Book Question of the Week: Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella

Here's how we play: first I pick a book. Then I pull a question card from my Table Topics cube and answer the question (the book gets chosen first so I don't cheat and choose an easy answer). Then, it's your turn. You pick a book and answer the question for your book in the comments. Though I will always choose a multicultural title, you certainly do not need to.

Today's Book: Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Julie Pschkis
Today's Question: Did this book reaffirm or change opinions you hold?

Boy, was this book an affirmation! If you're familiar at all with Shen's Books, you know that there are many, many versions of the Cinderella story from all different countries. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal is like a patchwork quilt of Cinderella stories from many countries. Fleischman takes the structure of the story and fills it in with details from around the world. Practically every sentence is taken from a different tale, so that Cinderella must, for example, pick a handful of lentils out of the ashes as she does in the German tale. And then, she must scour all the pots, as she does in the Appalachian version. Each moment is illustrated as if it were taking place in that country, and the country's name is indicated next to the illustration as well.

Fleischman has a clever idea here-- a Cinderella mashup, if you will. It's interesting to see all the different details in the same story. A solid confirmation of the power of a single story.