Mufaro's Daughters Are Beautiful Story

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Predictability doesn't always detract from a tale. Sometimes it can even add to the story's pleasure. Certainly this is the case with John Steptoe's picture book, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale.

This 1988 Caldecott Honor book was inspired by a folktale Steptoe found in Kaffir Folktales and adapted for his retelling for children ages four to eight. In it, we meet Mufaro's beautiful daughters, Manyara and Nyasha. For those of you who know the language Shona, the names give you clues to their personalities for Mufaro means "happy man," Manyara means "ashamed," and Nyasha mean "mercy."

Truly, Mufaro is a happy man who considers himself fortunate to be the father of the two most beautiful daughters in the land. He considers them both fair in personality as well for while Manyara is cruel and arrogant, those are traits she hides from her father. The younger daughter, Nyasha, is good, gentle, and kind in all things. She works hard and never tattles on her sister's nastiness. Nyasha even manages to befriend a snake whom she calls Nyoka.

One day, a messenger arrives from the city. He announces that the Great King wants all of the most worthy and beautiful daughters in the land to come before him that he might choose his queen and bride. When Manyara cannot convince her father to send her alone, she steals away during the night so that she can beat her sister to the city. During the journey, she is given three tests of kindness, all of which she fails despite instructions to the contrary. Not surprisingly, the gentle daughter is able to pass these tests without the slightest prompting or instruction.

None of this really surprises us. It is a folktale and must have the required elements if we are going to accept it as such. It is traditional and reminds us of other similar tales-Cinderella, Cupid and Psyche, and The Talking Eggs. The folktale is populated with interesting characters and each character is rewarded according to his or her deserts. There are plenty of charming and magical elements throughout.

I was also pleased that while the story ended in a wedding, it was not a marriage of strangers who fall in love only because of the treats of the eye. There is an emphasis on the worthiness of the couple and Nyasha ends up married to an old friend.

Ultimately, though, the accomplishment of Steptoe's story is his illustrations. He carefully researched the flora and fauna of the region in Zimbabwe in which the ruins of an ancient city were found. Steptoe chose that city as the setting for his story and illustrated it with beautiful ink and watercolor paintings that capture the magic and the moral of the story. The paintings are rich and have great depth showing us a natural beauty in both the landscapes and in the two daughters. He also pays a great deal of attention to traditional costuming and there are some incredible reproductions of them in this book.

Steptoe dedicated this dazzling work to the children of South Africa. It is truly a wonderful addition to any child's bookshelf. --B. Redman