The Cat who Came Indoors :
A story From Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folk Tales
Edited by Nelson Mandela
Once upon a time, there was a cat, a wild cat, who lived all by herself out in the bush. After a while she got tired of living alone and took herself a husband, another wild cat who she thought was the finest creature in all the jungle.
One day, as they strolled together along the path through the tall grass, swish, out of the grass jumped Leopard, and Cat’s husband was bowled over, all fur and claws, into the dust.
“O-oh!” said Cat. “I see my husband is covered in dust and is not the finest creature in all the jungle. It is Leopard.” So Cat went to live with Leopard.
They lived together very happily until one day, as they were hunting in the bush, suddenly—whoosh—out of the shadows leapt Lion right onto Leopard’s back and ate him all up.
“O-o-oh!” said Cat. “I see Leopard is not the finest creature in all the jungle. It is Lion.”
So Cat went to live with Lion.
They lived together very happily until one day, as they were stalking through the forest, a large shape loomed overhead, and –fu-chu—Elephant put one foot on top of Lion and squashed him flat.
“O-o-o-oh!” said Cat. “I see Lion is not the finest creature in all the jungle. It is Elephant.”
So Cat went to live with Elephant. She climbed up onto his back and sat purring on his neck, right between his two ears.
The lived together happily until one day, as they were moving through the tall reeds down by the river—pa-wa—there was a loud bang, and Elephant sank down onto the ground.
Cat looked around and all she could see was a small man with a gun.
“O-o-o-o-oh!” said Cat. “I see Elephant is not the finest creature in all the jungle. It is Man.”
So Cat walked after Man all the way to his home, and jumped up onto the thatch of his hut.
“At last,” said Cat, “I have found the finest creature in all the jungle.”
She lived up in the thatch of the hut very happily and began to catch the mice and rats that lived in that village. Until one day, as she sat on the roof warming herself in the sun, she heard a noise from inside the hut. The voices of Man and his wife grew louder and louder until—wara-wara-wara…yo-we! —out came Man, tumbling head over heels into the dust.
“Aha!” said Cat. “Now I do know who is truly the finest creature in all the jungle. It is Woman.”
She came down from the thatch, went inside the hut, and sat by the fire.
And that is where she’s been ever since.
Summary
This lovely book celebrates Afrikas folktales . In this book the reader is introduced to the Kenyan lion Simba , the snake with seven heads and many tricksters from the Zulu folklore. This book allows us to know the history of myths . It talks about the animals of Africa and how they came to be. Lessons about disobedience are thought in this book and also about the underdog. It was Edited by Neslon Mandela
Evaluation
This falls under folktale and flirts with the African style of folk tale stories.
Student Activities
Activities 1: These are my favorite kinds of children books for these class room activities I would use each theme as a life lesson for my students. Each student would choose a tale and read it at home I would then have every student come back and teach the class a 2 minute lesson on what they learned . It could be about never giving up , equality, obedience , or courage . I believe in exercises that allow the students to communicate among each other
Activities 2 : For this second exercise I would have all of students choose a folktale form the book and create a folktale song . I feel that this method will make sure that these stories have an ever lasting impression on each student.
Editor
Mandela was born July 18 1918 . He attended the University of Witwatersrand . he served over 27 years in prison . An international campaign lobbied his release. Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life but is remembered for his humility and faith
Personal Evaluation
This is a master piece filled with culture and tradition . I would have this book at home to simply have a such a bundle of cultural pride in one book. It is great for all ages, even I am amused my the tales Mandela chose.
References
Tag Archives: Nelson mandela. (n.d.). Short Biography. Retrieved from http://www.shortbiography.net/tag/nelson-mandela/
