Pistes d'exploration

Compare teacher-selected images of life in the 1600s and 1920s. What can you infer about how people lived then?

In groups, discuss how the illustrations would differ if the story took place in the 21st century. Create and photograph a present-day tableau of one of the scenes. Add appropriate text.

Read the original Grimm Brothers version of Cinderella. Compare the characters and plot with the Perrault version. Which one do you prefer, and why?

What do you think is the moral of the story? Write an alternate ending that changes the moral of the story.

Retell the Cinderella story as you remember it from your childhood. What similarities and differences do you notice between your version and the one in this book?

Go for a picture walk. How is this version similar to or different from others you know? Use a graphic organizer to show your thinking.

Explore the very rich vocabulary. Can you infer the meaning from the context? Compare your definitions to sourced ones.

Explore other versions of the Cinderella story. Define the structures (characters, setting, problem, solution) they have in common. In small groups, draft a storyboard for a modern version and produce a short film or photo story by acting out a few scenes.

With a partner, list details from the Cinderella story that you recall from the version you heard in childhood. Name the characters and events that lead to Cinderella marrying the prince.

Identify 10 key moments in the plot and use them as a guide for an oral retelling. Record your story in a four-minute time frame.

Transfer the story to the present. With a partner, write a modern script for one of the scenes and perform it for others.

Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story, The Persian Cinderella

Mots-clés

Picture book , 1920s , Cinderella , fairy tales , family life , jealousy

Commentaire descriptif

Perrault’s 17th-century tale about a girl, her evil stepsisters and a fairy godmother is set in 1920s London. The rags-to-riches story retains the spirit of the original storyline (prince’s ball, magical godmother, clock striking twelve, glass slipper, etc.) but infuses it with an update that includes flapper dresses, bobbed hair, cloche hats and vintage automobiles. In the end, the forgiving protagonist, who is “no less good than beautiful” gets the guy and even fixes up her remorseful stepsisters with “two great lords of the court.” Complex sentences such as “There was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman ever seen,” and elevated prose make this book suited to older audiences, though familiarity with the plot makes it accessible to younger readers as well, with opportunities for vocabulary expansion: “unparalleled,” “inlaid,” “shabby.” Readers will be drawn in by the intricate spreads showcasing, in vivid detail, the cars, fashions, households and self-indulgent lifestyle of the 1920s. Illustrations use a brownish sepia palette and effectively capture the facial expressions of every character, even those in the crowd scenes. Older readers will appreciate this pairing of Perrault’s traditional narrative with glamorous visuals of the Roaring Twenties.