Three Little Cajun Pigs

Three Little Cajun Pigs has an interesting twist on an old tale. Along with adding the Cajun cultural flavor and language to the story, the wolf is gone. In his place, we have a very appropriate Claude the gator who knocks down the houses of straw and sticks.

I had never encountered a version of the tale without a wolf. Claude makes a believable alternative. The story ends with the pigs showing compassion to their foe and he survives the attack on the pigs.

Since so many students know the traditional tale, this would be a great way to shake things up a bit and introduce a new threat to the three pigs’ story.

Legend of Scarface

Legend of Scarface is a Blackfeet Indian Traditional Tale that tells the story of a poor scarred brave who is something of an outcast. He spends much of his time among the animals of the forest and even learns to communicate with them.

He falls in love with the Chiefs daughter Singing Rain, but expects nothing to come of it. She likes him, as he does not show her arrogance and boastfulness. Scarface is surprised that she does not even seem to notice his disfigurement. While she cares for him, she is unable to marry him. She has promised the sun she would remain unmarried and is unable to break her vow. Scarface sets off to find the Sun and his kindness towards the animals of the forest is rewarded as they help him find the path to the Sun's home.

At the end of his journey Scarface encounters Morning Star, the Sun's child and is rewarded for his honesty, by being brought home to meet his father the Sun. He is humbled by the honor of meeting the Moon and the Sun and unable to ask for the favor he has traveled to have granted. He stays with the family, being warned to stay away from the mountains to the North, as the birds there were savage and dangerous. When he finds Morning Star missing, Scarface sets out to find his friend and ends up doing battle with the dangerous birds. Even after saving his friend, he is still unable to ask a favor of the Sun. Moon comes to his rescue and tells the Sun what is in his heart. Singing Rain is not only freed from her vow, but Scarface has his face healed. When he returns to the village, he is given the new name, Smoothface. Both the Sun and the Moon blessed him and his wife Singing Rain.

One of the things that struck me when I first read this story was that she never even noticed his scars because she loved him. I always thought that was such a beautiful lesson that love was about more than physical beauty.

The Dragon Prince A Chinese Beauty and the Beast

The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Taleis Laurence Yep's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast melded with Chinese mythology.

In this version, a poor farmer has seven daughters, each one known only by the number of their birth. The seventh is a kind hard working girl with amazing needle skills. As is often the case the other daughters do not appreciate her skills nearly as much, especially number three. Right from the beginning, we can see there will be conflict between Three and Seven.

While working in the fields, Three raises her hoe to kill a golden serpent only to be stopped by her sister Seven. We quickly discover the serpent is a dragon who has set his sights on marrying one of the farmer's daughters. Returning to his dragon form he captures the farmer and tells him in order to live one of his daughters must marry him. As is predictable, all but seven refuse to marry the dragon to save the father.

Seven heads off with the dragon, but finds she is not scared of him. He takes her to a sea palace and he changes shape into a handsome prince. She enjoys life with her Prince and is even give a loom to continue the work she loves. However, in keeping with the Beauty and the Beast story, she misses her family and wants to visit them. Her Prince sends her home, but her sister Three's envy has only grown with Seven's good fortune.

Three attempts to kill Seven and returns to the palace in her place telling the Prince she has been ill and does not look the way he remembered. Seven is not dead and is taken in by an old woman. The Prince does not believe Three can be the woman he loves and he tells her he is going hunting and he heads off to look for Seven. Seven convinced that her husband could not love her if he was fooled by her sister's charade makes silk items to help the old woman who sells them in the market. The Prince seeing the shoes in the market hopes he has found Seven, buys a pair and follows the woman home to find his wife.

They are reunited and her sister is sent home in shame. The old woman goes to live with the Prince and Seven as a reward for her kindness.

Domitila A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition

Domítíla: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Traditionis one of the more complicated Cinderella tales. The story begins with Domitila's family alive, but struggling on a ranch in Mexico. After rain destroys their home and makes Domitila's mother ill she heads off to work in the Governor's mansion where her mother's training helps her to become a successful cook. As a reward for her success, she is given the chance to provide a meal for the governor's son and his Abuela.

