Cinderella of the Nile (One Story, Many Voices)

by Beverley Naidoo (Author) Marjan Vafaeian (Illustrator)

Cinderella of the Nile (One Story, Many Voices)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Beautifully retold by the award-winning author Beverley Naidoo, this earliest-known version of Cinderella is brought to life for the modern day reader.

Rhodopis is a Greek girl who is sold into slavery by bandits and taken to Egypt. Along the way she becomes friends with the storyteller Aesop and a host of playful animals. Her master gives her a pair of beautiful rose-red slippers, making three other servants jealous. But when Horus, the falcon, sweeps in to steal her slipper, Rhodopis has little idea that this act will lead her to the King of Egypt.

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Kirkus

A rich addition to the global fairy-tale collection.

Publishers Weekly

The ancient Mediterranean slave trade drives the plot of this 2,000-year-old legend retold by Naidoo. A girl named Rhodopis (Greek for "rosy-cheeked") is celebrated for her beauty, but pirates know that "a girl like this could be sold for a fat bag of silver coins." Like a river, Rhodopis's story rolls by many things: a sojourn with the owner of the legendary field slave Aesop--who tells her a fable of trees and reeds, emphasizing that because the reeds bend, they do not break--and a place with a Greek merchant who treats her like a daughter, sparking the jealousy of his Egyptian servants (three malicious sisters). From here, the parallels with "Cinderella" emerge, as a slipper stolen by Horus the falcon god unites Rhodopis and the Pharaoh. Vafaeian's richly hued and intricately detailed folk-style illustrations offer a visual counterpoint to a complex tale. Ages 7-11. (Jul.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-While Charles Perrault may have popularized the European version of "Cinderella," author/reteller Naidoo recounts the tale's earlier history in an introduction. Cinderella likely had its start in ancient Greece with a rosy-cheeked girl named Rhodopis. The beautiful girl is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, winding up in Egypt. Rhodopis befriends another enslaved person named Aesop, a storyteller. Because she doesn't smile, the red-haired Rhodopis is again sold further down the Nile but carries with her a bit of Aesop's wisdom. There she is purchased by an elderly Greek merchant named Charaxos. The other women and girls enslaved by Charaxos resent the preferential treatment given to the Rhodopis and purposely neglect to tell her about the pharaoh's feast. A red slipper that was given to Rhodopis by Charaxos is stolen by Florus the Falcon who soon drops it in the garden of the pharaoh. Intrigued, the pharaoh sets out to find the foot that can fit into it. Stylized, highly textured illustrations appear on single pages and spreads highlighted against generous white space. VERDICT A sophisticated retelling, though there are no source notes included. This may be an interesting variant and a useful addition to library collections.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Beverley Naidoo
Beverley Naidoo is the Carnegie award-winning author of The Other Side of Truth and many other books for children and young adults. Brought up during the apartheid years in South Africa, much of Beverley's writing reflects crossing boundaries and she has set novels in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and the UK. Beverley's first novel, Journey to Jo'burg, was banned in South Africa until 1991 and has never been out of print in the UK since publication in 1985. It now appears in the Collins Modern Classics list and is frequently used in schools. Her retellings include Who is King? Ten Magical Stories from Africa and Aesop's Fables. Marjan Vafaeian is an award-winning illustrator from Iran. Her illustrations are elaborate, forming a visually rich tapestry, unique in style. As well as winning awards in Iran for her illustrations, she was shortlisted for the Hakka International Picture Book Award in 2017 and won the Noma Concours Encouragement Prize in 2006.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781910328293
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Tiny Owl Publishing
Publication date
July 16, 2019
Series
One Story, Many Voices
BISAC categories
JUV012020 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Country & Ethnic - General
JUV016020 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | Ancient Civilizations
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Folklore
Egypt
Greece
Cinderella (Tale)
Folk tales

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