3 stars
I recently read The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories and absolutely loved it. So, I thought I’d read some of the earlier collections in the series. What I loved about The Woman in the Woods is that it showcases a variety of indigenous authors and artists. As far as I can tell, there are only a few creators of color in this collection and even fewer Black creators.
I also like that The Woman in the Woods notes what Nation the stories originated from. I expected this one to note the country, tribe, or region. Some of them did, but most did not. As this one is an older collection in the series, I’m glad it seems to have gone in a different direction.
So, that’s a bit about what the stories are not, now on to what the stories are. A nice variety of story retellings, some I was familiar with and some I was not. It’s a good blend of humor, adventure, magic, and lessons. It also showcases a variety of artstyles, all of which are rendered in black-and-white. Some are cartoony, others are more realistic, some are detailed, others are more sketchy. Nice overall variety in storytelling and artstyles.
I especially enjoyed the humorous take in Nicole Chartrand‘s “The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull”, the charm of Katie Shanahan and Steven Shanahan‘s “Demane and Demazana”, the message of Carla Speed McNeil‘s “Snake and Frog Never Play Together”, and the cool space twist of Faith Erin Hicks‘s “The Stranger”.
Overall, an interesting collection of reimagined tales from Africa. There are some well-known characters such as Anansi, Isis, and Ra; lore about how different natural phenomena came to be; and some nice morals.
Great artwork and a nice variety of stories. It’s a decent collection of interpreted tales.