She cooks a meal her mother taught her to cook and the grandson Timoteo is rude about the quality of food provided. His grandmother rebukes him and insists he try the food. He is quite impressed with the taste and becomes determined to find out more about the food.

Domitila receives word that her mother is very ill and she must return home. Sadly, she fails to return home before her mother dies. This is where the Cinderella part of the story starts to form. The Governor's son decides he must locate the woman who can cook so well and sets out to find her. He encounters a widow on his journey who sends him on an extended journey. She sees an opportunity for her own daughter and heads off to comfort the grieving father. He of course marries her and the traditional Cinderella evil stepmother and sister portion of the story is established.

In this version, she is hoping she can pass her daughter off as Domitila when Timoteo arrives. Timoteo is not the Prince Charming many think of when they are looking for Cinderella princes, but he does grow into the role.

Jouanah A Hmong Cinderella

Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella tells a unique Cinderella tale. It incorporates some traditional elements like the shoe, while adding ones unique to this tale.

The author notes that in the traditional version of this tale the Cinderella is called Nkauj Nog, which would be pronounced GO-NAH. The translation according to the author is female orphan. The author changed the name to make it easier for American readers to Ntsuag Nos, pronounced JO-a-nah, which is a generic term for orphan that can be male or female.

This version has one of the more unique versions of how the Cinderella character becomes an orphan. In this version, her parents are struggling with their farm and head to the market to buy a cow. Markets being bad they lose their opportunity at the one available cow and head home. The wife offers to allow her husband to use magic to make her the family cow so the family can prosper. Jouanah is a first thrilled to see the family has a cow, until she realizes the sacrifice it required.

As the farm prospers, the father decides to remarry. The stepmother and sister of course prove to be cruel and lazy. They are jealous of the daughter of the house and eventually turn her into the family servant. When the new wife realizes the secret of the cow, her jealousy takes over and she sets out to convince her husband to destroy it. The cow dies of a broken heart before the husband can actually kill it. Her father does not live long after the cow, leaving his daughter's life even more in question.

As with several other versions of this story, the New Year’s festival is the setting for the meeting between the Cinderella character and the Prince. Jouanah like other Cinderella characters is given a challenging task to prevent her from attending the celebration.

In this version she has hidden a piece of cow hide in her Mother's sewing basket. On the third day of the festival, she reaches into the basket to pull out some sewing to keep her occupied and finds the piece of cowhide. As she reflects on her mother's advice, she reaches in for her sewing and finds all the items she will need to attend the celebration.

As is reflective of the culture she does not dance with Shee-Nang, son of the village elder. She watches him play and does catch his eye. She is caught off guard when her stepmother frustrated by her daughter's lack of success with the man, decides to head home. Realizing she must arrive home before her stepmother, she loses her shoe. While this tale does have the young man traveling to find the owner of the shoe, he does not need to fit the shoe to the girl to recognize the girl. She refuses to try on the shoe in an attempt to avoid her stepmother's anger. During dinner, he realizes the trick being played on him and finds his true bride.

The Orphan A Cinderella Story from Greece

The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greeceis based on the traditional Greek Cinderella tale of the Orphan. In the authors' notes, they state their orphan is a little less traditional and opts not to wait at home for the prince to come to her.

One interesting point to note, the orphan title does not imply this Cinderella has lost her father, only her mother, which is something unique to this version. While some versions have Cinderella's father die, most do not see her as an orphan as long as her father remains living.

In this version, the Cinderella character is given no other name than the orphan. When life becomes unbearable, she flees to her Mother's grave, where she is given advice from her Mother and special gifts from Mother Nature and her children that she will need if she is to capture her Prince.

As is common in Cinderella stories, the orphan is left behind when the family departs. In this case, she is not allowed to go with the family to attend Church to meet the Prince. The orphan arrives using her magical gifts and with her Mother's warning in mind escapes before the end of the service. The Prince of course is frustrated and decides to find a way to capture the elusive girl. He orders the floor covered with honey and wax across the threshold of the Church. This of course provides the Prince with the missing shoe that so many Cinderella stories require. As expected, the orphan and the Prince are reunited when the shoe fits.

