Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Author: John Steptoe
Copyright Date: 1987
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Number of Pages: 32
Reading Level: Ages 5 & Up
Genre: Folktale, Picture Book

Summary

"Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" is a Cinderella-type story about two daughters--Manyara and Nyasha--who were the daughters of Mufaro. They were both very beautiful, however Manyara was very mean to Nyasha and said that one day, she would be queen and Nyasha would be her servant. Manyara hated her sister because she was so kind, and everyone in the village "praised" everything Nyasha did. Nyasha kept a garden and one day she noticed a little garden snake who's name was Nyoka. She was kind to Nyoka and sang as she worked in her garden, and from then on Nyoka would always stay in the garden with her. One day, a messenger from the city came and said that the King was looking for the most "Worthy and Beautiful Daughter" in the land to become his wife. Manyara wanted to be queen so badly, so in the night she went through the woods to be the first one to arrive at the city. In her journeying, she passed a boy, an old woman, through a grove of trees, and past a man who had his head underneath his arm. She was rude to all of these people and things. In the morning, Mufaro and Nyasha, with many people from their town, started their journey to the city. Nyasha passed the little boy and gave him food. To the old woman she gave a small bag of seeds. The branches of the trees in the grove seemed as if they were bowing to Nyasha as she passed. They reached the city and Manyara was crying because a five-headed serpent was about to attack her if she hadn't escaped. Nyasha was brave and went to the see the king anyway. When she got there, she saw Nyoka, her garden snake friend. He declared that he was the king, the boy she helped, and the old woman. Because he was all of these people, he knew her to be the most worthy to be queen, and so they were married. Manyara became her servant.


Reaction

I really loved this story! The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is wonderful. It gives a good message--it's important to be kind, for the kind are most beautiful, inside and out.

Recommendations

I would recommend this to anyone!

Problems/Conflicts

There weren't too many problems in this book, but Manyara was very mean to her sister. Also, there's a five-headed snake; that's pretty scary. Other than that, this book is great!