African children's literature came from an oral tradition of mythology and folk tales, such as the Anansi the Spider stories.
- Anansi tales originated from the Ashanti people of present-day Ghana.
- Ananse is an Akan word for "spider."
- The tales spread to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles
- In the United States, he has evolved into Aunt Nancy
- Related to the trickster Brer Rabbit stories
