Brewer, Caroline. Anansi and the Talking Cloth. Ekua Holmes, Illus. Addl. Creator Kwasi Asare. Charlesbridge, 08/26. [36]pp. Picture Book. Trade $17.99. 978-1-62354-421-8. GRADES Preschool–3. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Anansi the trickster and his wife Aso both love Kente cloth, the traditional hand-woven cloth from Ghana, and are dismayed when cheap factory-made versions flood the market. Aso figures out a way to get both spiders and people to take up weaving again in this original story inspired by the folktale character Anansi as well as actual industrial occurrences. The rhyming text has energy, rhythm, and some repetition, and smoothly combines the real world with folkloric characters. The distinctive, brightly colored collage illustrations reflect the style of Kente cloth, with deeply saturated orange, yellow, red, and other colors highlighted with black. The book ends with a helpful author’s note on the origin of Anansi, Kente cloth, and other facts, and a brief illustrator’s note describes the weaving process.
Penny Peck—San José State University iSchool