54 Tales of Africa: which book should you choose for your child?

In short: 54 Tales of Africa comes in three volumes. Part One and Part Two each contain 27 illustrated tales, one per country, and between them they cover all 54 countries of the continent. The Côte d’Ivoire Special volume applies the same rule to a single country, ethnic group by ethnic group. All three can be read independently: there is no set order, you start with the one that holds the country that speaks to you.

The question almost always comes in the same form: “I’d like to give 54 Tales of Africa, but which one?” Or, even more often: “The tale from Senegal — which book is it in?” Here’s how to answer without opening all three books.

The three volumes at a glance

None of the three is a “book one” that you have to read before the others. Each volume has its own table of contents and its own tales.

The principle: one tale per country, 27 per book

Africa has 54 countries. The collection travels all the way around them at the rate of one tale per country, in two volumes of 27. That’s what gives the series its title, and it’s also what sets it apart from a collection of “African tales” with no stated origin: here, every tale bears the name of the country it comes from.

Each volume is illustrated and opens with a table of contents. This detail matters more than it seems: a child who picks their own tale, looking for a parent’s country or simply a title that intrigues them, enters the book differently from a child who is made to start at page 1.

The two parts are independent. Nothing in Part Two assumes you have read Part One. So you can buy one without the other, or both to have all 54.

Which book has the tale from…?

That’s the question that decides the purchase, and the one no product page answered until now. Here is the breakdown by volume.

Part One

South Africa · Algeria · Angola · Benin · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Congo (Brazzaville) · Congo (Kinshasa) · Côte d’Ivoire · Egypt · Ethiopia · Ghana · Guinea-Bissau · Equatorial Guinea · Kenya · Mali · Mauritius · Mozambique · Nigeria · Uganda · Sierra Leone · Somalia · Sudan · Tanzania · Tunisia · Zimbabwe

Part Two

Botswana · Cabo Verde · Central African Republic · Comoros · Djibouti · Eritrea · Eswatini · Gabon · Gambia · Guinea · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Morocco · Mauritania · Namibia · Niger · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · South Sudan · Chad · Togo · Zambia

Four neighborly traps, because the names look alike: Niger is not Nigeria; Guinea (Conakry) is neither Guinea-Bissau nor Equatorial Guinea; Rwanda is not Burundi; and South Sudan is not Sudan. In each of these cases, the two countries are in different volumes. The two Congos, on the other hand, are together in Part One.

And Côte d’Ivoire — it’s in Part One, and on top of that it gets a whole volume of its own, described below.

Côte d’Ivoire Special: one tale per ethnic group

After the two books that traveled across the continent, this volume zooms in to the scale of a single country. The tales are arranged according to the four major ethnolinguistic groups of Côte d’Ivoire:

• Akan — Abbey, Abidji, Abouré, Abron, Adioukrou, Ahizi, Alladian, Agni, Appolo-Nzima, Attié, Avikam, Baoulé, Ébrié, Ega, Éhotilé, Essouma, Krobou, Yaouré
• Gur — Birifor, Camara, Degha, Komono, Koulango, Lohron, Lobi, Mangoro, Senufo, Siti, Tagbana
• Kru — Bakwé, Bété, Dida, Gnedeboua, Godié, Guéré, Kodia, Kouya, Kouzié, Kotrohou, Kroumen, Niaboua, Neyo, Oubi, Wané, Wobé
• Manden — Biélou, Gban, Gouro, Koyaka, Ligbi, Mahouka, Malinke, Marka, Mona, Ngin, Nigbi, Toura, Wan, Yacouba

Each tale is labeled with the ethnic group it comes from. When several groups are listed for the same tale, it means that the same story, or a very similar one, circulates among them: a concrete way of showing what the peoples of Côte d’Ivoire have in common.

Along the way: The Envious Wasp, The Sacred Drum, Why the Fish Lives in Water, Koasia, the One Nobody Looked At, The Warthog’s Shame, The Village of Three Voices, The Stubborn Child, The Golden Braid, The Man Who Heard Everything, The Cockroach and the Termite. Difficult words are marked with an asterisk and explained in a glossary, and pages of cultural background (social organization, traditional architecture, patterns and symbols) accompany the stories. It’s the volume to choose for a child with roots in Côte d’Ivoire, and the one we recommend to teachers.

Where to start?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there is a simple method.

1. Look up the family’s country in the lists above. If it’s in Part One, start with that one; if it’s in Part Two, start with Part Two. A child who finds “their” country in the table of contents opens the book all by themselves.
2. If the family is from Côte d’Ivoire, choose the Côte d’Ivoire Special: it goes further than a single tale, giving the ethnic group, its larger group, and the neighboring peoples.
3. If the country doesn’t matter (a gift for a child discovering Africa), choose either of the two parts. They are built the same way and neither one is “better.”
4. For a classroom library, the two parts together cover all 54 countries: a complete tour of the continent, and the table of contents lets you work on one country at a time.

As for age, no age range is printed on the books. Our recommendation: from 6 with an adult, around 8 on their own. Before 6, read one tale aloud, just one a night, as we explain in our guide for little ones. For a child learning to read, the deciding factor is how long a tale is, and this guide explains how to judge it, for our books as for any others.

And for listening

Ultimes Griots tales also exist in audio. The podcast 54 Tales is on our Audio Tales page, and our app KUMA offers tales to listen to and read, with a quiz after each story. These are catalogues separate from the books: you won’t necessarily find the same tales there, which is exactly a reason to combine the two — the book for bedtime storytelling, the audio for the car.

Frequently asked questions

Is the book 54 Tales of Africa still available?
Yes. All three volumes are available in our shop, with delivery anywhere in Côte d’Ivoire (2,000 F CFA, free on orders of 32,800 F CFA or more) or free pickup in Abidjan-Angré by appointment.

How many tales are in each book?
27 illustrated tales per book for Part One and Part Two, one per country. Together the two parts cover all 54 countries of the continent. The Côte d’Ivoire Special is organized by ethnic group, not by country.

Do you have to read Part One before Part Two?
No. Each volume has its own table of contents and its own tales. Choose the one that contains the family’s country, or both to have all 54.

Where can I buy it from France?
Our shop only delivers within Côte d’Ivoire. Outside the country, Part One and Part Two are distributed by La Boutique Africavivre in print and digital editions, and on Amazon. Our guide where to buy an African children’s book goes through the options.

Is it available in English?
Yes, under the title 54 Tales of Africa, distributed on Amazon.

Is there an ebook edition?
Yes, Part One and Part Two are available as ebooks, from La Boutique Africavivre and on Kindle.

From what age?
No age is printed on the books. We recommend 6 with an adult and 8 on their own; before that, read the tales aloud.

Does the Côte d’Ivoire Special replace the Ivorian tale in the two parts?
No, it complements it. Where a book gives one tale for a whole country, the Ivorian volume gives one per ethnic group, with a glossary and cultural background.