The Ogress and the Snake and Other Stories from Somalia (Folktales from Around the World) - Softcover

Laird, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845078705 ISBN 13: 9781845078706

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2009

Synopsis

For millennia, Somalia has been crossed and recrossed by camel caravans of merchants, bringing with them stories such as "The Good Prince," in which a kindhearted prince conquers the evil magic of a beautiful sorceress, and "The Ogress and the Snake," a Somali Hansel and Gretel story about five little girls, abandoned in the desert, who take refuge in the house of a man-eating ogress. Elizabeth Laird heard many of these tales in Jigjiga, the capital of Ethiopia's Somali region. She gathers together the finest of them in The Ogress and the Snake and Other Stories from Somalia. The stories abound with colorful characters — Deya Ali, the greedy trickster fox; Kabaalaf the shopkeeper, crooked as a jug-handle, who meets his match in the slippery Hirsi; and the miraculous (and bodyless) Head, whose magic powers conjure up a talking camel and bring him a princess. These and the other magical tales in this delightful collection are the perfect introduction to a fascinating and little-known country.

About this title

About the Author:

Elizabeth Laird is the renowned author of Kiss the Dust, The Garbage King and A Little Piece of Ground. She has been shortlisted five times for the Carnegie Medal. She has a longstanding interest in Persian literature and has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East. Her other books for Frances Lincoln are Pea Boy: Stories from Iran, A Fistful of Pearls: Stories from Iraq, and The Ogress and the Snake: Stories from Somalia. Elizabeth divides her time between London and Edinburgh.

Shelley Fowles was born in South Africa. Her books include The Bachelor and the Bean, winner of the U.S. Maron Vannett Ridgway Honor Book Award 2004. She lives in east London.

To visit Shelley Fowles' website click here

Review:

A wonderful collection of eight desert tales from Somalia. Wicked stepmothers, gold, snakes, why dogs are a man's best friend - it's all here in these beautifully retold stories.

About this edition

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1845078705
• ISBN 13: 9781845078706
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96