Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Steptoe, John (1987). Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. New York: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard Books. ISBN 0-688-04046-2.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, a Caldecott honor winner and a Reading Rainbow book, is a gorgeous book with lush illustrations that depict the landscape and architecture of Zimbabwe. John Steptoe retells a traditional variant of the Cinderella story about two sisters, one kind and one haughty, who must travel to the great city to be considered as a wife for the king. On the journey they show their true colors, and kind Nyasha, not conceited Manyara, is chosen to be the queen.

Elements in the story that children might recognize from other fairy tales include the test to see who is worthy to be queen, the friendly animal who keeps the main character company (in this case, a snake), the old woman whose advice the good sister takes and the bad sister ignores, and the kind but clueless father who doesn’t notice the rivalry going on between the sisters.

I put my face right up to the pages of this book to try to see how Steptoe created the gorgeous images. I was glad to see in a School Library Journal review that my guess was right – they are watercolor with two different colors of pen, blue and black. I’m anxious to try this technique out myself!

Details in the illustrations include beautiful plants and animals and buildings based on the Great Zimbabwe Ruins.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is also an excellent multicultural book because of its accurate portrayal of the culture of Zimbabwe and because it is a folktale collected from people living in the region. (There is even a pronunciation guide to help those who are reading the story aloud.) It’s particularly bracing as a counterpoint to the thousands of books in which the princess is a blonde, blue-eyed white girl in a pink dress!

Helen Williams, writing in School Library Journal, says, “The expressive drawings of people and events enhance the story and serve to strengthen readers' familiarity with traditional African culture. A magnificently illustrated book, filled with rich textures and vibrant color, and a story that will satisfy young romantics as well as those with a strong sense of justice.”

While looking online I found some gorgeous pictures of a production of a play based on this story by the Lexington Children's theater. I think this would make a good story for children to produce as a play, with the pictures to inspire their costume designs!