Book Review: CENDRILLON: A CARIBEEN CINDERELLA

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
San Souci, Robert D. 1998. CENDRILLON: A CARIBBEAN CINDERELLA. Ill. by Brian Pinkney. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. ISBN 068980668X

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The picture book CENDRILLON is a Caribbean version of the fairy tale CINDERELLA. The story is told from the point of view of Cendrillon’s “nannin” or godmother, who was bequeathed a magical wand of mahogany from her mother with instructions that she can only use the wand’s powers on someone she loves. Cendrillon’s mother died, and her father Monsieur married again to Madame Prosperine and produced Vitaline, Cendrillon’s half sister. As Cendrillon grows up, she is made to work like a “serving-girl” for her family. Cendrillon’s nannin feels helpless to assist her until one day Cendrillon mentions that there is a birthday ball for Paul, a handsome boy in town, and she isn’t allowed to go. Nannin’ decides to help Cendrillon go to the birthday ball, by using her wand to help turn ordinary household items such as food and animals into a coach, six carriage horses, five footman, a beautiful dress, and pink slippers. Nannin’ accompanies Cendrillon to the birthday ball and warns her that the magic only lasts for a short time, so they need to leave before midnight. While at the ball Cendrillon catches the attention of Paul, and they spend the entire night dancing with each other until Nannin’ rushes Cendrillon away from the ball because it was almost midnight. As she leaves, Cendrillon leaves behind a pink slipper which Paul finds. The next day, Paul travels the town to try and find the owner of the slipper. He finally arrives at Cendrillon’s residence, where Madame tries to shove Vitaline’s foot into the pink slipper, but it doesn’t fit. With convincing from Nannin’, Cendrillon appears in the house and Paul has her try on the slipper which, of course, fits, and Paul and Cendrillon get married.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The author does a wonderful job of merging the fairy tale of CINDERELLA with the Caribbean culture to create the story CENDRILLON. The traditional plot elements of girl getting mistreated, godmother uses magic so she can go to the ball, girl looses slipper and the boy rescues and marries her, are evident in CENDRILLON, but there are slight differences such as there is only one evil sister and she is a half sister at that. The reader is also treated to some of the back-story of the godmother and how she got her magic. To infuse the story with the culture of the Caribbean, the author chose to use a mix of English and French Creole words and phrases. To assist readers in the understand of the French Creole language the author provides meanings to these words right after they are used in text and a glossary at the end of the story with correct pronunciations.

Furthermore, the illustrations add credence to the tropical setting through the use of vibrant colors such as purple, yellow, blue, and pink with lush plants and flowers that appear in every picture. His use of light colored lines throughout every illustration helps give the appearance of movement without there actually being any. The illustrations in conjunction with the words blend beautifully together to help give a new and much needed spin to CINDERELLA so other cultures can relate to the fairy tale as well.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
LIBRARY SCHOOL JOURNAL Review: “The result is an outstanding Cinderella variant for any collection.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Review: “Through this colorful and deeply human godmother, readers witness the enduring power of love.”
BOOKLIST Review: “There are many variations of the Cinderella story, and this version, set on the island of Martinique, is particularly vibrant, both in its melodious language and its spirited art.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Share with students the traditional version of CINDERELLA, and then share CENDRILLON so students can compare and contrast the stories.
*Share with students the CENDRILLON: A CARRIBEAN CINDRELLA, and then share CENDRILLON: A CAJUN CINDERELLA so students can compare and contrast the stories.
*Study other folktales from the Caribbean and try to find cultural similarities that are stated or implied throughout the tales.

Other cultural variants of CINDERELLA
Collins, Sheila Hebert. CENDRILLON: A CAJUN CINDERELLA. Ill. by Patrick Soper. ISBN: 1565543262
dePaola, Tomie. ADELITA: A MEXICAN CINDERELLA. ISBN: 9780142401873
Hickox, Rebecca. GOLDEN SANDEL: A MIDDLE EASTERN CINDERELLA STORY. Ill. by Will Hillenbrand. ISBN: 9780823415137
Martin, Rafe. ROUGH-FACE GIRL. Ill. by David Shannon. ISBN: 9780698116269