When a great African king desires a wife, the best maidens in the land are invited to meet him. Dallas Children’s Theater proudly presents John Steptoe’s Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, a gorgeous, Caldecott Award-winning Cinderella tale adapted for the stage by Karen Abbott. Mufaro’s pride and joy, his two daughters of very different dispositions, travel across a river and half a day’s journey to go before the king. As they encounter the forest, each experiences a rite of passage. Published in 1987, Steptoe’s book was acknowledged by reviewers and critics as a breakthrough for inspiring African-American children to respect their ancestral origins. Steptoe hoped that his books would help all young people to feel pride in who they are.

Curriculum Connections: Literature Based,
Language Arts, Multi-Cultural Studies, Folk
Tales, Geography, Theater, Reading, Visual
Arts, Music.