Book #3 in the “Ancient Fantasy” Series!
Now Also an Ebook!

The Magic Flyswatter
A Superhero Tale of Africa
Retold from the Mwindo Epic

By Aaron Shepard
Cover art by Xiaojun Li

General Info
Reviews
Sample Text

• Aaron’s Extras

The storyteller stands beside the fire, swaying, dancing, miming, singing, reciting. With one hand he shakes a gourd rattle, with the other he swings a conga—a flyswatter made with a buffalo tail on a wooden handle. Anklet bells tinkle as he moves. Three young men beat a wooden drum with sticks.

Listening to him is a crowd of men, women, and children. They sing along at a song’s refrain, they repeat whole lines of the story when he pauses to see if they’re paying attention. They encourage him with little shouts, whoops, claps. Food and drink are passed around.

In a mountain rainforest of the Congo, a Nyanga village hears once more the tale of its favorite hero—Mwindo, the one born walking, the one born talking . . . .

Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of The Baker’s Dozen, The Sea King’s Daughter, The Monkey King, and many more children’s books, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader’s theater. Once a professional storyteller, Aaron specializes in lively retellings of folktales and other traditional literature, which have won him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society.

Xiaojun Li, a native of Inner Mongolia, was an award-winning children’s book illustrator and art director in China before moving to the United States.

Mini-Novel

Paperback
Skyhook Press ~ 2008
ISBN 978-0-938497-39-4
LCCN 2006903964
44 pages ~ 6 x 9 inches
Ages 10 and up

eBooks
Kindle ~ 2009
EPUB ~ 2011

Hardcover
Skyhook Press ~ 2008
ISBN 978-0-938497-38-7
Out of print—Buy it used or try your library

Rights
Contact Aaron via Shepard Publications

Reviews

“You will find something that all children around the world want and need. This book will not disappoint you.”—Sandra Heptinstall, Whispering Winds Book Reviews, June 4, 2008

“Shepard’s Ancient Fantasy series retells portions of epic narratives sure to pique kids’ interest. He cannily selects episodes likely to grab the attention of a wide range of middle-graders, [while] his storytelling voice varies to hint at the style of the original. These mini-novels would make fun classroom readalouds, too. No dumb-downs . . . Rated S for Snapped Up.”—S. C. Poe, Route 19 Writers, Apr. 4, 2012

Sample Text

She-Mwindo heard the noise. He went to the house of his favorite wife. He saw the boy and was full of rage. “What is this? Did I not say ‘no sons’? Did I not say I would kill him?”

He threw his spear at the baby. Mwindo waved his conga. The spear fell short and stuck in the floor. Mwindo pulled it up. He broke it in two.

She-Mwindo cried out. “Aieeeeeee! What kind of child is this?”

Mwindo sang and danced and waved his conga.

I am Mwindo,
the one born walking,
the one born talking.
O my father, you do not want me.
O my father, you try to kill me.
But what can you do against me?

• Read More

Sample text copyright © 2008 Aaron Shepard. Illustration copyright © 2008 Xiaojun Li.

For more info, treats, and resources, visit Aaron Shepard at www.aaronshep.com