There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root. Coverage: Word List Words I wonder for whom this book might be appropriate. While, treasured for her beautiful red hair in the countries of Greece and Egypt is part of this oral tale, it is uncomfortable reading a story with detailed illustrations of slavery and the issues of her being prized for her bright red hair. 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.

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. 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. Your child may be confident to read the story independently however it is fun to share the reading – parts could be ‘performed’ or read together for example Rhodopis’ song ‘Blow wind blow…’, Aesop’s story and conversations between the characters. This is not only good fun but can also help children gain a fuller understanding of the story and the language. Talk about the storyBeautifully 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. In Cinderella of the Nile, I retell our earliest known version of the tale, recorded by ancient Greek historians. A girl called Rhodopis, in 6th century BC, is captured in northern Greece and sold into slavery. Herodotus writes about her friendship with a fellow slave Aesop in Samos. 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. Instead of repenting his past actions and appreciating Narriman for standing by him, Farouk continued his hedonistic lifestyle of splurging and womanizing all the time. But the worst part: He hurt his bride, both emotionally and physically, several times. After this, Narriman realized that nothing would change. The royal couple separated and soon, the young queen asked for a divorce.

But there could have been another heartbreaking reason for Narriman's misery. Her husband was an incorrigible flirt and rake. He was always in the international tabloids for his sordid affairs, and though the Egyptian media could not print anything at home, these things don’t remain secret for long. Had Narriman discovered the truth before she had her son? The story of Cinderella is much older than I thought and Cinderella of the Nile is so similar and yet so different from the ‘traditional’ version. 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. 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. 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.Remember how Narriman liked the King more than her old fiancé because of his tall stature? Well, King Farouk's appeal was beginning to dwindle. After the wedding, the King put on weight and began to lose his hair. Once the glamor of becoming queen had expired, Narriman became “bored” of the royal lifestyle and increasingly uninterested in her hubby.

Soon thereafter the pharoah announces his son will seek a bride and rest, as fairy tales go, is history: they live happily ever after.

Overview:

Although Adham was a good man, he found it wasn’t easy to live with a woman with so much emotional baggage. There are conflicting reports on why Narriman’s second marriage broke down. One of these is that she hadn’t left her taste for luxury behind and found it frustrating to live in a budget. But according to some sources, the real reason was much darker.