Terrible Tales

Terrible Tales: The Absolutely, Positively, 100 Percent TRUE Stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Those Three Greedy Pigs, Hairy Rapunzel, ... and Gretel as Told at the Beginning of Time is a humerous retelling of the listed tales.

In a forward, the "author" Sir Jasper Gowlings explains how he is compelled by elfin law to share the stories given to him by Feliccitatus Miserius.

As someone who enjoys alternate fairy tales I was surprised at the convincing case they made for Cinderella being mean and the story not getting out because the Prince was equally horrid and people were glad they found each other to torture. The anarchist three pigs were original. I have seen a variety of defenses made for the wolves, but that was a new one for me. Hansel and Gretel provide a very new twist on the old tale. I thought Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel were the weakest of the tales.

My suggestion with all these kinds of stories is preview before using with children. Everyone is different in what evaluating what material is comfortable for use with children. These stories are definitely focused on an older age group than normally read folk tales. I plan on picking up a copy of this book as a gift, but these books are not quite as child friendly as some of the other alternate fairy tales I have reviewed.

That Awful Cinderella

Cinderella-Pov (Steck-Vaughn Point of View Stories)was one of the first Steck Vaughn Point of View books I encountered. I had been doing Fairy Tale trials for a while and I loved the idea of a series that incorporated similar ideas. I found nursery rhymes and fairy tales were a wonderful way to engage children in thinking about the other side of the argument. It works well for teaching compare and contrast and it helps develop early debating skills.

That being said this was not the strongest entry into the series. The stepmother in Seriously, Cinderella Is SO Annoying!: The Story of Cinderella as Told by the Wicked Stepmother (The Other Side of the Story)makes a convincing case that she never set out to hurt Cinderella. Sadly, in this version, the sisters make Cinderella's case with their complaints and insults towards her. I found it did open discussions about why the sisters were jealous and how a little effort could have provided them with a better outcome when Cinderella did marry the Prince.

Cinderella Tales

Years ago I started a list of Cinderella tales to use with a Traditional Tales Unit. The list is long gone, but I still get inquires about the list, so I thought I would start a list on the blog and keep adding to it as I discovered more titles.

Multicultural titles:

Africa:
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale (Picture Puffin)


Cambodia:
Angkat: The Cambodian CinderellaReview here

Caribbean:
Cendrillon: A Caribbean CinderellaReview here

China:
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

Egypt:
The Egyptian Cinderella Review here

Greece:
The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from GreeceReview here

Hmong:
Jouanah: A Hmong CinderellaReview here

India:
Anklet for a Princess: A Cinderella Story from IndiaReview here

Iran:
The Persian CinderellaReview here

Iraq:
The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella StoryReview here

Fair, Brown & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella StoryReview here

Jewish:
The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish TraditionReview here

Korea:
The Korean Cinderella (Trophy Picture Books (Paperback)) Review here

Mexico:

Adelita
Review here

Domítíla: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican TraditionReview here

Philippines:
Abadeha: The Philippine CinderellaReview here

Spice Islands, Indonesia:
The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella StoryReview here

United States:
Moss GownReview here

Appalachian:
Ashpet: An Appalachian TaleReview here

Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella (Picture Puffins)Review here

Cajun:
Cendrillon: A Cajun CinderellaReview here

Native American:

Algonquin:
The Rough-Face GirlReview here

Ojibwa:
Sootface Review here

Zuni:
The Turkey Girl: A Zuni Cinderella StoryReview here

Cinderlad Stories:
Prince CindersReview here

Irish:
The Irish Cinderlad (Trophy Picture Books (Paperback))Review here


Alternate Versions:
Seriously, Cinderella Is SO Annoying!: The Story of Cinderella as Told by the Wicked Stepmother (The Other Side of the Story)Review here

Cinderella-Pov (Steck-Vaughn Point of View Stories)Review here