An Ocean Full of Stories
Angela McAllister, illustrated by Sally Agar
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

This is a fascinating collection of fifty folk stories, legends and traditional tales from all over the world retold by Angela McAllister. All are centred on different aspects of ocean life and the book is divided into six sections: Fishy Tales, Crossing the Water, Pools, Lakes and Rivers, Tricks and Trials, Ocean Gods and Water Spirits and finally, Beside the Sea, Beneath the Waves.
Some, including the North American Why River Waters are Never Still, Why the Sea is Salty (from Japan) and Why the Crocodile has a Wide Mouth (also from North American) are pourquoi tales that seek to explain why things are as they are.

You’ll discover several stories about greed and its consequences such as The Fisherman and his Wife and The Sea King’s Gift.

Not all the stories have human characters, indeed many are all about animals: a story from England that’s new to me The Magic Mackerel has anthropomorphised fish and we discover what happens when Lord Shark decides to hold a grand ball although he doesn’t have a ballroom.

As with many traditional collections, Anansi the trickster manages to find his way into this one. He’s taught a lesson by Anene the crow that he endeavours to get to do all his work for him in Anansi’s Fishing Trip.

That Ghanian tale was also new to me: indeed one of the joys of collections such as this is discovering new stories. If you read them aloud to a class or group, make time to let your listeners enjoy Sally Agar’s bold, lively illustrations.