The Guineafowl's Spots and Other African Bird Tales

The rich folklore culture of Africa has been passed down by word of mouth through countless generations. Dianne Stewart has a passion for collecting and retelling these stories, making them accessible to a whole new audience. In The Guineafowl's Spots and Other African Bird Tales she has created a unique collection of African folktales, exclusively about birds. Drawn from across the continent, these tales often draw on human characteristics and are followed by African proverbs that illustrate various moral lessons. This fascinating collection includes classic tales such as 'Why Flamingo Stands on One Leg' from Nigeria, 'The Laughing Dove' from North Africa, and the Xhosa tale 'The Bird That Could Make Milk'. Beautiful illustrations by Richard Mackintosh bring to life the magic of the stories and the beauty of the birds themsleves. Many of the tales include additional facts on the featured birds.

Dianne Stewart has written more than 30 books for children and young adults, some of which have been published internationally, among them a collection of African proverbs, Wisdom from Africa, and a book of animal tales from Africa, The Zebra's Stripes and Other African Animal Tales. It was through her studies in African languages and literature that she first became aware of the wealth of oral literature that abounds on the African continent, which has been passed on from generation to generation through both word and mouth and the written word.