Module 3: Cinderella

Book Summary: A different version of the all familiar tale of Cinderella.  The princess goes to the ball, loses her slipper and marries her prince.  In this book, Cinderella goes to two balls, and loses her slipper at the second meeting with the prince.  The prince then sends his men to have all the women try on the slipper, starting with the highest ranking and on down to the girl in rags.

APA Reference of Book: Perrault, C., Bell, A., & Koopmans, L. (1999). Cinderella: a fairy tale. New York, NY: North-South Books.

Impressions: This book is not the story that I remember as a child, nor is it one that I would pick if I had a choice.  The story seems very rushed and incomplete.  There are not many descriptions, just words.  "This time her fairy godmother gave her an even more beautiful dress, and rich jewels" is as descriptive as the books gets.  I remember the original book having many, many vivid details that let the imagination go.  This book may have lost something in translation.   There are beautiful pictures in the book, but the text is a little dry for my taste.

Professional Review:  Lovely marbled endpapers introduce yet another "Cinderella."  Goode's translation informalizes the text somewhat, losing the sense of a time long ago and a place far away.  However, the plot remains intact, including the moral venerating innner beauty, which would have had more impact if Goode's Cinderella, soon to become Princess, didn't look so smug in the last two illustrations. The illustrations, set in nth-Century France, contain all of the elements necessary for a successful Cinderella. Her ballgown is beautiful, lusher and more spectacular than her stepsisters' or t;he other guests. The transformation scenes, especially the lizard into footman, are visually satisfying. The bright watercolors add the proper sparkle, and attention is not drawn away from the main characters by distracting borders or designs. Young readers will be pleased with this edition (especially if it is accompanied by the cassette recorded by Jessica Lange), but scholars will continue to prefer Doré (Perrault's Fairy Tales [Dover, 1969]) or Le Cain (Cinderella: or, the Little Glass Slipper [Penguin, 1971]).—Karen K. Radtke, Milwaukee Public Library.

Radtke, K. K., Jones, T. E., Gale, D., & Suhr, V. J. (1989). Cinderella (Book Review). School Library Journal, 35 (6), 79. 

Library Uses: I would use this book for creative writing   There are many more details that could have been added to the book to make it more interesting and enticing and I would ask the kids to fill in the missing parts for the author.