Pretty is as pretty does or rather beautiful is as…or is it beauty is only skin deep? No matter how you look at it, beauty will only carry you so far because at some point you will reveal your true self once you open your mouth or come in contact with another person. Mufaro has two equally beautiful daughters named Nyasha and Manyara. He loves them both and believes their beauty transcends their personalities such that only a king could choose between the two of them.
Nyasha is kind and loving while, unbeknownst to Mufaro, his daughter Manyara is spoiled and selfish, and cautious to never behave like that around her father. It is the villagers and Manyara’s own sister, Nyasha, who experience Manyara’s difficult and unkind behavior. Because of her love for her father, Nyasha never reveals the treatment she receives from Manyara, which only goes to her credit as a loving daughter whose beauty is also in her heart.
As we read the book, we get to see examples of Nyasha’s gentle spirit and joy for life through her hard work and song. During the course of one day, she comes across a friendly garden snake who later becomes a constant companion for her as she tends her garden. Later in the book, we come to learn how important this snake truly becomes to Nyasha.
When the king announces he is looking for a wife, Mufaro immediately packs to travel the next day to the city with a wedding party made up of friends from the village. He believes certainly, one of his daughters will be chosen to be queen. Mufaro is not alone in his belief that one of them will be chosen, and Manyara thinks it should be her, so she sets out the night before the wedding party to appear first before the king.
On Manyara’s trek to the city, she comes across a hungry boy with whom she shares nothing, ignores the advice of a wise old woman, and later disrespects a “man with his head under his arm.” Manyara’s concentration is on self and she is determined to make it to the city to become queen and the concerns of anybody else are of no importance to her.
The wedding party leaves the following morning convinced Manyara is already on her way and comes across the same people whom Manyara also crossed. This time, the boy is fed and the old women is heeded to by Nyasha, which leads Nyasha on a different path to the city; she never crosses the headless man.
Once arriving in the city, they are greeted by Manyara who comes running out of the palace crying hysterically about a “snake with five heads.” Nyasha leaves her sister in the care of her father and proceeds into the palace only to be greeted by her gardening companion, the garden snake who reveals his true identity and all the other ways he appeared to Nyasha.
A real prince can determine true beauty and only desires a real princess with a kind and loving heart inside and out. Who do you think he chose?
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The product featured in this review was checked out from my local library. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation. |
Even though we are still traveling across the United States of America, it is always nice to come across an international study curriculum. When we finish our domestic trek, I am going to be ready to start our international travel around the world and finding the right curriculum to continue our geography study is already on my mind. The Schoolhouse Planner – Travel the World appears to be the answer to my search for introductory material when we cross the borders into international territory.
round, sits at an angle on its axis (which is tilted) and rotates much like the way the earth does. A map gives us the opportunity to see the entire world or specific area of study all at once on a flat surface without having to “spin the world.” The reason this is important is because a good understanding of how to interpret a globe and map helps in a better understanding of the study of the continents, their locations, and how all of the parts are interconnected.
