Traditional Literature - Fairy Tale

This book is about Cinderella who is pretty much a maid to her stepmother and two stepsisters. She decides to go to the ball but before she can leave, her stepsisters destroy her dress. Her fairy godmother appears and creates a beautiful gown for Cinderella. She goes to the ball and meets the Prince, falling in love with him. She has to leave before midnight because the spell will be gone by then but she leaves behind her glass slipper which the Prince uses to track her down. He ends up finding her and they live happily every after.

Truthfully, I don't believe much in the princess stories that everyone is so familiar with simply because they are based on stories that have evolved so much that the original is lost. However, I think that this one teaches a good lesson on self identity and persevering through difficult times no matter the circumstances.

Another classic. This story has been around for centuries and can be traced to many different variations from many different authors. Cinderella is treated awfully by her step mom and step sisters. Long story short she and the prince fall in love at the ball, and there is magic. The story's main theme is that good and true love will always trump hate. Again, it is another classic that children must read. Fairytale, Traditional Literature, Classic. ( )

Fantasy
A young girl's mother dies, leaving her and her father alone. Her dad remarries, and with her step-mother, she receives two step-sisters; the three new women in the girl's life are nothing short of awful. They make her do all the chores and sifting through the cinders, earning her the name Cinderella. The king has a dance to find a wife for his son; the step-mom and daughters leave Cinderella at home. Cinderella is visited by her fairy godmother, who gives Cinderella a carriage, footmen, and a beautiful dress with the understanding that they will all disappear at midnight. She goes to the dance, woos the prince (on accident), but has to run off at midnight, leaving her glass slipper behind. The lovestruck prince searches the entire kingdom for the girl, the step-sisters try to claim Cinderella's place as his girl, Cinderella is revealed to be the girl at the dance and they live happily ever after. The biggest lessons to be found are honesty, hard work, and good trumps evil. This book fits in the fantasy genre because of the magic, which doesn't exist in the real world.

In this version of Cinderella, her stepmother is especially mean. She doesn't allow her to go to the ball that every girl in the town has been invited to. Cinderella finds a dress in the attic, that belonged to her mother. He stepsisters tear the dress. Later, after all of her chores, Cinderella's fairy godmother appears and turns a pumpkin into a gold carriage and gives Cinderella a beautiful dress. The king is hoping that his son finds a wife and they are both very taken by Cinderella. She leaves before the clock strikes twelve, and she drops her glass slipper. The prince sends one of his men to try the shoe on every girl, but the shoe falls and shatters. All hope is not lost, as Cinderella has the other glass slipper and of course it fits! The evil stepmother is horrified that Cinderella is chosen over her two daughters. ( )

In this version of Cinderella, the illustrations are beautiful and very vintage in appearance. There is quite a bit of text on each page so it would make a great read aloud. Something that would be fun is to do a folktale/fairy tale unit of study and include familiar versions like the Disney ones and then also tie in less familiar versions of Cinderella, like Domitila and Yeh-Shen. Folktales around the world! ( )