Cinderella

Because this book has been loved on throughout the years,
 the cover was not in the best condition for a photo. 

Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper

Translated from the French of Charles Perrault

Illustrated by: Marcia Brown

Genre: Traditional Literature

Major Awards: Caldecott Medal

Grade Level: K-2

Summary: 

The classic tale about Cinderella is familiar to most. In Charles Perrault's version, many of the elements that his readers know and love from other renditions remain. Cinderella's father married a wicked woman, who had two equally wicked daughters, Cinderella's stepsisters. When the prince gave a ball, Cinderella's fairy godmother appeared and worked her magic, allowing Cinderella to be the belle of the ball! On the second night, Cinderella leaves in such a hurry that she loses one of her glass slippers. However, the prince finds it, which leads him back to Cinderella. In the end they got married and Cinderella was no longer a slave to her new family.

Evaluation: 

I think this book would be a great resource for a classroom! My only hesitation with using it, especially for young children, is the advanced vocabulary. Many of the words are not commonly used, although they would provide an opportunity to preteach new words and build vocabulary. If I were to use this in a kindergarten or first grade classroom, I would probably make side notes or summarize some of the words in the margins to help me deepen the students' comprehension during read aloud. It is also has beautiful illustrations that will help young students stay captivated and draw connections where vocabulary may be more advanced.

This book is perfect for to read aloud to students who are still learning to read. Kindergarteners through second graders are already familiar with the story, so it will be easier to follow along while learning how to use books (reading left to right, top to bottom, turning pages, etc.), understand how written words translate to spoken language, and how language can be represented through illustrations.

To state the obvious, this book would be a wonderful aid when teaching fairytales. Beyond that, this book could be a resource for teaching sequence of events, components of a story (characters, plot, theme, setting, etc.), and recall and retell.