Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella – A Funny Fractured Fairy Tale About Cowgirls and Gumption for Kids (Ages 4-8) - Hardcover

Lowell, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060274468 ISBN 13: 9780060274467

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

From the author of The Three Little Javelinas comes a Wild West retelling of the classic Cinderella fairytale, perfect for fans of Little Ree by Ree Drummond, Prince Cinders by Babette Cole, Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson, and Red Riding Hood as retold by James Marshall.

Once upon a time, there was a sweet cowgirl named Cindy Ellen, who lived with the orneriest stepmother west of the Mississippi and two stepsisters who were so nasty, they made rattlesnakes look nice! But when a fast-talkin' fairy godmother teaches Cindy Ellen a little lesson about gumption, Cindy lassos first place at the rodeo and the heart of Joe Prince....

You may think you've heard the story before—but you'll get a side-splittin' bellyache after you're through with this hilarious rendition told Wild West-style!

About this title

About the Authors

Susan Lowell's family has lived in the American West since Gold Rush days. She is the author of several picture books for children, including The Three Little Javelinas, a Reading Rainbow Book, and The Bookmaker and the Elves, winner of a Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Her novels for older children are I Am Lavina Cumming and The Boy with the Paper Wings. She and her husband and their two daughters divide their time between Tucson, AZ, and a ranch near the Mexican border.

Jane Manning is the illustrator of dozens of children's books, including the I Can Read books Baa-Choo! by Sarah Weeks and the New York Times bestselling The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches by Alice Low. She lives in Connecticut.

From the Back Cover

Once there was a rancher who married for his second wife the orneriest woman west of the Mississippi. She was meaner than a rattlesnake, and she had two daughters who were the spitting image of her. The rancher also had a daughter, who was just as sweet and gentle as could be. Her name was Cindy Ellen.

Cindy Ellen is one of the best cowgirls for miles around, but her mean old stepmother and stepsisters make sure she does nothing but dirty work around the ranch all day long. When the biggest Cattle King for miles around sends out an invitation for a two-day rodeo celebration, it's time for a fast-talkin' Fairy Godmother to teach Cindy Ellen a little something about gumption. After Cindy Ellen lassoes first place at the rodeo and ties up the heartstrings of Joe Prince, all she has to do is gallop home before midnight. The classic tale resumes when what's left behind is one diamond spur, and one prince's determination to find the cowgirl it fits.

Reviews

Lowell (The Three Little Javelinas) takes a fairy-tale heroine away from the hearth and gives her a home on the rangeAand teaches readers a thing or two about moxie. Freckle-faced Cindy Ellen, a rancher's daughter, mends fences and mucks out the corral, but her new stepmother (who is "meaner than a rattlesnake") and two nasty stepsisters do not a lick of work. Cindy isn't allowed to attend a rich neighbor's two-day rodeo and square-dance extravaganzaAthat is, until her fairy godmother wields her magical golden six-gun, yelling, "Hit the trail, honey! Remember, there ain't no horse that can't be rode and there ain't no man that can't be throwed!" Lowell's savory slang adds punch to this tale, which stresses the fairy godmother's message that "magic is plumb worthless without gumption." Manning (The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches) enhances this rawhide-and-lace fantasy in illustrations lush with cactus-flower colors and pale maize gold. Cindy's strawberry-blond tresses float in the desert breeze; her diamond spurs (which fit only her tiny boots) twinkle as she tames a wild horse and then dances the grand sashay with cowboy Joe Prince. An endnote speaks to the role of cowgirls in the West and the modern rodeo. Ages 4-8. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the author of The Bootmaker and the Elves (1997), another ripsnortin' Western take on a traditional fairy tale. Thanks to a spirited fairy godmother who gets all the best lines—“ ‘Remember, there ain't no horse that can't be rode, and there ain't no man that can't be throwed!’ ”—Cindy Ellen does make the local cattle baron's rodeo and follow-up square dance, proves herself a roping, riding champion, and ultimately hitches up with the rancher's son Joe Prince. Manning tricks out her characters in dazzling modern cowboy dress, and gives Cindy Ellen a big grin, a flowing mane of honey-colored hair, and diamond-studded stirrups instead of glass slippers. The stepsisters get off lightly, moving away to marry city slickers rather than mutilating themselves as in the Brothers Grimm version. Bright, stylish, and with a boosterish concluding note on women in rodeo. (Picture book/fairy tale. 7-9) -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

With a yee-haw and a do-si-do, the everlasting Cinderella story blooms again. Cindy Ellen's stepmother is the orneriest woman west of the Mississippi, and her two daughters are just as mean. Cindy Ellen is kept from the rodeo and square dance, but then her fairy godmother appears with a golden six-gun, and points out that Cindy needs some gumption before anything else. So off she goes with diamond spurs on her little boots. She rides the bucking bronco and steals the heart of one Joe Prince. The next night at the square dance she and Joe dance the night away, with the usual midnight foofaraw. But Joe tracks her with the mate to the diamond spur, and they get hitched "and live happily ever after in a ranch house full of love and rodeo trophies." The nasty sisters marry city slickers. The smooth, hard-edged illustrations lack personality, despite Cindy Ellen's many freckles; the fairy godmother has the most spirit, in her huge sombrero and red-fringed gloves. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060274468
• ISBN 13: 9780060274467
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Manning Jane
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40