Cinderella
 Ruth Sanderson
 (Associate Student Reviewer - Karrie G.)
 2002 Little, Brown & Co.
  ISBN: 0316779652


A kind young woman manages to attend the ball despite her cruel step-sisters & step-mother.

Associate Student Reviewer Karrie G. writes:

Some time after his wife dies, a gentleman marries a widow with two daughters. When they arrive, the step-sisters take an immediate dislike to their new step-father's own daughter. The jealous, selfish girls force the household tasks on her, that are not fit for a lady at all. They even make up a cruel nickname for her: Cinderella. For she was now constantly covered in cinders.

Her father makes no attempt to put a stop to all this. His new wife now rules him completely. & so, Cinderella becomes little more than a servant. Indeed, soon enough she herself has nearly forgotten her old life.

But her hope is renewed when one day, they receive an invitation. The prince has invited all eligible girls of the kingdom to attend his ball, for he is seeking a wife. Cinderella begs her step-mother for permission to go. Instead, her step-mother throws a bowl of lentils into the ashes of the fireplace, & with a sneer tells her step-daughter that if she can gather them all back into the bowl within two hours, she may go.

It is an impossible job, of course, & Cinderella realizes this. As she weeps in anguish, she sees a dove. She reaches out to caress the beautiful bird & whispers despairingly: “Oh, sweet bird, if only you could help me. There are so many lentils in the ashes, and I need to pick them all out in two hours' time so I can go to the ball!” The bird then flies away. Within minutes, it returns with its friends & quickly all the lentils are in the bowl.

However, it soon becomes apparent that this is of no consequence to Cinderella's step-mother. With a derisive snort she retorts: “Foolish girl, did you think I was serious? How could you go to the ball with no proper clothes?” Shocked & very sad, Cinderella is left alone. Then a beautiful fairy appears, her god-mother it seems. The fairy god-mother soon turns ordinary things in the garden into a coach, horses, horsemen! Cinderella is very excited at first, but then wonders about her tattered clothing. This problem is solved quickly though, for her fairy god-mother turns her rags into a beautiful golden gown, & her old shoes into delicate glass slippers. As Cinderella rides away in the coach, the god-mother warns that at midnight the spell will be broken.

When Cinderella arrives at the ball, all the guests are in awe of her. She is by far the most attractive & interesting. Once the prince dances with her, he refuses any other partner for the remainder of the ball, for he is convinced that this woman should be his wife.

Then the clock suddenly begins to strike midnight. Excusing herself abruptly, Cinderella rushes away from the ball. In her haste, she loses one pretty glass slipper on the steps.

The prince then begins a search for the woman of his dreams, without having any idea who she is. He decides to try the glass slipper on every girl's foot in the kingdom. When the prince comes by Cinderella's house, both step-sisters try the shoe on eagerly, but neither of their feet fit. By chance, the prince sees Cinderella out in the garden, among her mother's roses. Her father follows his gaze, & is strongly reminded of Cinderella's mother. Partially because of this, & partially because he wants to make amends for his behavior towards his daughter, he says: “That is my daughter. She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

The prince immediately recognizes his love. When the glass slipper fits, Cinderella produces the second one, & puts it on as well. Magically, her frayed clothing transforms into the wonderful dress. One last gift from her god-mother. Her father waves as the happy couple ride away in the prince's carriage, while his wife & step-daughters are attacked by the nice birds. The mean step-mother & step-sisters are forced to stay inside the house forever, for fear of being pecked to death, & Cinderella lives very happily ever after.

There were two things about this book that set it apart from the many other versions of this well-known fairy tale. First of all, the illustrations. I usually feel that as long as there's a good story & it is written well, the illustrations are just a detail. But in this case, the exquisite oil paintings bring new magic to the pages.

The second thing that makes it differ from the versions most widely known, is the relationship between Cinderella & her father. In most of the Cinderella stories, the father loves her to pieces, but dies. Therefore he is unable to save Cinderella from her nasty step-mother. But in this tale, the father does not die. In fact, he keeps his mouth shut about the way Cinderella is treated, for fear of his wife's anger. I thought it was an interesting twist, & it did make it seem a little more realistic.

To sum it up, this is one of the better Cinderella stories.

More from Ruth Sanderson: The Crystal Mountain; Tapestries; Rose Red And Snow White; Papa Gatto; The Nativity; The Enchanted Wood; The Twelve Dancing Princesses; The Golden Mare; The Firebird, & The Magic Ring.
(05/19/02)

Karrie G.
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Student Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
Karrie G. lives in The Netherlands. She is 15 years old, attends a Dutch Language School & is originally from Wisconsin, USA

Her favorite colors are: light blue, sea green, lavender & black!
Favorite sports are: swimming & soccer.
Favorite school subjects are: languages & creative writing class.
Favorite things to do are: playing the piano, reading, writing short stories & poetry, drawing & going to the movie theater.
The Netherlands is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Most people call the Netherlands Holland & it is about the size of Connecticut, but with a lot more people, sixteen million. You may think of tulips, chocolate, windmills & wooden shoes when you think of Holland. Although there are still lots of tulips & chocolate, & there are still some windmills, you wouldn't see many people wearing clogs today.