reading the story, like saying 'bigger, bigger, bigger' instead of just 'bigger'. I thought that show more this book had really cool illustrations and was written really well so that the interests of the reader was kept throughout the entire story. show less

Anansi steals Hyena's magic stick to do all of his work for him. He's tired of being called "lazy" by all of the animals, so he commands the stick to clean his yard, fix up his house, and plant and water his garden. Watching all that work made him tired so he decided to take a nap. He told the magic stick to "keep watering and don't stop". His vegetables grew bigger and water flowed out of his garden, flooded their community and eventually became a raging river which created a lake. He couldn't remember the magic words to stop the stick. Hyena floated by and Anansi was able to trick him into stopping the stick; however, all of the animal's home were under water. So, they decided to build lake-front homes. This story is loosely based on show more a Liberian story called The Magic Hoe which has many similarities to The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Children will enjoy the repetition of the magic words. The illustrations are done in watercolor and contain modern-day items such as a pan and a lawn chair. The inclusion of the author's and illustrator's charicatures going down the raging river with all the animals adds a smile to an already humorous story and pictures. show less

Anansi the spider is made fun of by all of his friends because his house and yard are always a mess. He grumbles away, trying to find somewhere else to go to take a nap, but he stumbles upon Hyena's house. He sees a magic stick that takes orders from Hyena, his secret to keeping his house perfect without any work. However, the magic stick ends up being more than Anansi can handle, eventually causing a big flood when Anansi tries to take a nap. Hyena finds the stick and tells it to stop, but a big lake is left. All the animals realize that the lake is there to stay, so they must enjoy it. Anansi even builds a houseboat and lives on the lake, floating around peacefully with no responsibilities.

I liked this story and loved the fun show more illustrations. It's kind of hard to determine the theme or moral, however. At first, I thought it was about consequences to laziness or shortcuts. However, since the spider is still lazy at the end, I am not sure what the moral of the story is. Either way, I think that it would be a fun story to share with students and give them a glimpse into a West African folktale. show less

Anansi is a spider that lives in Africa. He's lazy and wanders off from his home to avoid doing his chores. When he comes across the hyena's magic stick we takes it home to use. Although the magic stick does his chores for him, it's more than he bargained for. The magic stick takes over and all of the animals are displaced and their village is split by the large lake the stick has created. This book is about taking responsibility for yourself and not taking the easy way out.

I liked this book for a couple of reasons. The first reason I like this book is because the characters in the story were relatable. All though the characters were animals, I was able to see how it could have just as easily been humankind put into these roles. The animals are placed in settings that you would typically see humans in. We all know someone who is a slacker and always looking for short cuts to do things. So I could relate to the story. Secondly the illustrations were appropriate to the mood of the story. For instance the illustration showing the animals enjoying the new found lake. The animals made the best out of a bad situations and the drawings illustrated just that. The big idea of the story is taking the easy way out is show more not always the best thing. show less