Anansí Goes to LunchPaperback, 10 July 2007

Anansi, a trickster spider, gets a little too greedy in this West African folktale. Anansí Goes to Lunch is another story from the series of West African folktales about Anansi, the trickster spider. In this story, Anansí is invited to three different parties but realizes that it is not possible to attend all three of the lunches at the same time. He decides to tie a rope around his waist and then gives each of his hosts an end of the rope to tug. He then asks them to tug the rope when the food is ready so that he can make it to each party when lunch is served. But Anansí receives a surprise when all three lunches are ready at once and each of his friends tugs the rope at the same time. He gets caught in the middle when the rope pulls him in opposite directions and his waist is squeezed tightly in three places. Afterwards he waits for his waist to expand but it never does and that is why spiders now have such small waists. This trickster tale from Africa teaches readers the importance of citizenship, resourcefulness and responsibility.