A Foul Chain of Events

by Phillip Martin

This story from Zimbabwe is part of my collection of fifty folk tales in Once Upon Southern Africa. Of course, I illustrated each of the fifty stories. But, when I created the art for this fowl tale, it was so beautiful that I had to make it into its own book. I personally believe that it is my most beautifully illustrated book -- so far. The reason for that is not my whimsical child-friendly illustrations alone. No, I was inspired by traditional fabric from Zimbabwe to create the background for each illustration. The combination is lovely.

I used to live next door to Zimbabwe in Zambia. It was the first country that I wanted to visit on vacation. But, shortly after I arrived, Zimbabwe fell into political turmoil at the hands of their own leader. It wasn’t safe to visit, at least not as much as I wanted to explore. I crossed the border to see both sides of Victoria Falls (and the view is best from Zimbabwe). I also visited the best animal reserve in the country, Hwange, where you get to see amazing game and sleep in designer treehouses.

Since I lived in this part of the world, I was very familiar with a lot of things mentioned in the tale. I’d seen the palm trees, the machetes, the enormous ant hills, tasted the mangoes and heard the guinea fowl. But, in Zimbabwean folklore, the guinea fowl had a role that I’d never known. It was their job to call the sun every morning and let him know it was time to start his daily journey. As a result of a fowl chain of events, that task was not performed.

What happened? How was it resolved? What’s the buzz? Why did I just say buzz? You’ll have to read A Fowl Chain of Events to get those answers.

ISBN: 978-1-62249-562-7

Pages: 32, Illustrated