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Cinderella of the Nile

by Beverley Naidoo, illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian

Interest age: 5 to 8
Reading age: 6+

Published by Tiny Owl, 2018

  • Around the world
  • Picture books

About this book

Rhodopis, so called because of her rosy cheeks, is a rarity in the north of Greece, with her red hair and blue eyes. Despite her family’s remote location, pirates steal Rhodopis away, knowing that they can sell her as a slave for a great price, and she is bought and sold until she reaches Egypt. In Naukrakis, Rhodopis is bought by a Greek who takes pity on her and treats her as a daughter, much to the irritation of the three Egyptian sisters who also serve as servants in his house.

Seeing her sing and dance to herself, Charaxos gifts Rhodopis a pair of delicate slippers for her feet, but one is stolen by the god Horus, in his form as a falcon. Horus drops the slipper in front of the Pharoah at his palace at Memphis, who takes it as a sign and decrees that the owner of the slipper must be found. In accordance with the familiar version of the tale, the Pharoah finds Rhodopis to be the owner of the slipper and marries her.

As part of the "One Story, Many Voices" series, this version of the Cinderella story is based on an Egyptian tale, sympathetically illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian.

About the author

Beverley Naidoo joined the resistance to apartheid as a student in South Africa, leading to detention without trial and exile. She began writing while working as a teacher in Britain. Her first novel, Journey to Jo’burg, was originally banned in South Africa but opened a window for children elsewhere.

She won the Carnegie Medal for The Other Side of Truth. She received the US African Studies Association Children’s Book Award for No Turning Back, Out of Bounds (short stories with Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu), Burn My Heart and Who is King?. In Cinderella of the Nile, she retells a 2000-year-old version from ancient Egypt. Widely translated, she has been a nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Beverley lives in Dorset.

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