The Irish Cinderlad

Climo, Shirley; Krupinski, Loretta

ISBN 10: 006024397X ISBN 13: 9780060243975

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

A twist on the classic story of Cinderella is told in an age-old Irish tale of a young boy, Cinderlad, who is faced with hardships, struggles, and battles but comes through victoriously in the end, when he finds true love and lives happily forever.

About this title

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2?A pleasant but rather bland condensation of a traditional tale. One of the sources cited, Sara Cone Bryant's "Billy Beg and His Bull" from Best Stories to Tell to Children (Houghton, 1912; o.p.), is much like Seumas MacManus's wonderful retelling in In Chimney Corners (Doubleday & McClure, 1899; o.p.), in which Billy and the Bull are lifelong companions. The old versions have wonderful runs of poetic language and lots of action, a fair amount of which is violent. As well as gentling the story, Climo seems to want to democratize it. The hero is not a king's son but the son of a traveling peddler. He is described as being small in stature with inordinately large feet and the reteller makes much of the fact that he is ridiculed for his appearance. She even names him Becan, or "Little One." There is no magic stick that turns into a sword and gives the lad wondrous strength, and no belt from the bull's hide to make him invincible. Instead, the bull tells Becan to take his tail after he is dead because it will protect him. In fact, the tail kills a giant and the dragon almost on its own accord when the boy unleashes it. The tidy, full- and double-page illustrations are done in pastel colors and look like opaque watercolors. The people's faces are round and simple. It's fine for young picture-book readers and squeamish parents. However, Ellin Greene's retelling, Billy Beg and His Bull (Holiday, 1994), is much closer to the early versions, with its spirited text and earthy and humorous illustrations by Kimberly Bulcken Root.?Marilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 006024397X
• ISBN 13: 9780060243975
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32