Module 3: Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper

Caldecott Winner in 1955

Simon & Schuster Canada. (2016). Cinderella.
Retrieved from http://www.simonandschuster.ca/
books/Cinderella/Marcia-Brown/9780689814747

Book Summary: Cinderella is treated like a maid by her stepmother and two narcissistic and bullying stepsisters, who call her “Cinderseat”. One night, the prince of the kingdom holds a ball and Cinderella, being the kind and gracious person that she is, helps her stepsisters look their best and most pretty for the celebration. Alas, Cinderella is left at home. However, her fairy godmother comes to the rescue, magicking a carriage, horses, footmen, and coachman from a pumpkin and garden pests, as well as a beautiful ball gown and glass slippers for Cinderella to wear. At the ball, the prince and all the guests are entranced by the mysterious princess. The second night of the ball, Cinderella, in her hurry to leave at the stroke of midnight, loses one of her glass slippers. The prince, finding the slipper, declares that all ladies of the kingdom must try it on to determine who the mysterious woman is. Cinderella’s stepsisters are exceedingly surprised when the slipper fits Cinderella! Cinderella is conveyed to the prince and marries him. And, in her goodness, forgives her stepsisters and allows them to live in her new palace home.

APA Reference:

Perrault, C. (1954). Cinderella, or the little glass slipper. (M. Brown, trans.). New York City: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. (Original work published in 1697)

Impressions: This version of the Cinderella story is pretty similar to the Disney-centric one I’m most familiar with. However, it definitely moralizes the story and is didactic: no violence à la cutting off the heels and toes of the stepsisters when they try to make the glass slipper fit their own feet and Cinderella is too kind to her abusers in the end: allowing them to live in the palace and even finding them husbands among the court. That extreme forgiveness in the face of such verbal abuse and servitude just makes me sick and so aware of how children’s books have shifted away from didacticism (thank God!).

Professional Review:

Erbach, M.M. (2006, July). Cinderella; or, The little glass slipper [Review of Cinderella, or the little glass slipper]. Book Links, 15(6), 18. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline. com/GeneralInfo.aspx?id=47&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Please see the scan of Booklists's review to the right.

Amazon. (2015). Cinderella.
Retrieved from https://www.amazon.
com/Cinderella-Cate-Blanchett/
dp/B00UI5CRNU

Library Use: Provide a teacher resource in the format of a lesson plan (specifically for middle and high school English classrooms) in which students, in small groups, compare and contrast different versions of the Cinderella story (like Marcia Brown’s translation, Roberto Piumini’s retelling, Cynthia Rylant’s retelling, Barbara McClintock’s retelling, etc.) with Disney’s live action Cinderella (Kinberg, Shearmur, & Barron, 2015). This would be an excellent lesson plan to do during the week of standardized testing and covers standards from the Texas Education Agency for grades 6 (TEKS #5), 7 (TEKS #27) (Texas Education Agency, 2010), 9 (TEKS #12), 10 (TEKS #2, 8, 12), 11 (TEKS #12), and 12 (TEKS #12) (Texas Education Agency, 2011). [TEA is currently revising the TEKS for English/Language Arts classrooms, so updates to the exact TEKS and any updates to lesson plans will have to be updated as the revisions are finalized and made public.]

References:

Kinberg, S., Shearmur, A., & Barron, D. (Producers), & Branagh, K. (Director). (2015). Cinderella [Motion picture]. United States: Walt Disney Pictures.

Texas Education Agency. (2010, February 23). Chapter 110. Texas essential knowledge and skills for English language arts and reading: Subchapter B. Middle school. Retrieved from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ch110b.html

Texas Education Agency. (2011, August 22). Chapter 110. Texas essential knowledge and skills for English langauge arts and reading: Subchapter C. High school Retreived from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ch110c.html