Cinderella of the Nile: One Story, Many Voices Series

Product Information

In his own words, the king wanted to make sure he didn’t make the same mistakes with Narriman, as he had with Farida—his first wife. I’m assuming one of those was not taking her on a long honeymoon, because he took Narriman on a three-month long vacation along the French Riviera. He would also buy her gifts everyday from money he “earned” by gambling.

After living together for ten years, Narriman and her second husband Dr. Adham eventually decided there was no point in prolonging an unhappy marriage. Their differences had increased over time, and neither was happy with the other. They finalized the divorce agreement in 1964. Narriman's son stayed with his mother until he was legally old enough to live with his father. There was no dearth of suitors for young Narriman, but her father wanted to choose someone well-educated who would take care of his little girl. He ended up choosing a young lawyer, studying for his doctorate at Harvard, called Zaki Hashim. Narriman’s engagement to Hashim took place when she was just 16, but her heart wasn’t in the match. And for a strange reason too. Like many children growing up after the Second World War, I learned of the world's great fairy tales, including Cinderella, through the retellings of Andrew Lang. I still treasure my childhood copy of his Blue Fairy Book in a Longmans, Green & Co first edition from 1949. It has a little orange label: People's Bookshop, 45 Kerk Street, Johannesburg.Splendidly illustrated by award-winning Iranian artist Marjan Vafaeian, this is the first in Tiny Owl’s series One Story, Many Voices. I still have my childhood copy of the Blue Fairy Book with its ‘Cinderella and The Little Glass Slipper’. It’s the version with the fairy godmother and the pumpkin, first written in French by Charles Perrault in 1697. A small label inside the cover shows that it was bought for me at the ‘People’s Bookshop’ in Johannesburg, the city where I grew up. The book was published in London in 1949 and my copy must have travelled soon afterwards on a boat to South Africa. Re-told by award winning and influential children’s author Beverley Naidoo, this version of Cinderella supports learning around traditional tales. With clear links to ancient Greece and ancient Egypt, children will discover how one story can have many iterations around the world and throughout history. Alongside historical themes, the book could be used as a platform for discussions around human rights, enslavement and justice. Links and themes: One of the king’s stipulations for Narriman was decidedly unromantic. He wanted her to lose weight before the wedding. Her diet in Rome accordingly helped her achieve her fiancé's desired weight of 110lbs. Farouk, meanwhile, weighed around 300. Girls, take note: If he has issues with the way you look, just dump him. Even if he happens to be king. Being an idealistic teenager, Narriman had imagined that Farouk was sincerely committed to bettering his people’s lives. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. He seemed oblivious to his country's poverty. His decisions made the poor even poorer and often benefitted the rich and corrupt. As though that wasn't bad enough, Farouk also invoked everyone’s ire because of his own lavish lifestyle.

Narriman and the doctor simply couldn't see eye to eye. She would travel to faraway places like Switzerland, while he would file lawsuits demanding that she come home and behave like an "obedient" wife. At one point, Narriman made it clear that she wanted to split— only for her husband to publish their dirty laundry in a newspaper. He printed a notice declaring that he'd never submit to a divorce. Yikes. Even though she’d lived almost completely isolated from the world after her third marriage, she hardly left the house during the last three years of her life. The reason was mostly physical: She fell in the bathroom and broke her leg in 2002. Two years later, towards the end of 2004, she got pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks.

3. Men Adored Her

Beverley Naidoo's new book Cinderella of the Nileretells the earliest version of the Cinderellastory, which she was thrilled to discover...

Narriman was unable to be present in her sons’ lives in the traditional way, but she tried to be there for them as best she could. Prince Fuad admitted that he blamed her for leaving him in infancy, though he should have directed the blame to his father. Narriman came to see him when Farouk allowed her to. She was a part of his wedding too. But all they helped him get was a safe exit so that his son wouldn’t grow up with too-terrible memories. Books and stories are wonderful ways of ‘mind travel’. My Blue Fairy Book didn’t say where Cinderella lived but the illustrations suggested somewhere in Europe long ago. I was a child living 6000 miles away but I could still imagine being her. That’s why stories are powerful. They take us into other people’s lives. Cinderella of the Nile is stunningly illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian, an artist working in Iran. How fascinating, I think, that the illustrator who first introduced me to Cinderella was born on one side of the Caucasus Mountains and now Marjan has worked her magic on the other! She did come home after she got better, but not for long. A few months later she went into a coma and never woke up. After ten days in the hospital, she passed on February 16, 2005, at the age of 75.

