Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella

Bibliography:
Fleischman, Paul. 2007. GLASS SLIPPER, GOLD SANDAL: A WORLDWIDE CINDERELLA. Ill. by Julie Paschkis. New York, New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN: 080507953X

Plot Summary:
The story of Cinderella can change from country to country and Paul Fleischman incorporates these Cinderella variations in GLASS SLIPPER to create one cohesive tale. We follow the story from a perspective of a mother reading her daughter a Cinderella tale and the work begins at the universal beginning, speaking of a girl left with only a father after her mother dies. The story takes flight from this point, bringing in elements of the classic tale, like a stepmother, unsightly stepsisters, a handsome prince and a ball. However, instead of only recounting a Cinderella tale American children are familiar with, Fleischman uses bits and pieces of the story from around the world. For instance, the fairy godmother Americans may be familiar with is introduced as a crocodile (from Indonesia) or a witch woman (Appalachia). Recognizable elements of the traditional American Cinderella tale are wound with foreign ones to develop the work, from start to finish.

Critical Analysis:
The plot of this book is fairly straight forward, in that there is a clear conflict. Its theme is also one of "good versus evil", where good inevitably triumphs, as it should in any classic folktale. What is especially of note in this particular book, is the way the author intertwines the different Cinderella tales to create one simple, unified tale. The story contrasts within itself: the Cinderella character finds what she is going to wear to the ball in a variety of different ways, all displaying the differences between each country's version of the tale within one book.

This contrast further pointed in the use of the illustrations. Illustrations in this book are use to show the differences between each country; main pictures are set within backgrounds that display elements of the country. Ireland has a green background with prevalent Celtic symbols, while France is a purple background with a prominent Fleur-De-Lis. The Cinderella character is drawn approximately the same facially, to give some consistency, while other characters and clothing change with each country.

Awards and Reviews:
IRA Notables Books for a Global Society
NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
NYPL Book for Reading and Sharing
Kirkus Best Book of the Year
Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List
California Children's Media Award, Silver Medals

"This inspired retelling blends many versions of Cinderella into a single, extraordinary tale. Paschkis...makes use of folk art and textile patterns throughout the world in the clever background paintings behind each of her panel illustrations...and characters remain recognizable despite their costume changes." - Publishers Weekly

"Fleischman and Paschkis have created a pan-cultural, universally pleasing interweaving of variants from 17 different cultures. [It] reads nearly seamlessly and somehow manages to convey simultaneously the essential sameness of the story and the particularities of the different versions." - Miriam Lang Budin, School Library Journal

Connections:
*This is a perfect story for comparing and contrasting! Read this book and one of a more familiar version (Americanized). Break the students into groups after reading the story and have them list all the differences they notice.
*Since the story has elements from many different countries, take the opportunity to spotlight these countries on a map. Have the children investigate other stories from those countries!
*Take a trip in the classroom! From the countries used in the work (like Germany or Iraq), take time to show the children a custom from a particular country. This could have significance to why their version of Cinderella is told the way that it is or it could just be how to properly say hello.

Book Jacket found on: http://www.sunprairiepubliclibrary.org/Cinderella.html