Rebecca HickoxBesprekingen

I loved the way that the culture, not the "Cinderella story", was the real star of the book.

The story itself was alright, but I particularly liked the Author's Note at the end because she poses the same questions I think about when considering the legacy of the Cinderella story.

I read this to compare to other Cinderella stories. I compared it to 3 different stories with the same plot.

The daughter of a widowed fisherman, Maha was lonely for a mother's love, and convinced her father to marry their neighbor. Unfortunately for her, her new stepmother was resentful and unkind, and the young girl was made to do all the work, while her stepsister lazed around. After sparing the talking red fish she finds one day, Maha gains a magical ally who helps her throughout her childhood and adolescence. When denied the chance to attend the henna party of a wealthy merchant's daughter, Maha appeals to the fish, and is given enchanted clothing to wear. Returning home at the end of the evening, she loses one of her golden sandals, and it is found by the merchant's son, who is so struck by its dainty beauty, that he decides he must marry its owner...

Adapted from the Iraqi tale of The Little Red Fish and the Clog of Gold, to be found in Inea Bushnaq's 1986 Arab Folktales, this Middle Eastern Cinderella story has many of the elements associated with this tale type, from the unkind stepmother and lazy stepsister, to the magical protector/guide. There is even a party to which the Cinderella figure wishes to go, although here it is a women's only party, rather than the ball of the western tradition. The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story is the second folkloric picture-book I have read from author Rebecca Hickox, following upon her Zorro and Quwi: Tales of a Trickster Guinea Pig, and I enjoyed the narrative, appreciating the mixture of familiar and unfamiliar elements. The accompanying artwork from illustrator Will Hillenbrand, created on velum in a variety of media (he discusses his method in a note at the read), was likewise appealing. The only thing I would criticize is the author's claim, in her afterword, that the Chinese variant of this tale type is the oldest recorded version. This is in fact untrue, as the ancient Egyptian version - see Shirley Climo's The Egyptian Cinderella for a retelling - is the oldest known version. Leaving that aside, this is one I would recommend to young folklore enthusiasts, and to anyone seeking Cinderella variants from around the world.

I really liked this twist on the Cinderella version I know. This story was set in the Middle East, and was about a girl named Maha. Maha was so beautiful, and her stepmother was jealous that her little girl was not as witty, pretty, or good as Maha. Maha was sent to do chores, specifically to get fish from her father's boat. One of the fish pleaded for their life, and she saved it. It became the equivalent to her fairy godmother, and saved her many times from her evil step mother. Of course in this story, Maha lived happily ever after with the prince, and the stepsister and stepmother got their comeuppance..

Per and the Dala Horse is written in the style of traditional Swedish folk tales and combines common elements into a story that is original but still very familiar. I liked this book more for the illustrations than the story. They are beautifully done, with stylized borders on the pages, and lots of colour and detail. Each brother wears distinctive clothing with detailed patterns and embroidery. I'm not sure if this is traditional Swedish garb, but it looks the part.½

A great middle eastern version of the classic Cinderella story reflecting the culture of an Iraqi girl and her stepmother's treatment.

This book is a middle eastern version of Cinderella. She sneaks out and loses her sandal, a man finds it and goes around the entire neighborhood looking for her. The book is filled with middle eastern illustrations.

