Marriage of the Rain Goddess: A South African Myth

by Margaret Olivia Wolfson, Clifford Alexander Parms (Illustrator)

Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the rain goddess who lives in a round hut of rainbow arches in the clouds, embarks on a quest for companionship among the mortals and puts the young cattleherder who has captured her heart to the test to determine whether he can see beyond her appearance and into her deepest soul. Reprint.

Genres: Africa, Picture Books, Childrens, Fairy Tales

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jean-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting thing the tween and I learned from this book is that an ucu is a woven beaded necklace that communicates a love note through the pattern and color of the beads displayed. Young South African Zulu women give these encrypted love letters to the young men they like to wear around their necks. The 12-year-old and I read this to complement our early modern Africa history lesson.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A South African Myth inspired by a Zulu story from the Natal region, this is a beautiful and well- written story in which much has been added to and amended to the original. On saying this, in the aspects that Wolfson has added to, she has focused on integrating and celebrating customs and beliefs. I think the problem is that the clothing and other cultural signifiers are taken from an amalgamation of different tribes and not all from the Zulu culture. This is, however, acknowledged at the back.

[Aaminah X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful writing.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting bedtime story with my kiddos

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story

[Negro Christ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book because all the characters were black. I like the rain goddess she is wise and can make up her own mind. Also my favorite part was reading the book I liked part very part very much. I would change the length of the book and make it longer. The theme of the book is god or goddess and religion. There is some crazy sh!t going down in africa. I would recommend this book for those interested in learning about african culture. A quote I liked was “Gods and Goddess never die” (Wolfson).

[Mary Raccuia]

This South African Myth tells the story of the rain goddess and her quest to find her husband. She takes on a mortal form and begins her journey. Upon finding her mate she prepares a beautiful young women to present to the man. In the end he loves her and together they leave for the rain hunt where he becomes a god like her. A beautifully illustrated book for all readers. Useful when exploring myths and fairytales.

[Cara Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the rain goddess, is looking for a husband. She first looks for a suitor in the heavens but does not find herself attracted to any of the gods. She then searches for a husband within the mortals, finding Thandiwe, but she must first test him to be sure he is a worthy suitor. Thandiwe sees through her disguise and they marry, making him an immortal god.

[Mylissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book of an South African myth. Simple story, but it's aimed at children. (I'm not entirely sure how it ended up in my to-read pile.) A story about being true in heart and looking past facades. And also being a good person makes you worthy of a goddess' love. Cute, well illustrated. It made me curious as to the origins of the myth.