Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour of The Faber Book of Bedtime Stories. I know when my son was younger there was something special and exciting about having your own illustrated short story collection, this is the kind of book you will want to keep coming back to. There are 17 short stories from 17 authors, including some of my favourite authors. The stories, are interesting, varied, and full of heart. I am a big fan of Sarah McIntyre, she was a great choice to illustrate this collection. Her bold and eye-catching pictures really stand out and make this a really special collection.
Anansi and the Curse of the Seven by Ingrid Persaud
Tell us about your story
Ananci the spider lives in Trinidad and in this story we recount his adventures on a visit to London. While there he discovers the curse of the number seven and uses it to steal yummy pies and cheesy bread rolls. But things get tricky when he tries to get a young boy’s birthday cake and finds himself on the wrong end of the curse.
What was your favourite bedtime story as a child?
I was always asking my daddy to read me Three Billy Goats Gruff or The Three Little Pigs. He made scary faces while he read. It still makes me smile to hear these stories.
Ingrid Persuad’s story features two pigeons and a spider called Anasi. It’s set in London, but the story of the Windrush is cleverly woven into it. Scarlet Pigeon is telling her cousins (who have come to visit from Trinidad) Grand Dove and Anansi about when her farther came to England.
“Now, as I was saying. We have to go back a long time to when my daddy came to England on that big ship, Windrush. Things were hard. They came to London looking for a place to live. They walked up and down looking. But, all they saw were signs saying: NO DARK PIGEONS, DOGS or CATS WELCOME”
p109 The Faber book of Bedtime Stories
When the two pigeons go on a camping weekend, Anansi is left home alone. He decides to use the curse of seven to trick local kids when they come back from the bakery, so he can eat what they bought! But, then he meets a young boy who is aware of his trickster ways. What will happen then? Read it to find out!
The Visual appearance of this Story collection and Sarah McIntyres illustrations
There are wonderful illustrations by Sarah McIntyre throughout this collections, which really help to bring the stories to life. Sarah McyIntyre has a great skill at portraying the personality of her characters with humour. I want to highlight two other ways pictures have been used in this collection. In the Contents page, each of the 17 stories has a picture next to the title. What a great way to build excitement in children of all ages when selecting the next story. This could also be used to make predictions on what each story is about. The second visual clue is each story has a little illustrations either side of the page number, a delightful touch with will also help readers locate each story.
You can buy from independent bookseller Readers that Care or ask your local bookshop.
Check out the other posts in The Faber Book of Bedtime Stories, see below
