Title: Stories Gogo Told Me
Author: Lisa Grainger
Illustrator: Cecilia von Poncet
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Penguin Fiction
Cape Town, South Africa, 2015
ISBN 9781485900030 / ISBN 978-1-48590-003-0
Softcover, 15 x 24 cm, 191 pages, numerous colour illustrations
It is in Africa's old voices that man's richest stories lie. Some storytellers I met when travelling round southern Africa with my tape-recorder were men and women in their eighties or nineties who had been telling tales in their village for more than half a century. None of the fables came from books; they were all told from memory and varied according to the tribe the storyteller belonged to. Some included songs, and listeners enthusiastically joined in, clapping and swaying and shouting. Others required the storyteller to imitate the grunts and growls of the African jungle, as she brought favourite African characters to life: the naughty hare, the wise old tortoise and the greedy baboons. Some were told to teach a moral or a lesson. And all brought howls of laughter to the village.
Foreword by Iman
Introduction
Why Tortoise's shell is cracked
Why Rabbit's tail is short
Why lightning strikes
Why Hippo flings his dung
Why Hare's ears are long
Why Frog can no longer sing
Why Crocodile has no tongue
When the earth was young
When Hippo was hairy
The talking tummy
The man who snored and the man who sang
How Honeybird punished the greedy man
The race between Hare and Tortoise
The princess and the python
The man with big lips
The long-eared thief
The lion, the snake and the man
The lion men
The lion and the jackal
The leper princess
The leopard's promise
The leopard and the dog
The incredible Mr Tortoise
The hen's safari
The hawk and the hen
The greedy spider
The forbidden fruit
The fish's heads
The finger tree
The day tails were given out
The day Monkey saved his heart
The day Man met fire
The day Hyena learned about luck
The hyena and the heron
The day Hare lost his head
The curse of the chameleon
The clever little lizard
The charming Mr Hare
The baboon's party
The king of the birds
How Bushpig got a flat nose
How Lion got his roar
How Bat got his wings
How Giraffe got his long neck