In many foreign countries, numerous tales are written to educate children such as "Sleeping Beauty", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Little Mermaid", and many others. Those stories are wonderful, but Malagasy people also have their own. For the Ntaolo, the Malagasy ancestors, they created the Angano — Malagasy tales— for their descendants to learn from. In old times, Angano were told in the evening around the fire when the sun sets, and the moon rises in its place.

Angano is typical of Malagasy culture. It remains a wonderful art because an Angano-teller uses many figures of speech which make the story amazingly humerous. Nowadays, many Malagasy parents still have the privilege to use Angano as a tool to instruct their children through the messages and teachings conveyed in these Malagasy tales.

Angano is an original way to communicate essential Malagasy values, such as Malagasy unity, honesty, human spirit, and many others.

Today, the story recounted by the Ntaolo has not changed, but the way it is told has varied with more modernity. They have been recorded in books or interpreted in order to reach and inspire more a wider audience.

Hasina Samoelinanja, a mpikabary and narrator, has revived the Angano because the myths— which were created by the ancestors long ago— are still relevant in modern life. When he was young at school, he learned some of the stories in the Malagasy tales; now he notices that the values and teachings of the ancient people are still alive, and it would be important to revive them.

In the past, children were the main targeted audience of Ntaolo’s stories. Nowadays, adults are interested in and enjoy these storie as well.

There are many types of Angano, which relate to each person's life and help readers or listeners to draw lessons and grow as humans. Angano is characterized by imagination, fiction, and romance. These three elements are cultivated in any child. The point is to make children feel as if they were living the story.

Imagination allows children to escape from reality, which is often not as beautiful as a dream. Fiction reflects the aspiration to surpass oneself to reach the magnificent and sublime lifegoal. Romanticism is simply the hope that everything will have a happy ending.

Sources : Edition Jeunes Malgaches, California Newsreel, Travel inspires, Center of Echotechnologie, Hasina Samoelinanja