Little lost slippers everywhere

Yes, you guessed it: Cinderella. She's everywhere, and contrary to post-Disney American popular assumption, she appears earliest in Chinese literature (see Ai-ling Louie's note). The narrative core remains remarkably consistent from Chinese to Korean to Hmong examples, reviewed here. In all cases, we have a heroine who is as beautiful as she is long suffering. Her jealous step-mother and step-sisters heap abuse after abuse upon her, whether she is called Yeh-shen, Pear Blossom, or Jouanah. Supernatural forces intervene to allow her to attend a festival where a high status man sees her and falls instantly in love. Finally, a mate-less shoe serves as a token to reunite the couple. What make these folk tales interesting, though, are the differences. For example, the supernatural force may take the form of a magic fish, tokgabi goblins, or the hide of a deceased mother-turned-cow. Illustrations are especially important for making the story fresh. I like Ruth Heller's best for their fantastical and decorative qualities. Anne Sibley O'Brien strives for accuracy. The pictures by Ed Young, though beautiful, are a bit too ethereal and miss opportunities for narrative specificity. If you or your children are into Cinderella, exploring these other versions will probably be quite fun.

 

Ai-ling Louie (author) and Ed Young (illustrator)

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

Turtleback, 1996

Shirley Climo (author) and Ruth Heller (illustrator)

The Korean Cinderella

HarperCollins, 1993

Jewell Reinhart Coburn with Tzexa Cherta Lee (authors) and Anne Sibley O'Brien (illustrator)

Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella

Shen's Books, 1996