Cinderella Stories

These books all tell the Cinderella story through the lens of the culture in which they are told. Many of the basic parts are the same, but they can get quite different.

The Egyptian and Korean Cinderellas' origins are obvious. "Yen-Shen" is from China. "The Rough-Faced Girl" is an Algonquin tale, from the Native American people in Central(ish) Canada. "Adelita" is a Cinderella story from Mexico. The illustrations are very unique in this one! There are even some phrases in Spanish, but they are written in English as well.

These are some of the more unique Cinderella stories.

"Chickerella" is super fun and tells the story of Cinderella, except she is a hen. The pictures are actual photos of puppets, I believe, and are fantastic. The creativity of words and names is well-done. Maybe one of my favorites.

"Cinderella's Dress" is a fun story written in rhyme that tells how Cinderella's first dress was made, before her fairy godmother came to visit.

These aren't necessarily Cinderella books, but they are related.

Cinderella's Rat tells the story of her rat friend who was turned into the coachman for the carriage. He had quite the interesting night as well.

All of the above Cinderella books are picture books. Some are great for little ones, while some are better for older ones. Here are a few variations of the story in chapter books for budding readers. I haven't personally read them, but I checked them out at the library, and they look pretty good!

"Fiona and Frieda- Cinderella and the Bowling Slipper," by Nadia Higgins. Two friends, Fiona and Frieda, love telling fairy-tales to one another. All of the sudden, one of them comes to life! They set out to help Cinderella find her prince and escape the wrath of her step-sisters. Grades 3-4.

"Cinderella Smith," by Stephanie Barden, is a modern-day Cinderella, about a girl who cannot keep track of her shoes! One particular shoe she loses is of utmost importance- her red tap shoe! What will she do? Grades 3 and up.

I am a huge fan of movies. I could sit and watch them all day long. (It is rare that I don't have one playing on my TV whenever I am home.) Here are a few great Cinderella movies.

Disney's Cinderella is the one many of us are most familiar with. Originally released in 1950, it is a childhood staple of nearly all American girls- and probably other countries too. Growing up, my cousin and I always put pillows on our butts when we dressed up so we could wear bustles like the stepsisters!

Disney made a live-action version in 1997 using the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway version. I remember when it was released on Wonderful World of Disney when they used to do new movies on Sunday nights on... ABC, I think. The esteemed musical team, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote all new music to fit the story. I hadn't seen the movie in over a decade, and I was still singing some of them when I saw it again recently! It also has an all-star cast including Brandy, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, Victor Garber, and Whoopi.

in 1957, the original Rodgers and Hammerstein version aired live on TV. This one starred Julie Andrews. It was filmed live, so it uses very few special effects, but it is amazing.

"Ever After" is more for grown-ups, or at least teenagers, but is very good as well. It is a non-musical version, and is a great movie. Drew Barrymore is the starlet of the movie, along with some people I've never heard of.