''A Story, a Story'' is a children's picture book written and illustrated by

Gail E. Haley Gail E. Haley (born November 4, 1939) is an American writer and illustrator. She has won the annual awards for children's book illustration from both the American and British librarians, for two different picture books. She won the 1971 Caldecott ...

that retells the African tale of how the trickster Anansi obtained stories from the Sky God to give to the children of the earth. The book was produced after Gail E. Haley spent a year in the Caribbean researching the African roots of many Caribbean tales. Released by Atheneum, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

in 1971.American Library Association
Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present
URL accessed 27 May 2009.

In other media

The book was animated by filmmaker

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

for

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is a production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded area near h ...

in 1971. The animation was carried out at Kratky Film Prague, with the narration by Dr John Akar and "African music recreated" by Dr Vaclav Kubica using African instruments loaned from the Náprstek Museum Prague.

References

American picture books Children's fiction books Caldecott Medal–winning works 1970 children's books African folklore Atheneum Books books {{child-picture-book-stub