Book Review: Cinderella

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, Marcia, Trans. 1954. CINDERELLA. Ill. Marcia Brown. New York, NY: Aladdin. ISBN 0689814747

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In this folk tale translated from Charles Perrault's CENDRILLION, Cinderella is the daughter of a man who marries a wicked woman with two wicked daughters. Cinderella on the other hand is one hundred percent good. So good, that when she is transformed into a beautiful princess and sent to the ball, she finds her wicked stepsisters and gives them "a thousand kindnesses" including the gifts of citrus fruits that the prince has given her. In the end, she even forgives her wicked stepsisters and invites them to live in the palace with her, marrying them to Lords of the court.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This syrupy sweet version of the classic Cinderella tale, has many of the normal elements of a fairytale: good vs. evil, a damsel in distress, and a lot of magic. The idea that the good get rewarded while the evil get the punishment that they deserve is, however, is completely missing here. This is either totally refreshing, or sadly disappointing, depending on the expectations and attitudes of the reader.

Marcia Brown's Caldecott Medal winning illustrations are lovely and do a nice job of carrying out the magical, ethereal feeling of the fairytale. The drawings appear to be pen and pastel. Unfortunately, all of the faces look nearly the same and echo the images you might see on a deck of cards.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
I was unable to find any book reviews, likely because this book was published so long ago.

5. CONNECTIONS
* Collect many different versions of the Cinderella tale.
* Discuss why Cinderella treated her wicked stepsisters so nicely, and whether or not you think its a good thing.