How the Rivermaid Grew Her Tail
Jessica Wilson, illustrated by Sophie Bass
Words & Pictures

This is a wonderful anthology of folktales from the West African and Caribbean traditions. There are thirteen in all, many of which are new to me. Each one is introduced with information about the country of its origin, its people, and traditions. There is also a double spread with a map showing where in the world each story is from and acting like a pictorial index.

One character that is familiar to me is Anansi though in How Anansi Became King Of All Stories, (Ghana, Ivory Coast & Togo) we also meet Asase Yaa, Anansi’s mother the goddess of love, fertility and the Earth, and though traditionally depicted in humanoid form, herein she takes the form of a spider with two other offspring, Tano and Ben.

There are several pourquoi tales including the titular How the Rivermaid Grew Her Tail, from Jamaica. We first encounter her when she’s both tailless and purposeless and feeling very sad about her lack of a tail despite Turtle’s wise words, “Without your tail, you are enough.” However Rivermaid feels as though she’s already experienced having a tail and insists she needs it. Come the morning Rivermaid sees herself reflected in the eyes of a young girl singing a calypso while washing clothes along the river bank and it’s then she realises she is there to protect the waterways. After some while, joy of joys, Rivermaid feels her tail lengthening and sings in sheer delight.

It’s good to see How George Grew Wings, a retelling inspired by African American George Floyd who was murdered in Minneapolis by a white police officer, a shocking event that triggered the Black Lives Matter movement.

I could go on waxing lyrical about the stories Jessica Wilson retells herein, assuredly they are culturally rich, but instead, I will merely say that with Sophie Bass’s vibrant illustrations,

this is a book that deserves a place in every primary school collection, in secondary school libraries and on family bookshelves