Chinye: A West African Folk Tale (Multicultural Fiction)

In this Cindrella like story, a girl named Chinye lives with her evil step-mother and step sister, Nkechi and Adanma in West Africa.  Chinye always has to do strenous chores while her step-mother and step-sister do nothing and complain.  Well, one night, Nkechi demands Chinye to go down to the river to get water.  Even the bravest of people wouldn't dare to go to the river at night! On her journey there and back, Chinye meets a few animals and an old lady who tells her to go in a hut and pick up the smallest roundest gourd. Chinye did just that and found that there were jewels and riches inside.  Well, Nkechi sent Adanma to the river the next night in hopes that she would return with riches too.  Only this time, Adanma ignored the old lady's advice and grabbed the largest gourd she could find. The gourd was filled with destructive winds and they lost all of their belongings.  Nkechi and Adanma moved away and Chinye remained to help the people of her village.


This story is very colorful and interesting to read.  However, I find the ending to be rather abrupt. I would ask my students to be creative and come up with a brief, alternate ending for the story complete with illustrations. Then, if time allows, they could share them with the class.