Author: -John Steptoe
Title: -Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale
Illustrator: -John Steptoe
Publisher: -HarperCollins
Year: -1987
Format: -Hardcover Book
Genre: -Multicultural Book
Reading Level: -Emergent/Independent Reader
Interest Level: -Late Elementary
Topics: -Kindness, Diversity, Love, Queen.
Summary: -Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. There is Manyara who is cruel and self-centered, while Nyasha is very sweet and kind. The king lets Mufaro know that the girls should come before him so that he might choose one of them for a wife. Manyara sneaks out of the village early so that she can be the first to appear before the king, ignoring a child's plea for food and an old woman's stern advice along the way. The next day, Nyasha goes with the wedding party as planned, giving food along the way to the hungry boy. Once she arrives at the king's chambers, Manyara runs out, crying that there is a monster in the room who said that he was very upset with her. Bravely, Nyasha enters the room and sees her friend, a small snake that helped her many times in her garden. He transforms before her eyes and says he knows her kindness and is pleased with her, and Nyasha becomes the queen.
Illustrator: -John Steptoe
Publisher: -HarperCollins
Year: -1987
Format: -Hardcover Book
Genre: -Multicultural Book
Reading Level: -Emergent/Independent Reader
Interest Level: -Late Elementary
Topics: -Kindness, Diversity, Love, Queen.
Summary: -Mufaro has two beautiful daughters. There is Manyara who is cruel and self-centered, while Nyasha is very sweet and kind. The king lets Mufaro know that the girls should come before him so that he might choose one of them for a wife. Manyara sneaks out of the village early so that she can be the first to appear before the king, ignoring a child's plea for food and an old woman's stern advice along the way. The next day, Nyasha goes with the wedding party as planned, giving food along the way to the hungry boy. Once she arrives at the king's chambers, Manyara runs out, crying that there is a monster in the room who said that he was very upset with her. Bravely, Nyasha enters the room and sees her friend, a small snake that helped her many times in her garden. He transforms before her eyes and says he knows her kindness and is pleased with her, and Nyasha becomes the queen.
Extension Activities:
-The story is a lot like Cinderella. Have the children read it and compare and contrast the book using a venn diagram to Cinderella.
-This book is especially a good book because of the diversity it shows in it, it can be used in a lesson plan in history that has to do with Zimbabwe, or etc. It shows a different kind of tale than many of the traditional American ones, so it is nice to show them somehting they have not read before.
