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  • The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories (Newbery Honor Book) by Harold Courlander book cover
  • The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories (Newbery Honor Book) by Harold Courlander book cover
  • The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories (Newbery Honor Book) by Harold Courlander book cover
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The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories (Newbery Honor Book)

by Harold Courlander

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West African folktales of people and animals

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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    1948 Newbery Honor Book

    The book is identified as a Newbery Honor Book from 1948; this is an honor, not a Newbery Medal win.

AlbakiReads Editorial

West African folktales of people and animals

This collection brings together 17 West African folktales, with illustrations throughout. Its stories range across forests, seacoasts, hills, and plains, featuring kings, warriors, hunters, and familiar animals including Frog, Rabbit, Turtle, and Guinea Fowl. Some explain how things or animals came to be; others are described as tall tales. Together, they offer a window into a storytelling tradition concerned with human behavior, the natural world, and the ways communities make sense of both.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Young readers interested in folktales and traditional stories
  • Children who enjoy stories featuring animals and imaginative explanations
  • Readers exploring stories associated with West Africa

Themes

West African storytelling traditionsAnimals and the natural worldHuman behaviorOrigins and explanations

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

17 stories make up this unique collection of folktales brought to life by illustrations throughout the text.

"The stories of West Africa are about men and animals, about kings, warriors, and hunters. They tell about clever people and stupid people, about good ones and bad ones, about how things and animals got to be how they are. Sometimes they are just tall tales. There are stories about Frog, Rabbit, Turtle, Guinea Fowl, and all the other animals that West Africans know. Some of the stories make you think. Some make you laugh.

Here are some of the stories of the people of the forests, the seacoast, the hills, and the plains.

The people of West Africa give them to you."

A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK (1948)

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