This Middle Eastern version of Cinderella is more similar to the American Disney version than I would have thought. Although it still contained elements of Middle Eastern culture, it was adapted from an earlier version from Asian culture. This version had a father who warned his daughter, Maha, of the dangers of getting a stepmother. Despite this, Maha continually begged her father to marry her best friend's mother. It spiraled downward quickly for Maha; she was assigned tough chores and was fed very little food. While running an errand, she saved a magic red fish one night, who subsequently acted as her "fairy godmother." Maha visited the magic fish every time she had a worry or concern. Eventually Maha grew up and came to the fish crying about attending a high-profile wedding. The fish happily granted all of her wishes, enhancing her beauty for the esteemed event. Maha's mean sister and stepmom thought the prominent maiden sitting by the bride looked like Maha, but they scoffed at the idea of her being there, especially with such an adorned outfit. Maha had such a good time there that she almost missed curfew, and she lost her fish-given golden sandal after falling while racing home. A few days later, the queen's eldest son was out for a horse ride when he found the slipper and wanted to marry its owner. As in the Disney version, they searched all the villages, looking for the lady whose foot it fit best. Furthermore, many women lied about it belonging to them. As the royal family was approaching their house, they locked up Maha in the bread oven for the other daughter's benefit. But, in a magical plot-twist moment, a chicken cock-a-doole-doo'd until it caught the attention and the royals demanded the stepmom let out Maha. The slipper fit perfectly, and she was soon married.½

This is a Middle Eastern Cinderella story about a girl, Maha, who is the servant of her mean stepmother and her stepsisters. Maha rescues a talking fish who helps Maha who in return gives her beautiful clothes to wear to a bridal party, but she ends up staying too long, and loses her golden sandal as she rushes home. Tariq, brother of the bride, finds her sandal and his mother searches for the the owner of the shoe. In the end, the mother finds Maha and Maha and Tariq get married, and live happily ever after. This is an interesting spin on a classic that teaches about Middle Eastern culture.

“The Golden Sandal” is about a girl named Maha, the story being told is like the typical Cinderella story but with a different route. The setting of the book is in the Middle Eastern region, so culture is shown a lot throughout this book. Maha is true to her culture and true to the typical “Cinderella role.” She is the sweetest girl and obeys everything she is told. She has the typical step mother and step sister; who are not so sweet to her. And there is a so called fairy god mother, but that part is not so typical. Maha is always true to herself and true to her culture and father.

This Middle Eastern Cinderella story about a girl, Maha, who is the servant of her mean stepmother and her stepsisters. Maha rescues a talking fish who helps Maha. The fish gives her beautiful clothes to wear to a wealthy, young woman's bridal party(this stories version of the ball) but stays too long, and in her rush home she looses her golden sandal. The sandal is picked up by the Tariq, brother of the bride. His mother searches for the woman who is the owner of the shoe, and finds her. In the end Maha and Tariq get married, and finally see each other and live happily ever after.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was a great twist to the classic American-version of Cinderella. It had great illustrations that engaged the reader and demonstrated cultural awareness to the Middle Eastern culture.

I didn't personally read this book for the cinderella prompt, i had the text book. I chose this book because Kat had it and it seemed very interesting wish i chose this book instead of the text book.

This book was the Middle Eastern version of Cinderella. It is a good way to promote cultural diversity when learning about fairy tales and their lessons.

This book gave Cinderella a little twist Middle Eastern style and I would recommend reading this to my nieces one day!

Like many other versions of Cinderella, this story follows the same plot of a poor girl that is worked by a step mother and wants to go to the ball. She loses her shoe and a man searches for her to be married. Though the story followed a similar pattern, the elements were unique to the middle eastern culture. Maha, the protagonist, saved a red fish from being eaten and in return, the fish granted her wishes. She went to a henna ceremony (instead of a ball) where she lost her golden sandal (instead of a glass slipper). A man searches for her in hopes to marry her. He makes every girl try on the slipper until he finds his Cinderella, Maha. What was different about this version but is similar to the Grim's Brothers' version is that the story gets revenge on the antagonist. The step mother's daughter is asked to be married and she tries to use the same magic potion they used on Maha but instead of making her hair full and beautiful like Maha's, the step;-sister suffers from extreme hair loss and excessive blisters. This is a good version of the rags to riches tale.

This story is similar to the other Cinderalla tales I've heard but it seems to stand out amongst the rest. I noticed that it has a little more magic/fantasy than the other versions. Maha meets a magical fish and this fish helps her and eventually is the reason she finds a man to marry. I think this story would be a positive influence on students and has a nice way of teaching middle eastern traditional culture.

