Jamaican writer and poet, Geoffrey Philp weaves a beautiful tale inspired by the West African folklore of Anansi the Spider. Geoffrey Philp's new book, Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories, revisits the legendary trickster of African/Caribbean lore in a heartwarming story about the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson. Philp's character, Grandpa Sydney, shares the stories of Anancy with his grandson Jimmy. He tells Jimmy about the cleverness and wit of Anancy and how this little spider was able to overcome and outwit the larger animals.

Initially, the Anancy stories were only bedtime stories for Jimmy. However, Jimmy finds out that there are lessons to be learned from this legendary cultural hero when he comes up against a school bully. Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories is guaranteed to delight and entertain readers of all ages. It is great learning tool for the classroom and an excellent introduction to Caribbean culture and folklore. So, if you love a good story or maybe you've never even heard of Anancy the Spider then you need to buy this book.

Stephen Bess
Morphological Confetti

In Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories, Geoffrey Philp reaffirms for us the central role that storytelling plays in the life of all us. For those of us with roots in the Caribbean, storytelling was a way of life, an important form of instruction and preparation for life. Today, storytelling is a critical form of classroom instruction that allows teachers to incorporate children’s voices and cultural background into the teaching and learning process.

In this story, Philp calls on the Jamaican genre of Anancy stories to tell a tale about a fourth grade boy who is bullied at school and soon begins to feel as if the joy of life is being sucked out of his daily activities. A bedtime story he hears over and over again from his Jamaican grandfather provides the framework for tackling his problem with the bully at school. When Jimmy puts into practice the wit and cunning displayed by the character Anancy from Grandpa Sydney’s nighttime tales, he teaches the bully a valuable lesson and learns one himself.

In addition to presenting readers with an artful Anancy tale, Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories speaks to the empowering effect of parental involvement and the special benefits that can be derived from being part of an extended family. Critical thinking questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy are provided at the end of the story for classroom enrichment.

Marva McClean, Ph.D., is an author and curriculum administrator. She recently published Bridges to Memory, a collection of poetry.