This is another Cinderella tale with no balls or fancy outings. The Prince in this tale appears at Church.

Abadeha The Philippine Cinderella

Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderellais based on a story from pre-colonial Philippine tradition.

In this version Abadeha, calls on a native spirit, Mother Bathala, Creator of the Earth when she is unable to meet the challenges of her cruel and demanding stepmother and help is provided.

She does share the challenging family life presented in many of the Cinderella tales. Her father, devastated at the loss of her mother remarries providing Abadeha with a stepmother and stepsisters. The stepmother not only works her hard, but also provides her with impossible tasks, like changing the colors of hankies without dye or fixing a mat that has been destroyed beyond repair. Each time she prays, she is provided with assistance.


When a beloved pet that the forest spirit provides her with is killed, she is advised to bury the remains at her mother's grave. A tree grows up that provides her with beautiful jewels. There is a somewhat similar Grimm's version of the father bringing a branch that grows into a tree that showers Cinderella with gowns and outfits for her to wear to several of the balls.

The prince in this tale is the son of an island chieftain. He leaves an offering at the tree and tries on one of the rings. The ring will not come off and makes his finger swell. A dream reveals that there is a beautiful girl will release his finger from pain. No shoe or anklet in this story, but the Prince does find his Cinderella and all is well.

The Persian Cinderella

Sherry Climo has published several multicultural versions of the Cinderella tale. In The Persian Cinderella, she takes on the challenge of a tale from the Arabian nights located in Ancient Persia, today's Iran.

The Persian Cinderella has some unique features that those only familiar with the Grimm's tale may not recognize. In keeping with the cultural traditions, there is no ball and the prince does not go looking for his princess, his mother seeks out the girl who lost, not a shoe, but a diamond anklet.

This version does have some of the classic Cinderella elements. Settareh, the Persian Cinderella, does have a mean stepmother and cruel stepsisters who treat her badly. This version differs in that the father provides all the daughters with the money to attend the No Ruz, or New Year's festival. Settareh finds herself drawn into helping others and one rather odd purchase that seem to provide little opportunity to advance her chances of getting away from her family. The old woman she helps promises her that good will come from her generosity. One of her purchases ends up having a fairy in it that grants her wishes first for basic needs and then of course for a chance to attend the festival.

In keeping with the cultural traditions, this Cinderella never dances with the Prince, but she does commit a social mistake when she catches the eye of a man on the way into the festival. Of course, the reader knows that must be the Prince.

In this version, there is no shoe to fit the escaping Cinderella, but the clever mother of the groom does find Settareh and the future bride is able to provide the matching anklet. Unlike many Cinderella stories, the sisters are not thwarted at the shoe/anklet matching. These sisters are more devious and continue to pursue a means of catching the prince for their own marital prize. They steal her magic jar and ask for a means of getting rid of her forever. They are provided with a set of hairpins. As they prepare their sister's hair for her wedding, they stick the pins in her head. As the last pin is in place, their sister disappears and a dove sits in her place. I have not encountered a Cinderella tale with this twist before.

Much to the sisters’ disgust, the Prince does not turn to them for comfort, but in his distress over his lost bride, he comforts himself by taming the dove. When the bird eventually allows him to touch its head, he discovers pins stuck in its head. When he removes the last one, his bride appears. At that point, the reader is given the expected happy wedding ceremony. The jealous sisters explode and are no longer a problem for the couple.

Lon Po Po A Red Riding Hood Story From China

As I was exploring multicultural Cinderella stories, I started to encounter multicultural versions of other traditional tales familiar to most American students. I decided along with reviewing them, I would make a separate list, for parents and educators who might be interested in exploring them with their children. I will post the list soon.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from Chinatells a slightly different version of the tale.

