THE KOREAN CINDERELLA

Retold by Shirley Climo
Illustrated by Ruth Heller
ISBN: 9780060204327

Bibliography:
Climo, Shirley, and Ruth Heller. 1993. The Korean Cinderella. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

Plot:
After the death of her mother, Pear Blossom's father marries an evil woman who belittles her daily and forces her to complete impossible chores. Magical animals help Pear Blossom to complete the impossible tasks much to the dismay of her stepmother and stepsister, Peony. While Pear Blossom hurries to the village festival, she stops to remove a stone from her sandal and catches the eye of the magistrate, who is immediately taken with her beauty. She is startled and leaves the straw sandal behind. The magistrate takes the straw sandal, finds her, tells of his plan to marry her, and shortly thereafter arranges the marriage with her father.


Analysis:
In this magical Cinderella story, every page is filled with rich illustrations reflective of Korean culture. Author and illustrator notes at the end of the story help to explain the symbols used in the illustrations as well as themes seen in traditional Korean tales. This story exemplifies the typical Cinderella tale where good triumphs over evil as Pear Blossom marries the magistrate and seemingly lives "happily ever after".

Review Excerpts:
Booklist: "Heller’s paintings are exotically lush and colorful as well as engaging."

School Library Journal: "Heller's lush, full-color illustrations capture the vibrancy of traditional Korean culture with great accuracy."

Connections:
*This story can be compared to other versions of Cinderella.

*Students could perform this story as a reader's theater production.

*As a Social Studies lesson on the election process, this story could be paired with another version of Cinderella where students create a political campaign for their favorite Cinderella character for President (lesson by D. Fielder).