Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (original 1987; edition 1987)

This story is a recreation to Cinderella. The story takes place in an African village. Mufaro’s two daughters are total opposites. Manyara was always angry, and Nyasha was always nice. The king sends word that he is to wed and he wants the beautiful daughters from all the land to come before him so he may choose a wife. The king disguises himself as a hungry child and an old woman along the path of Manyara and Nyasha's journey to his kingdom. Which one of the sisters' will prove herself to be worthy of the King's hand? Beautiful story that teaches the lessons of love, faith, grace; and it can even teach the lessons greed and jealousy.

Mufaro has two lovely daughters - Manyara and Nyasha - with very different personalities. Manyara is snide and rude, while Nyasha is sweet and kind. The Great King announces that he wishes to take a wife, and both daughters go to the great city to appear before him. Manyara leaves in the middle of the night, determined to be first, and is rude to all she meets on her way. When she sees the king, she sees only a monster. Nyasha travels with her father, is kind and generous to all she meets, and when she approaches the king, she sees an old friend. He is the king, they are married, and they live happily together. ( )

Inspired by a story in George McCall Theal's 1895 collection, Kaffir Folk Tales (apologies everyone, I did not name the book), John Steptoe's 1987 picture-book, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, was awarded a Caldecott Honor (as well as being chosen as a Reading Rainbow selection), and it is not difficult to see why! The gorgeous illustrations capture the beauty of Mufaro's village, and the surrounding countryside, the majesty of the King's great city, and the very different dispositions of Mufaro's two beautiful daughters, Nyasha and Manyara. The tale itself, in which inner beauty is rewarded, while vanity and disrespect are not, has many motifs that folklore enthusiasts will recognize, from the competition amongst sisters for royal favor, to the three tests which the characters must face.

Chosen as one of our April selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "Royalty," Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is a book that I first encountered as a young girl, and which I have always loved. The story itself is charming, the artwork immensely appealing, and the setting at Great Zimbabwe - an ancient civilization that has always intrigued me - all combine in a most satisfying way. I was struck, on this rereading, by the disconnect between Steptoe's source material (the original tale would have been Xhosa) and the cultural setting he chose (Shona), but appreciated his honesty, in not trying to claim that his retelling was traditional. Leaving this issue aside, this is a wonderful book, one I would recommend to young folk and fairy-tale lover everywhere! ( )

This is an African spin on Cinderella. It is a folktale that has a theme of kindness. This book is good for children in the elementary school level. ( )

[b:Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tales|845403|Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters An African Tale|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347345573s/845403.jpg|94898] by [a:John Steptoe|37260|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1301242300p2/37260.jpg] is a wonderful African take on the globally-known and ever popular Cinderella story (both the narrative and the illustrations are outstanding and make this a real gem of a picture book, not only for children, but for anyone interested in and appreciative of global folk and fairy tales). While the tale itself (like many Cinderella-type stories) is rather predictable, it is engagingly narrated and the evocative illustrations are simply too beautiful for words. Furthermore, the fact that details of the illustrations are based on the ruins of an ancient city found in Zimbabwe, pays homage to the ancient civilisations of Africa.

One aspect of [b:Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tales|845403|Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters An African Tale|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347345573s/845403.jpg|94898] that really speaks to me is the fact that (at least in my opinion) there are no absolute villains in this story. Manyara is vain, proud, unhappy and constantly teases her sister Nyasha, but she never tries to actively harm her sister (unlike many other Cinderella-type stories, where the stepsisters or siblings not only make life miserable for the heroine, but often try to harm, even kill the poor girl). And when Mufaro and Nyasha finally arrive in the city, Manyara attempts to warn her sister about the supposed monster. Manyara cares about her sister's safety and obviously could not have known that for Nyasha, having passed the test that Manyara herself had failed due to her pride and vanity, the snake would turn into the king (and become Nyasha's husband).

[b:Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tales|845403|Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters An African Tale|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1347345573s/845403.jpg|94898] also rather strongly reminds me of some of the (what I would call) sibling quest tales, where two very different sisters or brothers go on a similar quest, but only one (the virtuous, humble sibling, who shares his/her food and is kind and loving to all) receives a reward. For me, this gem of a folktale is therefore not only a Cinderella story; it also includes strong vestiges of sibling quest type tales and perhaps even suggestions of stories that feature a monster bridegroom (the snake who turns into the king).

While I am very happy that John Steptoe has included an author's note, acknowledging his main sources, the folklore enthusiast in me would have preferred a more in-depth analysis and discussion of origins, sources and similarities; his author's note is quite adequate, but it did leave me wishing for a bit more detail (a more thorough author's note would definitely have made this a five star book for me). ( )