The Korean Cinderella (Trophy Picture Books) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Ruth Heller (Illustrator) "LONG AGO IN KOREA, when magical creatures were as common as cabbages, there lived an old gentleman and his wife..." (more)
Key Phrases: Pear Blossom, Little Pig

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Conflating several Korean variants of Cinderella, this story is "at once comfortingly familiar and intriguingly exotic," said PW, with "lavish" and extensively researched art. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

‘Climo and Heller conflate several Korean variants of Cinderella to offer up the story of Pear Blossom, a lovely girl who is sorely mistreated by her nasty stepmother and stepsister.… At once comfortingly familiar and intriguingly exotic, the text is especially noteworthy for its instructive but unobtrusive incorporation of Korean words.’—Publishers Weekly. ‘Heller’s paintings are exotically lush and colorful as well as engaging.… An agreeable retelling of the Cinderella story.’ —BL.

Notable 1994 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064433978
• ISBN-13: 978-0064433976
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,716 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Longer Cinderella, February 11, 2000

By	Michael Carlson Kapper (West Lafayette, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This is one of the longest text versions of the Cinderella story I have ever come across. It is a wonderful telling of the tale, and works nicely to illustrate how this tale is part of many cultures the world over. I can't speak to the accuracy of the details of Korean culture, but the artwork is fascinating. Due to length of the story, however, I tend to wonder how well it would hold younger children's attention. It works well, though, for illustrating cultural difference to college students.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Cinderella, May 1, 2005

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

There are as many as a half dozen versions of Cinderella in Korea. The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo is a combination of three Korean variations.

To honor her birth, a pear tree is planted and the newborn baby is named Pear. She is beautiful and loved by her elderly mother and father. When Pear's mother dies, her father remarries a woman with a daughter the same age as Pear. Beautiful Pear's stepmother is jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty and requires her to perform many impossible chores, while her own daughter, Peony watches.

With the help of magical creatures (frog, sparrow, and black oxen) Pear successfully completes each chore and is able to attend the festival. On the way to the festival she loses her shoe. The magistrate sees the beautiful Pear and calls out to her. Believing he is yelling at her, she runs away without her shoe. At the festival the magistrate looks for the girl without the shoe. And we can guess the end of the story.

The Korean Cinderella is recognizable and is a captivating variation of the American version. The paintings are colorful and lush. Children will love the story and thoroughly enjoy the illustrations. This is for children between the ages of five and nine.

21 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A decent story with somewhat offensive illustrations, March 10, 2003

By	Hannah Lee (Glenview, IL USA) - See all my reviews

On one level I enjoyed this picture book-- the story is engaging, the illustrations are rich, vibrant, and seem to jump off the page, and it's apparent that the author did some research before writing this book. However, on another level, I was offended by the subtle racist undertones of one Westerner's portrayal of an "ethnic" Cinderella story. The feel of the story is "exotic"-- indeed, the story begins: "Long ago in Korea, when magical creatures were as common as cabbages..."

(The exotic East as seen through the eyes of the West-- and so the story continues.)
The illustrations, while they try to be faithful to the feel of traditional Korea, also exude a subtle racist undertone-- the illustrator clearly does not know how to draw Asian faces. The facial features are distorted and the eyes are too slanted. The illustrator drew from her perception of what Asian faces should look like-- yellow skin, slanted eyes-- and exaggerated these features.

I'd rather read a Korean Cinderella story written and illustrated by a Korean writer and illustrator.

As a sidenote-- Shirley Climo and Ruth Heller have also written/illustrated an Egyptian Cinderella. I have many of the same complaints with this story as well. Once again, there are racist undertones in both the story and the illustrations.

As a second sidenote-- if you're looking for an "ethnic" Cinderella story, _Yen-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China_ is excellent. It is a retelling of the first recorded Cinderella story (written some time during 618-907 AD). Thus, as the forward states: "Cinderella seems to have made her way to Europe from Asia."