This story is a retelling of the oldest known version of the Cinderella story. The author has included research about the history of the story in the front of the book. According to this research it dates to the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). The book is very well done and has received several awards: AlA Notable Book, IRA-CBC Children's Choice Book, and A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award.
Like Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters Yeh-Shen uses text and illustrations to portray an accurate and respectful retelling of this ancient folk tale. This story has many similarities to the story of Cinderella that I as an American girl grew up hearing. There is a mean step mother,an ugly step sister, never ending chores, a magical helper, a ball, and a missing shoe. Differences between this story and the version Disney gave us include a fish granting wishes instead of a Fairy Godmother, one stepsister instead of two, and a King who is presented with the shoe as a gift instead of a prince who finds the shoe after chasing his true love from the ball.
Although the text is written in English the pages are presented in blocks which give the book a similiar look to the book as it was written in Chinese. The illustrations are cone in colors and style that give them a very authentic feeling. There are almost no full bleeds in the book. The pictures are important to the story but, do not overwhelm the text.
I found this to be an enjoyable and worthwhile read.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story from China Retold By: Ai-Ling Louie Illustrated by: Ed Young
This story is a retelling of the oldest known version of the Cinderella story. The author has included research about the history of the story in the front of the book. According to this research it dates to the T'ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). The book is very well done and has received several awards: AlA Notable Book, IRA-CBC Children's Choice Book, and A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Award.
Like Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters Yeh-Shen uses text and illustrations to portray an accurate and respectful retelling of this ancient folk tale. This story has many similarities to the story of Cinderella that I as an American girl grew up hearing. There is a mean step mother,an ugly step sister, never ending chores, a magical helper, a ball, and a missing shoe. Differences between this story and the version Disney gave us include a fish granting wishes instead of a Fairy Godmother, one stepsister instead of two, and a King who is presented with the shoe as a gift instead of a prince who finds the shoe after chasing his true love from the ball.
Although the text is written in English the pages are presented in blocks which give the book a similiar look to the book as it was written in Chinese. The illustrations are cone in colors and style that give them a very authentic feeling. There are almost no full bleeds in the book. The pictures are important to the story but, do not overwhelm the text.
I found this to be an enjoyable and worthwhile read.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment