Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

Title: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters
Author: John Steptoe
Illustrated: John Steptoe
Published: Amistad
Date: March 31, 1987
Summary:Mufaro's two daughters were very beautiful. Nyasha was kind and considerate as well as beautiful, but everyone -- except Mufaro -- knew that Manyara was selfish, badtempered, and spoiled.When the king decided to take a wife and invited "The Most Worthy and Beautiful Daughters in the Land" to appear before him, Mufaro declared proudly that only the king could choose between Nyasha and Manyara. Manyara, of course, didn't agree, and set out to make certain that she would be chosen.
Age Level: Elementary (4-8)
Strengths: The pictures are very big and very beautiful. I love how the colors are very natural, and how it looks almost real. It gives a pretty image to this African tale. I like how John Steptoe classified the two sisters in different ways. For example, Manyara (the unkind daughter) wore a green headband throughout the story. Perhaps, it represents envy and greed. Nyasha (the gentle daughter), wore a gold headband which probably represents goodness and kindness. Manyara also had more elaborate clothes and some hair jewlery, while Nyasha only wore her gold headband and her white dress. I liked how John Steptoe also mentioned how the sisters were different by their personality. You see, in the story, Manyara wanted to become queen, but she couldn't wait, so she set off by herself. There was an old lady who told her what to do, but she didn't listen. There was a hungry boy, but she didn't give him food. She laughed at the trees, when they laughed at her. All she cared about was herself. Nyasha was the complete opposite. What was ironic was that all of those little deeds were actually like a test to see who would become queen. The text gave great descriptions of the place and was great with telling the story.
Concerns: Though this story is very good, I think it would be best for older students. I read this book to a kindergarten class, and the first thing they told me was that it was too long. Also, there is a lot of text on the majority of the pages, and some vocabulary that is unfamiliar to them (you might have to change some words depending on the age level).
Comments: I think this would be a great book to read because it has different character analysis. Though this book was a little challenging to the kindergarteners, I was able to proceed with my lesson plan. I taught them about Venn Diagrams and this story worked perfectly because you had two sisters.One was mean, and one was kind, but they were also similiar. However, I think the Venn Diagram and this book together would work for a little older children (probably in first or second grade).