Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock

By Eric Kimmel

Kimmel, Eric. 1988. Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. USA: Holiday House Publishers. ISBN: 0-8234-0689-x

PLOT SUMMARY:

Anansi the spider finds a moss covered rock one day while walking through the forest.  The rock causes Anansi to go unconscious and he believes that the rock has magic powers if you say the magic words.  Anansi then brings all of his friends one by one to the rock and after they pass out, he steals their food.  His one friend, Little Bush Deer sees him and realizes what he is doing.  The Little Bush Deer then tricks Anansi into saying the magic word to the rock and he and all the other friends go and get their food back while he is passed out.  Anansi comes home and finds everything gone but he did not learn his lesson, he is still out there playing pranks.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

Anansi is a tricky little spider that is too lazy to work for what he wants; he instead tricks his friends so he can just take what he wants from them.  The plot has a receptive pattern.  Anansi tricks all of his friends the same way.  The child can predict what will happen next by the pattern of the story.  The story gets interesting when Anansi is tricked by the Little Bush Deer.  This is the changing point of the whole story. 

The images are cute and not scary for the young reader.  One can look at the images and know what is happening in the story without actually reading the words.  The setting of the story is in the jungle where Anansi and his friends live.  Each of the characters are animals, that would be found living in the jungle.  The vegetation is also jungle like.  The author illustrates time by actually saying how much time has passed. 

In this story the author is trying to teach their readers a lesson.  Anansi is always playing tricks to get what he wants.  He never works for things; it almost looks like he is going to get everything free but then Little Bush Deer catches him.

CONNECTIONS:

There are quite a few books about Anansi the spider and all of them could be looked over and read with this book. Ask the children about a time they tried to play and prank and got caught. They can create a story out of their experience.  The story can be created through images instead of words.

REVIEWS:

From School Library Journal

Kimmel has retold a West African tale (said to be known in Caribbean culture). The text is rhythmic, nicely building suspense to the inevitable conclusion. Stevens' complementary, colorful illustrations add detail, humor, and movement to the text. Here, Anansi is portrayed as a large eight-legged arachnid; his expression is in his motion. The other animals are almost realistic, although with facial expressions that are characteristic of the artist's work.

Maria B. Salvadore, District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition