This three-week Writing Root begins with the discovery of a bottle that contains a map and a message. After interrogating the scenario presented and writing a short news report using the present perfect tense, the children then share the first part of Cinderella of the Nile. They develop skills of inference before exploring the author’s use of literary language and the effect that this has on the reader. Suffix fixers are used to investigate abstract nouns which are then used to create an emotions graph before being woven in to a diary entry in role that also draws upon literary language from a previous session. Once the story has been read, the children sort statements about traditional Cinderella tales and statements about this version onto a Venn diagram and then go on to devise their own version of a Cinderella story complete with fable! Synopsis of Text Narriman entered King Farouk’s life three years after he divorced Farida, his wife and queen of ten years. The reason Farouk gave for the divorce was Farida’s unfaithfulness and inability to give him an heir: He had three daughters, but like every other king in the history of the world, he wanted a son. However, King Farouk wasn't just looking for a baby-maker. Narriman's dress was an absolute stand out—and for good reason. Seamstresses delicately sewed a stunning 20,000 diamonds sewn onto the fabric. And that wasn't all. It seems like Narriman couldn't decide whether she preferred diamonds or pearls—so she decided to have both. The queen wore an extravagant crown of pearls on her newly-royal head. Narriman's father figured that the only way he could save his daughter from the marriage was by running away from Egypt with her. He went as far as booking a flight out of the country. However, his family and friends warned him not to invoke the king’s ire by carrying out the plan. The poor man had to suffer in silence. Then, in a heartbreaking turn of events, his health gave way soon after Farouk sent his proposal.

Cinderella of the Nile is introduced to the reader as the earliest known version of the fairytale. It tells the story in an alternative manner due to the different cultural settings of Greece and Egypt being explored as opposed to the typical western setting. 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. The pen and ink illustrations in my edition were by Ben Kutcher, born in Kiev around 1895 but whose family emigrated to the USA in 1902. My mother's grandparents had also emigrated from the Russian Empire but came to England. From there her parents made the colonial journey to Johannesburg where she was born... and where I would be born during the Second World War. Widening my vision Books and stories are wonderful ways of ‘mind travel’. My Blue Fairy Book didn’t say where Cinderella lived but the illustrations suggested somewhere in Europe long ago. I was a child living 6000 miles away but I could still imagine being her. That’s why stories are powerful. They take us into other people’s lives. Narriman really succeeded in keeping her life private after she married Dr. Fahmi. There is no account of her marriage, and neither she nor Fahmi talked to the press or to anyone who would blab. It does seem though that she was happy and Fahmi genuinely cared for her well-being. Sadly, Narriman’s troubles didn’t end, despite her loving husband.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. 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. Sold again in Egypt, she is given a pair of rose-red slippers. But when Horus the Falcon sweeps in to steal a slipper, Rhodopis has little idea that this act will lead her to the King of Egypt. Farouk inherited his father’s title and throne at the young age of 16, mere months after he left the palace to study in England. Upon his father's passing, he returned to Egypt to fulfill his duties as king, but he had no experience of what that entailed, and no understanding of how to win his people’s hearts. Although Egyptians wanted to think kindly of Farouk, he began to lose favor once the people realized he only cared about himself and his own hedonistic lifestyle. She did come home after she got better, but not for long. A few months later she went into a coma and never woke up. After ten days in the hospital, she passed on February 16, 2005, at the age of 75.

Colour themes are thoughtfully chosen; Rhodopis' hair is echoed in the flowers and the kingfisher blue in the sea and river. There is so much to see; the roots of the trees, the fish make me laugh and the hippo is glorious with its roving eye. Look out for the pyramids and Horus the falcon. 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. Fahmi didn’t wait too long to pop the question to Narriman. Perhaps because she thought he was different, or maybe she was lonely and wanted companionship, whatever the reason, she didn’t wait too long to accept either. The couple married quietly, with only family present, in 1967. Thankfully, it appears that for Narriman, the third time was the charm. Write a letter from Rhodipus to her parents telling them all that has happened to her including marrying the Pharaoh. Make a scroll Unfortunately, the King didn't tell Narriman the truth about all those presents. You see, Farouk wasn't the best gambler. He was actually losing far more money than he was winning. If you’re thinking that the king doesn’t sound like the wisest, most responsible person you know, you’ve got it right.

7. She Caught The King’s Eye

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. You may have thought that Narriman would seize this chance to leave the king, but you'd be wrong. She stayed with her husband during this dark time, sailing into exile in Italy with Farouk, their son, and the king's daughters from his previous marriage. It was a selfless act, but let's be real. We all know this won’t end well... According to Narriman's second son, the Egyptian government began to rethink their warm welcome to ex-Queen Narriman. Instead of accepting her, they made life difficult for the new couple by trying her new husband for trumped-up offenses and forbidding him from practicing medicine. These stressful circumstances affected Narriman's new marriage enormously.