Ashpet: an Appalachian Tale [Paperback]

Joanne Compton; Kenn Compton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2004

Long ago, in a cabin by Eagle's Nest Mountain, lived a servant girl called Ashpet. All day long, she cooked and cleaned for Widow Hooper and her cranky daughters. Ashpet had so much work to do, the widow wouldn't even allow her to go to the annual church picnic. Ashpet's life changes for the better, however, when old Granny shows up and works some magic. How Ashpet outshines the widow's daughters and captures the heart of the doctor's son ends this flavorful Appalachian Cinderella tale. Winner: 1994 Juvenile Literature Award Association of American Women/NC Chapter

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this capably handled hillbilly version of Cinderella , with elements borrowed from the Grimm Brothers' "Aschenputtel," a servant girl charms a doctor's son. "Fresh-faced and regular-featured" Ashpet is "bound out" to the Widow Hooper and her two daughters. When company stops by, Ashpet's employers, jealous of her looks, hide her under a washtub (the hem of her sackcloth dress sticks out from under it like a cat's tail). But Ashpet's kind-heartedness never flags, and her generosity toward their "peculiar" neighbor, Granny, pays off. When the Hoopers go off to an important church meeting, Granny magically cleans the house and provides Ashpet with a pretty red calico dress and red shoes. The rest is fairy-tale history. Joanne Compton dots the tale with "backwoods" lingo ("Jes' you fetch me out some fire"), while Kenn Compton opts for an artistic approach that's both subtler and more effective than that of the couple's debut, Granny Greenteeth and the Noise in the Night ; gangly Ashpet and her beau are goofy but not overbearingly so, and shucks, they're kinda cute. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-As they did with Jack the Giant Chaser (Holiday, 1993), the Comptons have provided a cheerful Appalachian retelling of a classic tale. Joanne Compton has used the version recorded in Richard Chase's Grandfather Tales (Houghton, 1973) and added some distinctive touches that enhance the story's regional flavor. Here, Ashpet is a widow's "hired-out" girl rather than a stepdaughter; the fairy godmother is an "old granny"; the ball is a lengthy church meeting; and the handsome suitor is not a prince but the doctor's son. Young readers may also note that, unlike some of the more passive Cinderellas, Ashpet earns her right to attend the church meeting by her kindness to the old granny and shows some ingenuity when she deliberately loses her shoe. Kenn Compton's humorous watercolor cartoons capture the action and feature wild facial expressions. Ashpet is depicted as being almost as homely as the widow's daughters. Readers will enjoy comparing this to versions of the tale by the Grimms and Perrault, as well as to Louie Ai-Ling's Yeh-Shen (1990), based on the ancient Chinese variant mentioned in the author's note and to other American regional variants such as Rafe Martin's The Rough-Face Girl (1992, both Putnam).
Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Whimsydoodle Press (September 21, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0974508209
• ISBN-13: 978-0974508207
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,317,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An American Fairy Tale, May 22, 2000

By 

Alison Sylvester (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ashpet: An Appalachian Tale (Library Binding)

This book is an American twist on the traditional Cinderella. Ashpet is a servant on an Appalachian farm. Instead of going to the ball, the charcters go to a "meeting." The Prince is a doctor's son. The fairy god mother is an elderly woman who is all alone. This book is a nice varient of Cinderella and will provide another view on the traditional tale.