Historical Fiction: African Folktales

[This is a subtopic of Africa  and also part of an ongoing series of historical fiction book lists for students and teachers.  For the full list and to see more info, click here.]

Lower Grades (K-3)

1. The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales-Arkhurst (4.4/1)
2. The Amazing Tree-Kilaka (3.7/0.5)
3. Anansi and the Box of Stories-Krensky (3.2/0.5)
4. Anansi and the Magic Stick-Kimmel (2.4/0.5)
5. Anansi and the Pot of Beans-Norflolk (2.9/0.5)
6. Anansi and the Tug o’ War-Norfolk (2.7/0.5)
7. Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner-Norfolk (2.7/0.5)
8. Anansi Does the Impossible! An Ashanti Tale-Aardema (3.2/0.5)
9. Anansi Goes Fishing-Kimmel (2.3/0.5)
10. Anansi’s Party Time-Kimmel (2.0/0.5)
11. Beautiful Blackbird-Bryan (3.7/0.5)
12. Brother to the Wind-Walter (3.4/0.5)
13. Calabash Cat: And His Amazing Journey-Rumford (3.3/0.5)
14. The Clever Monkey Rides Again-Cleveland (3.3/0.5)
15. The Clever Monkey: A Folktale from West Africa-Cleveland (2.7/0.5)
16. The Coming of Night-Riordan (4.0/0.5)
17. Crocodile and Hen: A Bakongo Folktale-Lexau (2.2/0.5)
18. The Fire: An Ethiopian Folk Tale-Janisch (3.2/0.5)
19. The Fire Children: A West African Creation Tale-Maddern (3.8/0.5)
20. Fly Eagle, Fly! An African Tale-Gregorwoski (3.8/0.5)
21. The Frog King: An African Folktale-St. John (3.1/0.5)
22. Give Up, Gecko! A Folktale from Uganda-MacDonald (1.7/0)
23. The Great Tug of War-Naidoo (4.3/2)
24. The Hatseller and the Monkeys-Diakite (4.1/0.5)
25. The Heart of a Friendship: An East African Folktale-Arrington (2.7/0.5)
26. How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? A Retelling of the Classic Folktale-Jones (2.4/0.5)
27. How the Leopard Got His Claws-Achebe (3.5/0.5)
28. How Zebras Got Their Stripes-Sims (1.2/0.5)
29. In the Rainfield: Who Is the Greatest?-Olaleye (2.5/0.5) (Nigeria)
30. The Leopard and the Sky God-Mackinnon (2.2/0.5)
31. The Lion and the Hare: An East African Folktale-Krensky (3.1/0.5)
32. The Lion’s Whiskers-Day (4.0/0.5) (Ethiopia, Amhara people)
33. The Lion’s Whiskers and Other Ethiopian Tales-Ashabranner (5.5/3)
34. Mabela the Clever-MacDonald (2.8/0.5)
35. Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria-Shepard (3.0/0.5)
36. The Matatu-Walters (3.6/0.5)
37. The Mean Hyena: A Folktale from Malawi-Sierra (3.2/0.5)
38. Mee-An and the Magic Serpent: A Folktale from Mali-Diakite (4.4/0.5)
39. The Mother of Monsters: A Story from South Africa-Parnell (3.5/0.5)
40. The Night Has Ears-Bryan (4.2/0.5)
41. Oh, Kojo! How Could You! An Ashanti Tale-Aardema 93.4/0.5)
42. The Parade: A Stampede of Stories about Ananse, the Trickster Spider-Kojo (4.8/1)
43. The Perfect Orange: A Tale from Ethiopia-Araujo
44. Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion: A Swahili Tale-Aardema (3.3/0.5)
45. Running Rhino-Hadithi (3.1/0.5)
46. The Sabbath Lion: A Jewish Folktale from Algeria-Schwartz (5.1/0.5)
47. Sebgugugu the Glutton: A Bantu Tale from Rwanda-Aardema (3.4/0.5)
48. Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story-Medearis (3.9/0.5)
49. Shadow-Cendrars (3.2/0.5)
50. Sivu’s Six Wishes-Daly (4.5/0.5)
51. Song Bird-Mollel (4.4/0.5)
52. Song of the Kalahari-Ernst (3.9/0.5)
53. The Spider Weaver: A Legend of Kente Cloth-Musgrove (4.4/0.5)
54. The Sticky Doll Trap-Souhami (2.8/0.5)
55. Subira Subira-Mollel (3.9/0.5)
56. Table for Two-Cartwright (2.5/0.5)
57. The Talking Vegetables-Paye (2.5/0.5
58. This for That: A Tonga Tale-Aardema (3.2/0.5)
59. To Dinner, For Dinner-Mollel (4.0/0.5)
60. The Tortoise’s Gift: A Story from Zambia-Don (3.5/0.5)
61. True Friends: A Tale from Tanzania-Kilaka (3.3/0.5)
62. Two Ways to Count to Ten: A Liberian Folktale-Dee (3.3/0.5)
63. When the Sky Is Far Away: A Nigerian Folktale-Gerson (4.5/0.5)
64. Why the Crab Has No Head-Knutson (3.8/0.5) (Zaire, Bakongo people)
65. Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky-Dayrell (3.1/0.5)
66. Young Mouse and Elephant: An East African Folktale-Farris (3.4/0.5)

Middle Grades (4-8)

1. Africa-Parker (4.8/1)
2. African Mythology-Ollhoff (5.5/0.5)
3. African Myths and Legends-Chambers (5.1/1)
4. African Myths and Legends-Ardagh (5.6/2)
5. Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum-Bryan (3.9/1) (Nigeria)
6. The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories-Courlander (4.8/3)
7. The Girl Who Married a Ghost: And Other Tales from Nigeria-Onyefulu (5.0/2)
8. Hausaland Tales from the Nigerian Marketplace-McIntosh (5.8/3)
9. Kwian and the Lazy Sun-Lilly (4.1/0.5)
10. The Lion’s Whiskers and Other Ethiopian Tales-Ashabranner (5.5/3)
11. Marriage of the Rain Goddess-Wolfson (4.8/0.5) (Zulu)
12. Mella and the N’anga: An African Tale-Nyoka (5.8/6) (Zimbabwe)
13. Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa-Aardema (5.0/2)
14. The Ogress and the Snake and Other Stories from Somalia-Laird (4.2/2)
15. The Pot of Wisdom: Ananse Stories-Badoe (5.5/1)
16. Spider and His Son Find Wisdom-Lilly (3.9/0.5)
17.  Sunjata: Warrior King of Mali-Fontes (3.7/0.5)
18. Tales of Africa-Tolson (3.6/1)
19. Tales of Africa II-Hall (3.3/1)
20. Warrior Son of a Warrior  Son-Lilly (4.0/0.5)
21. Zimani’s Drum: A Malawian Tale-Lilly (4.2/0.5)

Photo Courtesy of Calsidyrose