Chipo and the Mermaid & other Stories

by Grace Ashley

An African Cinderellaclassic folktale filled with heart and moral teachings.

When her father re-marries Chipo finds herself at the mercyof her cruel stepmother and lazy sister who make her do all the household work.Despite her circumstances, she remains kind-hearted to everyone she meets.

One particularly miserable day Chipo falls into the riverwhile doing her chores. Help has arrived in the form of a friendly mermaidwhose magic will change Chipo's life forever.

38 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 29, 2016

About the author

Born Maureen Dangarembizi in Zimbabwe, Author Grace Ashley has lived a storied life. From her earliest days in school, she knew she wanted to someday write for a living, but that dream didn’t come to fruition until recently. After penning many columns for skynewszimbabwe.com, she earned her first accolades as a professional writer. Nominated in 2015 for a Zim Achievers Award, Grace went on to publish two full-length novels, a novella, a children’s book, and to pursue her interest in screenwriting and film making.

When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her daughters, dreaming up new stories to share with the world, or can be found deeply engrossed in one of the many books in her to-be-read pile.

Reviews

[Fiona Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chipo and the Mermaid by Grace Ashley is subtitled An African Fairytale and it is certainly also a mermaid story with a difference. Chipo and her father, Mukoko, lived in a little village in the savanna plains of Africa. Chipo’s mother died in childbirth and Mukoko, realising he would need help raising his little daughter Chipo, so named in memory of her mother, decided to marry a beautiful young woman he had fallen in love with: Nakai. Chipo’s stepmother was angry that Chipo and her father were so close. Later a daughter, Tino, was born to the couple, but things did not improve because Mukoko did not show as much love to Tino as he did to Chipo. Nakai visited a powerful wizard for a potion to change Mukoko’s feelings towards his daughter … and it worked. Chipo became practically the family skivvy, doing all the work, while her sister, Tino, lolled about, doing nothing. One evening Chipo went down to the river to fetch water and met the mermaid of the river. The mermaid felt sorry for Chipo and decided to take her to the cave where she lived in the bottom of the river. How Chipo’s life changed after that!

I loved this story and laughed out loud at the end when lazy Tino and greedy, vengeful Nakai definitely get the “reward” they so richly deserve. There are so many lovely lessons embedded in this delightful tale that it’s hard to know where to start. Family love is highlighted, along with caring, consideration, respect for others, and putting others first. As also are being careful to avoid being jealous, not being rude to people, not being demanding, and to be mindful of what you do in life and how you treat others because you never know what repercussions can happen. This is both a fairytale and a fable in a unique setting that is sure to get youngsters both wanting the story read out loud to them again, and wanting to find out more about Africa. In case you don’t think it is possible, mermaids are well known in African culture.

I loved the illustrations that are simple, bold, and beautiful and perfectly depict the setting and the characters. The bright, vibrant colours will attract and keep young readers’ attention, and they will also enjoy picking out the other visual elements that enhance the story. This is a Cinderella style story with a difference and one that both teaches and entertains. It’s the kind of book that can lead to great further discussion between an adult or teacher and young readers, with many points to ponder as well as sparking youngsters’ curiosity to learn more about Africa, the culture, and the animals. I would recommend this to parents, teachers, and caregivers for that “something different” to pique young readers’ interest.

[Patryx · Rating 1 out of 5]

Le fiabe popolari, si sa, si somigliano tra loro: le motivazioni sono tante come dimostrano le riflessioni teoriche sull'argomento; quel che le distingue è soprattutto la lingua e lo stile che il narratore sceglie per far rivivere il suo racconto. Queste fiabe africane sono scritte in uno stile elementare che non va altre l'espansione minima, una modalità di scrittura che trovo fastidiosa anche in mia figlia che frequenta la quinta elementare; non so se sia la traduzione infelice che non è riuscita a trasmettere le peculiarità della lingua oppure se questo peccato originale sia stato commesso direttamente dall'autrice, ma il risultato è veramente brutto. A questo si aggiungono un numero veramente eccessivo di refusi.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good story. I can imagine myself reading it to a niece or nephew.
A story about a girl called Chipo and the love she shares with her father. After the death of her mother at childbirth, they have each other until her father remarries.
Thanks to her jealous step mother and sister, plus the recent change that occured in her father becoming mean, she ends up spending lot's of time with a mermaid who changes her life. .
See what happens when Chipo returns to her family with a gift from the mermaid which gives the story an unexpected turn.

[Grace Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An african tale with great teachings

[Darth Miky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Carine le due favole. Orrenda l'impaginazione Kindle, zeppa di errori.

[Terri Stovall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking story.

I was quite surprised by Chipo and The Mermaid, and thought it might be a valuable lesson to read to my grandchildren.

I am not sure what age to recommend it for, it does contain more mature subject matter (death of a parent) that I am not sure that my youngest (3) would understand, yet as a fairytale, I am not sure if my oldest (14) is too old to be interested.

I think my middle grandchild, 10, would be old enough to understand, yet young enough to appreciate the moral of the story. I do plan to read it with her, and use it as a learning tool. I think we will have a pretty good discussion about the book afterward.

The graphics were wonderful, the story interesting and thought provoking. It is always nice to see good win out over evil, and that is indeed the situation with Chipo and The Mermaid.