Taking bits and pieces of plot and descriptions from 17 different versions of the Cinderella story worldwide, Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman (Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices; HarperCollins, 1988) offers up a composite story, a melting pot of Cinderellas. The busy paneled paintings look like folk art stencils, and each one reflects its country of origin. Cinderella dresses in a sarong of gold (Indonesia), with a cloak of kingfisher feathers (China), and sandals of gold (Iraq). The man of her dreams is, alternately, a prince, a king, and even a magistrzate (Korea), all searching for the girl who fits the shoe.
Themes: FAIRY TALES. MULTICULTURAL BOOKS.
- Beneath its handsome William Morris–like cover art, this inspired retelling blends many versions of Cinderella into a single, extraordinary tale.
- Publishers Weekly
Capitalizing on the frequently made assertion that Cinderella is the most widely told folktale on earth, Fleischman and Paschkis have created a pan-cultural, universally pleasing interweaving of variants from 17 distinct cultures.
- Miriam Lang Budin, School Library Journal
- Multicultural Cinderella anthologies already fill classroom shelves, but this worthy contribution from Fleischman, known for award-winning children's books like Seedfolks and Weslandia, cleverly reveals the overlapping elements of the stories by patching 17 versions together to make one cohesive narrative.
- Rebecca Zerkin, The New York Times
- So, the transitions from text to text are impeccable, the interracial/intercultural wedding scene is completely charming, and this work seems to hold hope for the revitalization of retold tales inpicture book form.
- Uma Krishnaswami, Children