BOOK REVIEW ON A BOOK ABOUT AFRICA FOLKTALES

Title:           The Tortoise Stage

Author:       Daniel Inyang Jnr

Publisher:   DI BRAINZ

Year:           2012

Pages:         54

Price:          Not stated

Reviewer:    Elizabeth Inyang (ABC2M)

Introduction

Every book has its relevance; that is my belief. That relevance forms the core purpose and motivation behind the writer. I spent a great part of my life in the United States of America, away from my native African clime. In the quest to experience life Africa, I joined Topfaith International Secondary School, Mkpatak this academic year in SS2. Life in Africa, in moral terms, is different and far better than life in some shores away from Africa. I do not need a time as long as eternity to decide that because the moral principles that guide the African child as enshrined in every code and things around the child. I was curious when I saw a small collection of folk place in the office of Mr Daniel Inyang Jnr, the HOD, English Language/Literature, Topfaith Schools. I did not hesitate to ask for his permission to read it for the attraction of the title and the cover design.

The Book   

The Book, The Tortoise Stage, which foreword was written by a former Director in the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education, is a collection of four folk plays written for the senior primary and junior secondary classes. These short plays are written in such a way that each could be acted on stage within 15 minutes. In the first play entitled ‘Tortoise Becomes a Grinding Stone’ the writer retells the popular story of the African trickster, Tortoise, who owes his friend Mr Pig, but refuses to pay on the day he (Mr Tortoise) scheduled to pay. Out of annoyance in one of the days of repeated visits to Mr Tortoise to ask for his money, Mr Pig carried a stone which Tortoise’s son used to grind and threw it away without knowing that it was Tortoise he actually threw away. When Tortoise re-emerged from the bush, he asked the Pig to look for the stone he threw away claiming that the money he kept to pay Mr Pig was in the stone. This explains why the Pig continually digs the ground with its mouth to look for Tortoise’s stone.

‘Lion Chews His Eyes’ is the second play in the collection. Like the first play, the Tortoise is a trickster that enticed the Mr Lion to destroy his eyes and remain helpless because of his (Mr Lion’s) greed. The opposite of the two stories is the third play in the collection, ‘Tortoise and the Old Woman’ which the trickster is out-tricked. Here, in sync with the popular African proverb, ‘Nine days for the thief, one for the owner of the farm’, Mr Tortoise met his waterloo in this intriguing story of a gang-up. The last play in the collection, ‘Tortoise Eats Lion’s Mother’ the trickster, Mr Tortoise, comes back in revenge, tricked Mr Lion in a period of famine, and destroyed Mr Lion’s mother.

Evaluation

From the beautiful plays, I feel Daniel Inyang Jnr, the writer had one major goal in mind apart from entertaining. His aim in the writing is to re-activate children’s fascination for folktales and rekindle the enormous benefits of the cherished tradition. The enter text, which is a revision of the stories from the prose forms to plays that can be acted on the stage in fifteen minutes, is designed to encourage pupil’s full participation in the story-telling process.

In terms of the suitability of the work to the young audience for which it is meant, the plays are written in simple English –ideal for students who use English as their second language. Also, there are captivating pictures on both the cover and inside the pages funny enough to attract children. Besides, the writer uses bold and clear fonts in the entire work so that pupils do not have to strain their eyes to read. They plays are deliberately designed to be short so that volume does not scare the young minds that the writer tries to woo into reading.

The essence of a play is realized on stage. The writer has made available a proper guide on how the plays could be staged in school events, and how children can present on their own when they gather to play. What the reader you not overlook are the moral tenets that each of the plays teach which are vital to life.

Recommendation

Having learnt so much about African culture which I was never truly exposed to until now, I have no hesitation to introduce this book to both young and old audiences. You will find it interesting, captivating and educating. I congratulate the writer as I recommend this book for your reading pleasure.