Folktales are timeless and appeal to people of all ages. This timeless quality is found basically in its shunning of any particular historical context and in portraying characters who fit into ancient and modern times. Again, the philosophies of life explored in folktales are relevant for all times, for they give insights into how best to move in a world teeming with human beings from all walks of life. Part of the universal appeal of folktale is the simple nature of its language, which makes it accessible to both young and old people. Most folktales have satire built into their structures such that these stories are spiced with humour, ridicule and exaggeration and, like many double-voiced narratives, entertain as well as teach morals to their consumers.

In this collection by Efe Farinre, we are entertained with 15 freshlytold familiar and not-too-familiar folktales, with such memorable titles as ‘Why Pigs Sniff the Earth’, ‘The Race’, etc. Though these stories are familiar, the story-teller's knack for injecting freshness into them is quite remarkable, and we enjoy them as fresh, delectable inventions with new twists. In ‘Why Pigs Sniff the Earth’, for instance, one might raise the moral question of why the pig should be the loser at the end when actually he is the upright one. However, these stories – like some of the questions that philosophy raises about life – have no answers. Sometimes the just are winners; at other times they are losers. Likewise, in some cases, the unjust clever person ‘wins’ and sometimes he receives his comeuppance. Thus, the lesson here is that tact and cleverness are virtues that must be upheld in the real world, for living is like a game of cards: sometimes one wins, at other times one loses. One's triumph or defeat most times is not determined by uprightness or how virtuous one might be, but by a pragmatic engagement with reality. Idealists may of course question these conclusions, and perhaps that too is the point of the stories: to compel us to reflect and question existential conundrums.

In the story, ‘The Race’, the narrative subscribes to the abiding belief that a successful man needs to be tactful in the way he relates with other people so as not to arouse jealousy in the less successful people.