Reviews

Gr 4-6-- This version of the familiar story comes with a fairy godmother who makes Abadeha (Cinderella) work for her rewards, three wicked stepsisters, and a stepmother so mean as to make her cross-cultural counterparts look like wimps by comparison. Prince Charming, here a chieftain's son, puts a magic ring on his finger, falls deathly ill, and can be cured only by the maiden who can remove it, who is of course Abadeha. The illustrations depict the clothing and culture of the Muslim minority in the Philippines, but are drawn in a cartoon-strip style best described as watered-down Prince Valiant. The writing is straightforward, if rather plodding, and the dialogue is wooden. Cultural variants of universal tales are always welcome and Philippine folklore is underrepresented in children's literature. However, the quality of this offering precludes its addition to most collections. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library