New Arrival: Picture Book: Interstellar Cinderella, Deborah Underwood & Meg Hunt

Interstellar Cinderella
Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt
ISBN: 9781452125329
Read April 15, 2016

This is SOOOO Cute!  Cinderella in space, told in rhyme (only occasionally forced).  Cinders is a crackerjack mechanic this time around, and she really wants to see the Prince's ship parade, but the evil family steals her toolbox and leaves her behind.  Fairy god-robot steps in to save the day, and Cinders fixes the Prince's ship before zooming off at midnight.  Instead of a shoe, the crystal is a special socket wrench (shades of sonic screwdrivers here) and the stepsisters are set to trying to fix the Prince's ship instead of cutting off their feet.  Happy ending is skewed too, in just the right way: Cinders isn't interested in marriage, but she will take a job offer as the Royal Mechanic!

So cute, and a great updated take on the classic.

Storytelling: Moss Gown, William H. Hook & Donald Carrick

This is a story that I haven't told yet, but I have WANTED TO for my whole life.  It's one of a pair (the other one is The White Cat - which I also harbor dreams of turning into a juvenile or YA fantasy story someday) and if I had to choose only one picture book or fairy tale to read for the rest of my life (terrible thought) then Moss Gown would be that book.

Moss Gown

William H. Hook, illustrated by Donald Carrick

ISBN: 9780395547939

 This is an interesting fairy tale, and is one that is almost certainly Southern American in origin.  Alternate forms are the Cap o' Rushes, Catskin, Tattercoats, or Meat-Loves-Salt.  The core of the story is very like those older English tales, or to a classic Cinderella story, but what makes this version so interesting is that it has been married to a King Lear foundation.  

Candace is the youngest of three daughters of an old plantation master, and he summons all of them to declaim their love for him, before he makes his decisions about his will.  Candace isn't interested in flattery, but does love him.  He doesn't understand, and banishes her from his lands (here we see King Lear) where she falls into the Cinderella elements of the story; meeting a "gris-gris" woman in the swamp, being gifted with magical helpful items (her gown of moss).  The story then mixes the Catskin and Cinderella stories thoroughly, with Candace working in the kitchen in her moss gown, but sneaking off to a single ball, where the young master falls in love with her and pines away.  In a sweet King Lear finish, the wedding ball is crashed by an old beggar who Candace recognizes as her father, turned out by her conniving older sisters.  She arranges to serve him a dinner of unsalted food, then reminds him of the simple power of love.

Carrick's illustrations are phenomenal.  They are powerful and rich and evocative and haunting, and I will remember and love them all my life.  That said, I do believe that this story is rich enough to stand on it's own, and the very specific Southern flavor of the story makes it perfect for my region.

  

Storytelling: Little Gold Star, Robert D. San Souci & Sergio Martinez

Little Gold Star: A Spanish-American Cinderella Tale
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sergio Martinez
ISBN: 9780688147808
Re-read September 19 for storytelling development.

I think I'll be adding this one to my collection of titles - I love the way the story flows, and the way that the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family seamlessly (mostly) fall into place as the beneficial "godmother" or "dead mother's spirit" of the basic Cinderella that most Americans are familiar with.

Teresa is a good daughter, but her stepmother and stepsisters are hateful to her.  When her father gives her a little white lamb, they slaughter it and force her to wash the fleece.  A fish steals it away (oddly enough) and a beautiful lady dressed in blue appears to offer help for a price.  Teresa does her tasks as requested with a good attitude, and the Virgin blesses her, evidenced by a gold star appearing where she was touched by the Mother of God.

Stepmom and sisters are jealous, and the two sisters are sent out to get the same blessing (shades of Mother Hulda/Diamonds and Toads) but they of course are useless and bad, so they get cursed with horns and donkey ears respectively - stepmother is too wise to even try.

After the local plantation owner sees Teresa and her star at church, he decides to host a festival, and the family attends - he dances with Teresa, but custom dictates that they dance looking at the floor.  Teresa's stepmom, seething with jealousy, pounces and shames her into running away while he's busy dancing.

He stops by the family's house the next day, the family cat alerts him to where Teresa has been hidden away, and he asks for Teresa's hand.  Stepmother can't say no to the landowner, but does set 3 impossible tasks for Teresa - here the tasks are a barrier for marriage where in usual Cinderella the tasks are for denying permission to attend the initial party.  Teresa tries all day to achieve them, then relies on a miracle from the Holy Mother to save the day.

An interesting coda has the stepmother and daughters becoming less hateful as they are influenced by Teresa and her noble husband, and slowly losing the horns and donkey ears as they become kind and selfless themselves.



As always for actual published books, I'll need to find other examples of this particular variation, so that the story I tell doesn't rely too much on one author's language and cadence.  There are several reasons for this, but the most important is that the printed and published version here is subject to copyright, and as a performer and an author and an artist, I want to be respectful of intellectual ownership and rights.  Other reasons are less prosaic: the more examples I have, the more rich the story becomes, the more language options I have available, and the more I can add to or synthesize in to make it a powerful tale that stands alone as an oral tradition, not requiring illustrations to enhance the story.  (Although I have to say, these illustrations enhance so beautifully!)

Ella's Big Chance, Shirley Hughes

Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella, Shirley Hughes.  ISBN: 0689873999

Re-Read Sept 26, 2013

Fairy-Tale Retelling Picture Book: 

 

Plump and beautiful redheaded Ella and her father run a stylish dress shop together with Buttons the bellboy, until a snaky bony stepmother and her two snaky bony daughters take over everything.  

Ella ends up in the basement working her tail off until the day of the big ball, when she is dis-invited by her bony steprelations for not having the right "look" for the event.  

The stylish flapper fairy godmother shows up (parasol instead of wings, of course) and Ella is be-flapperized to within an inch of her life.  She has a grand old time at the ball, and the Duke is smitten.  

Sadly for the Duke, Ella's already taken, and this Cinderella politely declines the Duke for her very own Buttons.  The only way this would have been better is if she had rescued her poor father from the harpies, because it won't be long before his tail is in the cold basement working all day and night.

Very much reminded of Thoroughly Modern Millie: "raspberries!"