Anansi and the Magic Stick (Anansi the Trickster #4)

PreS-Gr 3-One fine day finds all of the animals working, working, working, except for Anansi, who would much rather lounge and think than work, even though his house and garden are going to ruin. When he notices that Hyena has a magic stick to do all of his chores, he steals it. "Hocus-pocus, Magic Stick./Plant and water./Quick, quick, quick!" That part works well enough, but when the trickster falls asleep, the stick just keeps watering, watering, watering, until his garden turns into a mighty river and then a lake. When he wakes up, he can't remember the magic words that will stop the stick. Fortunately, Hyena floats and saves the day, but does that teach the spider a lesson? Of course not, and the story ends as he is "planning new tricks, which is just what Anansi does best." This tale has a more traditional ring to it than Kimmel and Stevens's Anansi and the Talking Melon (Holiday, 1994), but whimsical illustrations add a modern-day appearance. The stick waters with an assortment of up-to-date hoses, watering cans, and a circular sprinkler, and the characters include a warthog in a bathing cap, a hare wearing water wings, and caricatures of the author in a dinosaur tube and the illustrator clutching a brush in her teeth. The art has a softer focus than in Talking Melon but the same bright colors fill the pages, and the whole adds up to an enjoyable offering that is clever, funny, surprising, and traditional all at once.

Copyright  2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

In Anansi and the Magic Stick by Eric A. Kimmel, illus. by Janet Stevens, the arachnid goes too far. Anansi steals the napping Hyena's magic housekeeping stick to water his garden. Unattended, the water floods the town. Stevens's comic creatures with their surprised expressions add kid appeal. ( Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 2001 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.