Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters - Multicultural Lit

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Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, written by John Steptoe, is an African tale about a man named Mufaro and his very different daughters, Nyasha and Manyara. Nyasha is thoughtful, kind, and generous while Manyara is selfish, conceited, and conniving. The plot of the book is a little similar to the classic tale of Cinderella. There is a prince who is on a quest for a bride and he sets up obstacles that his bride would pass. One sister fails miserably because of ugly traits while the other thrives and becomes the bride.

The illustrations are beyond just pictures; it’s almost like you’re in the forest with the characters. Steptoe uses the lined technique to draw and shade in the pictures. The colors are vibrant in a natural way. Very detailed drawings are on every page. For example, when Nyasha was in her garden the crops were in great abundance to show her blessings.

This book would be great for activities that include the topics: Fantasy, Reality and/or Imagination. The younger grades would love reading this and then as a reader response, the class could discuss the book together. An activity for this book could be to imagine a new character that could’ve been in the book. They could create their own creature or person and write something descriptive about it. In addition, they could discuss the illustrations and how the pictures are drawn. That could even turn into a mini art lesson.

I read this book when I was a wee lad…ahem..just a little over 10 years ago. I’ve always remembered it had such a great message and  because of the similarity to the Cinderella tale. I love underdog stories and when folks who are genuinely good people succeed.

 

Steptoe, J. (1987). Mufaro's beautiful daughters. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books.

 

 

Benny's Had Enough

Benny’s Had Enough, written by Barbro Lindgren and illustrated by Olof Landstom, is a story about a young pig who gets fed up with his mother for being, well, his mother. He doesn’t want her to get his dinner together for him and he doesn’t want her to give him or his toy a bath. He gets so angry that he runs away to find a family who doesn’t make him eat his dinner or bathe.

To illustrate Benny’s theatrics and wild antics, Landstrom made sure to match Benny’s facial expressions to the story. Readers don’t even have to read the words to understand how Benny is feeling. The settings are detailed and very natural even though the story is a fantasy story. It is very colorful and and well, normal. It would  appeal to children because it looks like their homes, or homes they’ve seen.  The illustrations help to tell the story because Benny is very emotional so he need his emotions to show throughout the pictures – Landstrom does this perfectly. This is appealing because readers can look at Benny’s face and imagine a time when they might’ve looked like him and think about how angry they were.

An activity that could be used after reading this book is having students continue the story. The student could create additional plot and illustrate their ideas. This way, students know that they are capable of creating stories. After reading the story, students can discuss the repercussions of running away based on Benny’s adventures, ahem, misadventures.

 

Lindgren, B. (1999). Benny's had enough. Stockholm: R & S Books.