Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella (Hardcover)

~ Myrna J. De LA Paz (Author), Youshang Tang (Illustrator), You-Shan Tang (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Abadeha prays to the Spirit of the Forest for guidance to endure the unkind stepmother who heaps piles of work on her. The Spirit gives the young woman an enchanted sarimanok that is summarily killed by the stepmother and roasted for dinner. Abadeha offers the bird's feet to the Spirit, and is told to bury them on her mother's grave. Later, she returns to find an enchanted tree laden with jewels. A respectful prince finds it and takes a ring from it; his finger begins to swell and he cannot remove the ring. Of course, Abadeha is the one who removes it, marries the prince, and lives happily ever after. The illustrations are slightly stiff; often characters' eyes seem to be dark sockets with a resulting look reminiscent of textbook art. The text and art together provide an adequate, if somewhat awkward portrayal of Cinderella. For more successfully executed versions, try Rebecca Hickox's The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story (Holiday, 1998); Ai-Ling Louie's Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China (Philomel, 1982); or Robert D. San Souci's Cendrillon (S & S, 1998), a Creole variant of the tale.

Susan M. Moore, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5-9. As de la Paz explains in an author's note, this story, a reconstruction of the Cinderella story from traditional Philippine folklore, has disappeared from mainstream folklore because of Spanish colonization and Americanization. In the tale, Abadeha's father is a fisherman, away much of the time, giving Stepmother and her daughters the opportunity to make the kind, hardworking Abadeha miserable. Abadeha has hard tasks to perform, such as weaving a tattered mat back together. Instead of a fairy godmother coming to the rescue, there are spirits who help her, and a ring she drops is found by the son of the island chieftain. The girl who can remove it from his finger, where it is stuck, will be his bride. This telling is long, but the details are evocative. The colored pencil art is pleasant but oddly generic. Although the characters are in traditional dress, there is no real feeling of time or place. Still, many libraries, especially those with a Filipino population, will want to have this on hand. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Shens Books (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885008171
• ISBN-13: 978-1885008176
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #235,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Philippine Cinderella, November 6, 2009

By	Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This story is the classic Cinderella story told from a Philippine perspective. A young woman is harassed and belittled by her step mother and step sisters while her father is away from home. It is more grim than most stories, the girl's pet is killed by the step mother and the girl's work is destroyed sometimes by the mother and sisters to torment her. For a multi-cultural unit about Cinderella tales and for a unit on the Philippines, this book is a must. Young girls will enjoy the story of true love.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Based on a native legend, June 8, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Abadeha is set in the Philippines and is based on a native legend. A young girl whose mother has died is forced to perform impossible tasks by her mean stepfamily. Good reading skills by ages 8-12 will lend to an appreciation of this detailed story of a girl's loneliness and love.