8 h 35 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 35 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A spider outwits the strong, children sing in rings, and Jamaican speech carries stories from mouth to page.
Jamaican Song and Story brings together folk tales, songs, game tunes and sayings gathered by Walter Jekyll. At its heart are the words and music of ordinary Jamaicans. Meet Anansi, called Annancy in Jamaican speech, among animals who act like people, and enter an oral culture with roots in West Africa and a new life in the Caribbean.
The collection moves between storytelling, children's games and dances, with tunes set down in musical notation. Jekyll's interest in music and language shapes the book throughout. The tales use Jamaican speech, with spelling that suggests its sound. That may slow your first reading, but it invites you to notice the language as closely as the story.
What you’ll discover
- Annancy the trickster Meet the spider who outwits the strong in tales of animals acting like people.
- Songs woven through stories Discover songs that belong to the telling of tales, alongside the tales themselves.
- Rings, games and dances Explore tunes tied to children's games, singing rings and dances.
- The sound of speech Read Jamaican speech on the page, with spellings that invite a closer look.
- Roots across the sea Explore an oral culture with West African roots and a Caribbean life.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love trickster tales, folk songs, the sound of spoken dialect, or the daily life of Caribbean villages. Storytellers, singers and teachers will find plenty to read aloud.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Annancy is a greedy, charming trickster
- Jamaican speech is quick and musical
- Cleverness wins thrones, wives and dinners
- Small creatures outwit the strong
- Stories travelled from Africa and Europe
- Stubborn girls meet suitors who are not what they seem
- Songs play a central role in many tales
- Digging sings turn labour into music
- Ring and dance tunes record village life
- Duppies, Obeah and history shadow the songs
Who’s who
- AnnancyThe spider-man trickster who steals, bluffs and sings his way toward the next meal, and who sometimes meets a cleverer neighbour.
- Brother TigerA fierce, loud-voiced animal who hunts the weaker creatures and is often tricked by Annancy.
- Calcutta MonkeyA sharp-witted, boastful animal who protects his cornfield with a drum, a whip and a pack of cards.
- TacomaAnnancy's son or neighbour, a clever thief who courts girls and borrows what he can.
- Brother DeathA host who sits silent while Annancy cooks and eats his food.
- SolidayA poor boy with yaws who sets out with six arrows to end the darkness that Man-crow brings.
- Parson PussA clergyman cat who wants to marry Toad to his bride and keep his own congregation.
- Parson DogA rival clergyman, quick to anger, who wants the wedding for himself.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Canti e racconti giamaicani
A spider-man with a cleft palate tricks kings, tigers and cows, and songs accompany many of his adventures.
Medium level2–5 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
Who is Annancy, and why do Jamaican field workers roll on the ground laughing when his name comes up? He is a spider who walks like a man, a thief with a cleft palate and an enormous appetite.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Annancy is a greedy, charming trickster
Annancy is the hero of most of the tales. Despite his strength, he avoids effort and needs a substantial reward to do honest work. He carries a bag everywhere and prefers to fill it by fraud or theft.
He feels no remorse for his cruelty, but his hail-fellow-well-met manner charms his companions so much that they almost forgive him. He speaks fast and through his nose, because of a cleft palate, so brother becomes bro'er. At one point, he takes human form and steals a cow. The next he is running along his rope, the Jamaican word for a web.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Jekyll, Walter. Jamaican Song and Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/jamaican-song-and-story.
Jekyll, W. (2026). Jamaican song and story. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/jamaican-song-and-story
Jekyll, Walter. Jamaican Song and Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/jamaican-song-and-story.
@book{jekyll2026jamaican,
author = {Jekyll, Walter},
title = {Jamaican Song and Story},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/jamaican-song-and-story}
}
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What is Jamaican Song and Story about?
It collects fifty-one Annancy tales, digging sings, ring tunes and dance tunes from rural Jamaica around 1906. Notes explain the dialect, customs, beliefs and daily life that stand behind each story and song.
Who is Annancy?
Annancy is a trickster who walks as a man and takes the form of a spider. He is greedy and sly, speaks quickly through his nose, and his name comes from the Ashanti word for spider.
What does Jack Mantora, I choose none mean?
It is the formula that ends most Annancy tales. Jekyll suggests the teller means that no one in the circle is singled out for the beating or fate that the characters receive.
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