Having a pure and kind heart can transform any situation into something better. Maha lived this from childhood and always acted in the best interest of others. One of her good deeds helped her in times of strife. She was able to put those times behind her after an unfortunate slip of a shoe turned into her way out of turmoil. Maha's stepmother; however, was stricken with the consequences of her insufferable actions.

I really enjoyed this book for many reasons, mainly because it was spin on Cinderella that I had never experienced before! The culture in this book represents the middle east and not a lot of children's books present Middle E]astern cultures. The message in this book was a very important message that a lot of kids can learn from and that message is, "you reap what you sow". This message was shown throughout "The Golden Sandal"; the main character was good so good things happened to her. I also really enjoyed the illustrations in this book, and they exhibited just how much men and women's worlds are kept apart in the book and often times in the Middle East as well. This would be an excellent book for all ages because it a story we all know and love, but with a Middle Eastern twist. It presents the culture in a way that is accessible to kids of all ages, and understandable as well. The language was smooth and understandable all throughout the book. I loved this book!

I enjoyed the illustrations in this Middle Eastern version of the Cinderella tale. I find it interesting the way the story keeps the men's worlds and women's worlds largely separate, intersecting only at points of familial relationship. Culturally this makes sense, and it's interesting to see how the author handles it. My kids enjoyed the book, but it's not one I think they'll ask for over and over again. I think they might find the "I'll marry whoever is attached to the foot that fits this slipper" notion a little difficult to relate to.

I liked this story for a few reasons. The main reason was that “The Golden Sandal” is a spinoff of the famous fairy tale Cinderella. I found it very interesting that someone took Cinderella and changed up the story so it could fit into the Middle Eastern culture. I also enjoyed the easily readable illustrations in the story. They matched the text very well and they made the story more enjoyable for me. That is what I liked about this story.

I liked this book mainly because it was a totally different spin off of the tale of Cinderella that we are all used to in one way or another. I liked how the author really tied in the culture that it was aimed for, and how the tale varies because of the cultural differences. I also liked how it wasn't the typical prince searching for her, but the prince's mother. It changes up the story, so it is not the same thing being read over and over again. I disliked the book mainly because of the lack of culture, i would have liked to see more linguistic diversity, and other areas of diversity throughout the book. I mean there were some examples, but not a lot.

I enjoyed Rebecca Hickox’s story “ The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story” because it is a different version of the fairy tale classic Cinderella with elements from the story Aladdin (the magic fish resembles the genie in the classic tale of Aladdin). In the story Hickox uses descriptive language to describe Maha’s home abuse and the reasons for her misfortune. HIckox states that “the fisherman’s first wife (Maha’s mother) drowned and her father remarried. At first all went well, but as time passed, the woman (Maha’s stepmother) saw how much the fisherman loved his daughter”. Due to jealousy Maha’s stepmother began to torment, abuse, and overwork her even going as far as to only give her “a few dried dates to eat”. The story has a very suspenseful plot as throughout the story the reader is left wondering if the evil stepmother will be repaid for her foul actions, and if Maha will overcome her obstacles and be set free from her stepmother. The book makes the reader consider topics like abuse and it’s affect on the victim as well as why people abuse others. In this case it was out of sheer jealousy, which causes the reader to recognize how jealousy has a negative affect on both the jealous person and the person that is the object of jealousy. The overall message in this story is that every kind deed is repaid, and every foul deed will be punished.

This book was a unique take on the typical Cinderella story that we all know today, that came from Europe. The story of Maha as a fisherman's daughter and her experience with a step mother and crude treatment, with the inclusion of a red fish?? This is definitely a different folk tale of a classic, with a twist and interesting turn out of things. Highly recommend this book in the classroom when comparing and contrasting the same piece of literature in different contexts/countries/cultures and so much more.