Stories Gogo Told Me

Book excerpt: There is a storyteller in almost every village in Africa. Telling stories is not her offi cial job. By day she may be a Gogo, a teacher, a farmer or a seamstress. But at night, round the fi re, she will sit surrounded by young children, old friends, neighbours and travellers. She will tell of how it was in the olden days, when the earth was young, when man was a hunter-gatherer, and when the animals roamed wild throughout the continent. The author spent several months hiking around the villages, towns, farms and deserts of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa, asking people who can’t read or write to tell her their favourite stories. The result is this children’s treasury of legends and fables, of witchdoctors and kingdoms of strange creatures and talking animals, which celebrates Africa and its ancient storytelling culture.