Anansi and the Talking Cloth

Anansi and the Talking Cloth 

By Ekua Holmes 

Illustrated by Caroline Brewer with Kwasi Asare

Expected Publication August 25, 2026

Charlesbridge

40 Pages

Hardcover Picture Book

Review copy provided by publisher

Publisher Summary

Illustrated by Caldecott Honor Award winner Ekua Holmes, this modern and original Anansi the Spider story explores traditional kente-cloth making, written by award-winner Caroline Brewer, in cooperation with weaving expert Kwasi Asare.
When kente-cloth weavers stop weaving, Anansi the Spider must save the city in this rhythmic African folktale, a rhyming read-aloud trickster picture book.
This rhyming and rhythmic original Anansi fable finds Anansi the Spider needing to save the city. One day the sun stops shining because the kente-cloth making spiders stop weaving in protest against mass-produced cloth. Handmade kente cloth has made Africa famous and the spider city wealthy. Without it, the city is doomed.
Anansi faces the biggest challenge of his spider life, and his clever trickster past, coupled with help from his wife, will restore harmony.

Author Caroline Brewer and master kente-cloth weaver Kwasi Asare worked together to create this fresh take featuring the African trickster Anansi the Spider, a classic hero.

My Thoughts

I am always looking for fresh books for my folk and fairytale section in the library. There are many Anansi tales featuring the trickster based on the character created by the Akan-Ashanti people of Ghana. Rhyming and rhythmic text gives a contemporary feel while holding true to a folktale structure. 

In this tale, the weavers of kente cloth, a special hand-woven cloth with unique patterns, have decided to stop weaving after villagers, and even the chief, start wearing cheap machine-woven cloth instead. Anansi attempts to use his trickster ways to try to get the weavers to weave kente cloth again, but will it work this time? It turns out that the weavers want to feel appreciated and recognized for the important work that they do. 

Layered, collage-style patterns fill each page with color and texture, bringing this visually stunning story to life. The back matter includes further information about Anansi folktales and the legend and history of kente weaving. 

Follow-up discussions about the importance of cultural art and storytelling would add to the power of this book. 

Teachers and librarians may want to consider reading this book in September-African Fabric Month.

Below is more information about the book creators. 

Caroline Brewer is an award-winning children’s book author, artist, environmentalist, literacy consultant, and creator of Nature-Wise, a program for students and teachers that blends literacy and nature exploration. Caroline is also author and illustrator of Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature and author of Say Their Names. Her newest book is Anansi and the Talking Cloth, written with Kwasi Asare and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Caroline lives in the Washington, DC, metro area. Learn more at https://carolinebrewerbooks.com/.

Kwasi Asare was born in Nsawam, near the capital city of Accra, Ghana, and is one of Africa’s most prominent and accomplished weavers known for kente cloth, the highly prized Ghanaian cloth that traditionally symbolizes royalty, honor, and leadership. For the United Nations’ fiftieth anniversary in 1995, he created a new kente cloth design. Until 2017, it replaced the original cloth created by Kwasi’s father, A. E. Asare. www.kwasiasare.com

Ekua Holmes was awarded a Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King’s John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, Robert Siebert Award, and Boston Globe–Horn Book award for Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, her first illustration project. She won the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration twice: Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets and Stuff of Stars. www.ekuaholmes.com