Koné, Boundou La Houe magique. Contes niarafolo The Magic Hoe: Niarafolo Tales
Illustrated by Leslie Lumeh. Mes racines (My Roots) series. Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: Edilis, 2002. 112 p. ISBN 2-913942-26-1. Ages 8 and up.
Commentary
This collection of fourteen folktales, mostly from the Niarafolo people in northern Côte d’Ivoire, is adapted for young readers in a lively style. Hares, monkeys, hyenas, ostriches, tortoises – all with the qualities and flaws they are usually endowed with in the African savannah – are the characters of this world full of vitality. Their foolishness, cunning, or greed provides readers with lessons for life that are contained in the short maxims at the end of each story. Boundou Koné, a recognised teacher and school director (now retired), dedicates the book “to all the children in the world needing some reverie and some amusement.” This book has been selected as a reader for schools in Côte d’Ivoire.
Folk Tales Côte d’Ivoire Edilis (Editions Livre Sud) | |    |