Sold again in Egypt, she is given a pair of rose-red slippers. But when Horus the Falcon sweeps in to steal a slipper, Rhodopis has little idea that this act will lead her to the King of Egypt. We have all read the story of Cinderella, and the story continues to be adapted in many different ways, however, how many of us have looked at the different Cinderellas that come from all over the world. In this story, Beverley Naidoo looks to Egypt. In this story, Beverley Naidoo adapts a story told 2,000 years ago and brings in the distinct features of the traditional Cinderella story. The young couple didn’t waste much time on courtship and got married just a few months after Narriman's divorce from Farouk came through in 1954. Based on pictures from the wedding, Narriman was overjoyed with her new husband. Soon enough, she even gave birth to her second child. Unfortunately, these happy times didn’t last for too long. The storyteller Aesop is a significant character in the story. His tales armour Rhodopis with strength and courage to continue to be kind; have courage and be kind – immortalised words found in the well-known Cinderella fairy-tale version.

This three-week Writing Root begins with the discovery of a bottle that contains a map and a message. After interrogating the scenario presented and writing a short news report using the present perfect tense, the children then share the first part of Cinderella of the Nile. They develop skills of inference before exploring the author’s use of literary language and the effect that this has on the reader. Suffix fixers are used to investigate abstract nouns which are then used to create an emotions graph before being woven in to a diary entry in role that also draws upon literary language from a previous session. Once the story has been read, the children sort statements about traditional Cinderella tales and statements about this version onto a Venn diagram and then go on to devise their own version of a Cinderella story complete with fable! Synopsis of Text Soon thereafter the pharoah announces his son will seek a bride and rest, as fairy tales go, is history: they live happily ever after. In this story, ‘Cinderella’ is A girl named Rhodopis which comes from "rosy-cheeked" in Greek, she is celebrated for her beauty and like all good fairytale princesses, she is kind and gentle. She later gets captured, enslaved, and then sold off in Egypt. Rhodopis is bought by a Greek who takes pity on her and treats her as a daughter, the three Egyptian sisters who also serve as servants in his house (another feature of Cinderella) become jealous of Rhodopis and don’t treat her well. It is not until later that Cinderella and her prince come together. In this earliest known version of Cinderella, a rosy-cheeked girl called Rhodopis is captured in the mountains of Greece. She is sold in Samos, where wise storyteller Aesop befriends her. According to Narriman's second son, the Egyptian government began to rethink their warm welcome to ex-Queen Narriman. Instead of accepting her, they made life difficult for the new couple by trying her new husband for trumped-up offenses and forbidding him from practicing medicine. These stressful circumstances affected Narriman's new marriage enormously.Cinderella of the Nile is an eclectic mix of fairy tale and folklore. The reader, or explorer of a new world, follows Rhodopis on her journey. It is a story woven with golden threads of hopeful words from characters who hold wisdom, courage and kindness – traits which enhance Rhodopis’ beauty. Her kind actions radiate a pure and unrivalled beauty that ultimately gives her the happy ending she truly deserves. Narriman had to prepare to become queen, and Farouk insisted that the only way to do that was by traveling to Europe and learning about etiquette and culture. Just after she turned 17, Narriman left Egypt and went to Rome with her uncle, where she received classes in history, royal etiquette, languages, tact, and music. a truly gorgeous rendition of the story.[Marjan Vafaeian’s] stylised patterned landscapes in opulent shades of red, brown and green are stunning and a perfect complement to Beverley Naidoo’s fine telling. In this earliest-known version of Cinderella, a rosy-cheeked girl called Rhodopis is abducted by bandits from her home in Greece and enslaved in 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... Text Rationale: Narriman's father figured that the only way he could save his daughter from the marriage was by running away from Egypt with her. He went as far as booking a flight out of the country. However, his family and friends warned him not to invoke the king’s ire by carrying out the plan. The poor man had to suffer in silence. Then, in a heartbreaking turn of events, his health gave way soon after Farouk sent his proposal.