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AGES 9-10 • 12 pages • about 4 min to read together
Kweku performs an old Anansi tale about seeking Nyame’s stories and learns that the spider mask is a symbol of cleverness humbled by wisdom.
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PAGE 1 OF 12
At the harvest storytelling night, the elders brought out a carved wooden spider mask and placed it on a woven stool beneath the silk-cotton tree. Kweku Anansi leaned forward at once.
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“Long ago,” said Auntie Ama, “people told how clever Anansi wanted every secret in the sky.” Kweku lifted the mask carefully. It was not a creature. It was a memory made from wood.
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In the play of the old tale, Kweku imagined himself walking through ancient Kumasi as Anansi the clever man, admired for quick words, sharp eyes, and plans that moved faster than drums.
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But cleverness made him hungry for more. He climbed a road of sunset light toward Nyame’s cloud palace and bowed before the Sky King. “Share one great story with me,” he asked.
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Nyame’s eyes shone like moonlit water. “Stories are not trophies,” he said. “Bring me three things that cannot easily be held: the whisper of the silent moon, the tear of a laughing child, and the sound of a shadow.”
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Kweku climbed the highest hill at night. He held up a dark blue calabash and waited without speaking. When the moon brushed the rim with silver light, he gently closed the lid.
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Next he found a little child who had forgotten how to smile. Kweku told a riddle so silly that laughter burst out like rain. One bright tear rolled down, and Kweku caught it in a leaf cup.
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Last came the sound of a shadow. Kweku danced beside a lantern, slow as smoke and quiet as dust. His shadow leaped, bowed, and rustled against the wall. He trapped that tiny rustle in a woven basket.
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Kweku returned to Nyame with the moon-whisper calabash, the laughing tear, and the shadow-sound basket. Nyame nodded, pleased but serious. “You have caught strange things. Now listen with a humble heart.”
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The story Nyame opened was enormous. It held beginnings, endings, promises, mistakes, and songs older than mountains. Kweku tried to stand tall, but the story was too heavy for pride alone.
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So Nyame gave him the carved spider mask. “Wear this only in stories,” said the Sky King. “It will remind people that cleverness must bend low, listen well, and carry wisdom carefully.”
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When the play ended, Kweku placed the mask back on the stool. The village clapped, not because he had become a spider, but because he had learned the deeper trick: wisdom makes cleverness worth remembering.
Talk about it together
- What was your favourite part of the story?
- What do you think Anansi learned?
- What would you have done differently?
ABOUT THIS TALE
Anansi (Kwaku Ananse) is the clever spider of Ashanti folklore from Ghana. These tales were told aloud for generations and travelled the world with the Akan people. This is an original retelling that keeps the wit and warmth of the tradition alive for young readers.
More Anansi stories
Anansi and the Celestial Circus →
Anansi and the Gift of Stories →
Explore more Anansi
- Who is Anansi? — meet the clever trickster spider of Ghana.
- See Anansi in 360° — his spider and human forms.
- More free stories for ages 9–10
