Using Fairy Tales from Around the World: Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman

Let me preface this post by saying that it will probably contain parts that are biased.

You see, my book had not arrived by the time of class.

Normally, we are to have our posts up before class probably for the very reason to avoid biases from what we discuss in class.

I was going to get this book from the library, but sadly other people (I suspect my fellow-classmates) checked out all the remaining copies before I had a chance to go to the library.

And the school library did not have it at all.  So two libraries later, I figured I might as well buy it.

Can you imagine the tragedy?   Actually having to buy some children's literature.  The absurdity!

Just kidding.  I love getting children's books, and I'm sure this will be added to my classroom library.

As from the previous blogs, I really enjoy Cinderella tales.  Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal is a very unique adaptation of the Cinderella story because the author and illustrator draw from seventeen different cultural versions of the story such as Appalachia, Zimbabwe, Germany, and China among others.

The pictures show the shift from the different cultures with the monochromatic background that appears to reflect the culture.

Some pages even feature a framed colorful drawing that illustrates the text more specifically showing the garb and art form of the particular nation.

For example, on the page featuring China, the illustration reflects the silk screen art that is part of this culture.

However, because of the shift of the different cultures from page to page, children who are in the primary grades or younger would probably have a difficult time understanding the shift intertwined into a unified whole story.  

Being a first generation American, I understand completely the importance of preserving one's culture even as we assimilate into the American life.

Because of this, I love learning about other's cultures and how one interacts with their families, which is what makes this book so very unique with so many different perspectives.

I do wish though that I could read each story in its entirety as opposed to the fractured version that is presented or maybe even just a blurb about the differences of each story at the very end.

As we discussed in class (look!  here are the biases I was talking about earlier), there were no end notes whatsoever about where the author or the illustrator pulled their information about the different cultures.

However, I will say that when I actually read the book, I noticed the author's note at the very start that gives credit to Judy Sierra's Cinderella (Oryx Press, 1992).

Sadly, the reviews of this book and the scarcity of the book reviews on Amazon makes one wonder if this was truly the best source to use for this picture book (I have not read it so I really cannot verify one way or the other).

However, for what the book does and the integration of the different cultures, despite the lack of end notes and list of sources, I found this book very educational and informative.

I loved the bright folk artsy pictures that reflected the culture and the differing details of the story. For these reasons, I would recommend it but recommend it for at least an upper elementary child who can understand the complexity of the intertwining stories.