Marriage of the Rain Goddess: A South African Myth

Ripe with imagery and insights into South African culture, this expanded version of a Zulu myth is told with a natural ease. Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the rain goddess, chooses Thandiwe to be her companion. But because Thandiwe is a mortal, he must first be tested. Thandiwe proves himself steadfast in the face of ridicule and a fearsome storm, and then, in choosing the goddess's inner beauty over a mortal woman's outer beauty, demonstrates his wisdom. Wolfson, a professional storyteller, lets metaphors spring as if spontaneously into her prose (""a rainbow slid down from the heavens""), and her pacing is skillfully measured. First-time illustrator Parms, given the dicey assignment of representing an ethereal goddess amid a temporal world, resorts to somewhat literal interpretations--the goddess's face lightly imposed on the sky; warrior gods posed atop fluffy clouds. Stylistically his compositions seem stiff and detached in comparison to the fluid prose. Ages 6-11. (Aug.)