Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella by Brian Pinkney (Illustrator), Charles Perrault, Robert D. San Souci, J. Brian Pinkney (Illustrator), Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

You may think you already know this story about a beautiful servant girl, a cruel stepmother, a magnificent ball, and a lost slipper. But you've never heard it for true.

Now you can hear the tale from someone who was there: a poor washerwoman from the island of Martinique. She has just one thing in the world to love, her goddaughter Cendrillon. When she finds Cendrillon heartsick over a rich man's son, at first she doesn't know what to do. But she has sharp wits, a strong will, and the magic wand her mother left her — and soon she has a plan to give her dear Cendrillon the gift of a love that will change her life.

A Caldecott Honor author/illustrator team brings us a unique Cinderalla story, with a remarkable fairy godmother to tell the tale. Adapted from a traditional Creole story, this fresh retelling captures all the age-old romance and magic of Cinderalla, melding it with the vivid beauty of the Caribbean and the musical language of the islands.

Publishers Weekly

"You may think you know this story I am going to tell you, but you have not heard it for true," begins the washerwoman and unlikely godmother who narrates this spirited retelling. From the team behind The Faithful Friend comes an adaptation of a Creole tale that recasts familiar elements into the fashions and customs of the colonial West Indies. There is the haughty stepmother Prosperine, "puffed-up proud because her grandfather had come from France," the godmother who taps a breadfruit with a mahogany wand and transforms it into a carriage, and Cendrillon, who escapes at midnight with one pink slipper embroidered with roses. Pinkney's oil and scratchboard illustrations burst with vigorous movement as he captures the exotic palette and the lush textures of the "green-green island in the so-blue Mer des Antilles." The lyrical cadences of the text spattered with French and Creole words combine with the sensuous paintings to bring the tropics to life. However, the story's charm lies not in the well-matched Caribbean bride and groom or in the (rather predictable) happy ending, but in the authentic voice of the godmother. Her affection for the kind Cendrillon inspires her bold and selfless acts to ensure the happiness of another (and her quirky foibles prove equally appealing as she indulges in bowl after bowl of chocolate sherbet while proudly watching the couple's nuptials). Through this colorful and deeply human godmother, readers witness the enduring power of love. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Children's Literature

This Cinderella tale is told by the godmother, a Caribbean washerwoman, who loves a lonely little drudge and helps her prepare for a magical night at a rich man's party. Author Robert D. San Souci and artist Brian Pinkney, creators of the critically acclaimed Sukey and the Mermaid, team up again to bring young readers a well-researched Creole folktale with arresting scratchboard illustrations.

School Library Journal

Set in Martinique, this version of Cinderella is told from the fairy godmother's point of view. Cendrillon becomes the stepchild of a selfish woman whose only daughter is spoiled and demanding. In the end, of course, Cendrillon finds true love. The story is interspersed with Creole words and phrases that are explained in a glossary. (K-Gr 4) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

San Souci's retelling of the Cinderella story in a Martinique mode has music to it that cannot be denied. Cendrillon's godmother, an island washerwoman, narrates; she is no fairy, but is in possession of a mahogany wand that may be deployed on someone she loves. She enables Cendrillon to make a grand entrance to the local ball (and plays chaperon) and catch the eye of the young gentleman who is as elegant as a prince. The infatuation is instant, dances are spun, the clock strikes twelve, a slipper is lost, Cendrillon is found, wedding bells chime. Much of the pleasure of this book is in the setting and the sense that this could happen anywhere, that magic transcends time and place. Pinkney's scratchboard illustrations give the comic proportions a tangibility that leaps off the pageþthe laundry snaps, the coachmen jostle with the movement of the carriage, and the stepdaughter's toes, are, indeed, sausages. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)

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