In this version the mother does not send a child to visit the grandmother, but leaves three girls at home while she sets off for a visit with their grandmother, or as they call her Po Po. A wolf hearing that the children are unattended sets out to trick the children into letting him in the house so he can eat them. The wolf dons a disguise, pretends there has been a mix up, and convinces the children he is their Po Po. He tells them their mother must have taken a different route. The youngest children anxious to see their grandmother hurriedly open the door and the wolf slides by them blowing out the candle that might give away his disguise.

Even in the dark, the children realize that Po Po has some very strange characteristics and the eldest comes to realize they have a wolf on their hands. She devises a plan to rid her family of the wolf, using his own greed against him.

This is a clever version of the tale and it would be interesting to have children compare and contrast how the Chinese children and the traditional Grimm's Red Riding Hood handled the challenges presented by the wolf.

The Golden Sandal A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story

According to the author's notesThe Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story is based on an Iraq traditional tale, "The Little Red Fish and the Clog of Gold" she found in Inea Bushnaq's Arab Folktales(Pantheon, 1986.) After reading several Middle Eastern versions, she thought this would be the most adaptable to picture book format.

In this version, Maha lives with her fisherman father and actually encourages her father to marry the neighbor woman who has been caring for them since her mother died. She wants a stepmother and sister. The father is reluctant because he fears the woman may be jealous of another's child. The child continues to beg and the father marries the woman.

As with most Cinderella tales, the father’s prediction is correct. While the relationship starts well, it deteriorates over times. The woman resents the strong bond between father and daughter and she is angered that her stepchild is more beautiful and graceful than her own. As a result, while the father is away working Mala takes on more of the chores. She is given little to eat.

Mala's fairy godmother in this version is a red fish that she finds in a basket of catfish she is sent to pick up from her father's boat. The fish begs for its life and Mala returns it to the river, knowing she will face punishment from her stepmother for the act of kindness. When she sets him free, the fish promises her that he will help her if she calls on him.

When she returns home, she needs assistance from the fish when her father asks what happened to the fish and her stepmother sends her out to find it. She calls to the fish and he gives her a gold coin to appease the stepmother.

The fish continues to help the girl as she grows and in this version of the tale, there is no ball, but the wedding of a merchant's daughter. Mala and the stepsister want to go to see the daughter be painted with henna as she prepares for the ceremony. As expected of a Cinderella tale, Mala is forbidden to go. She seeks assistance from the fish, which provides her with the ability not only to go see the event, but to get prime seating. This includes a pair of golden sandals, which of course in true Cinderella fashion she loses one in flight to return home before her stepmother arrives.

The Egyptian Cinderella

I encountered the The Egyptian Cinderellafirst when doing a unit on multicultural Cinderella tales and then again when teaching a unit on Egypt to fourth graders.

The Egyptian Cinderella is different from most of the other traditional Cinderella tales in that it mixes some historical facts with the traditional Cinderella story. According to records, this story is supposed to be one of the older versions of the tale and it includes some historical facts about the main character Rhodopis and the Pharaoh Amasis she does marry. There is historical evidence to document that she was a Greek slave and that she did marry the Pharaoh. The rest is not documented and fictional.

In this Cinderella tale Rhodopis is a Greek slave who is bullied by the free Egyptian servants in the house she works. They tease her because her hair and skin are different than theirs. As with other Cinderella tales, when humans reject her, Rhodopis finds friends among the animals and dances to entertain them. This catches the attention of her master who rewards her talent with a pair of rose red slippers made from gold. This of course only leads to more resentment and jealousy from the other servants.

When the Pharaoh comes to visit, the servants force Rhodopis to stay behind to finish the chores. While she is working, a great falcon approaches. Rhodopis salutes the falcon as the symbol of Horus, but is horrified when the falcon steals one of the shoes she has put aside to keep them safe while she is washing at the bank of the river.

The falcon travels to Memphis where the Pharaoh Amasis is holding court. The falcon drops the slipper on his lap and he sees it as a sign from the God Horus and sets out to find the owner of the slipper. Thus the classic slipper search is born. As with all Cinderella stories only Rhodopis can fit the slipper and she marries the Pharaoh.