The Silence of the Hippo: African Folktales Told by Children

The African imagination unmercifully breaks down European preconceptions of what a folktale is supposed to look like.

Poetic, somewhat absurd, and in some places dark – such are the short folktales in this book. Most of them come out of traditional African folklore, as reimagined by child storytellers, with a rather distinctive flavor.

These stories came into the hands of the Czech artist David Böhm in the suitcase of his sister Terezie as a stack of student essays from a small Central African school. Retelling these kids’ stories in comic format, Böhm creates a singularly refreshing graphic adaptation for adults.