Thursday’s Tale: Cinderella and the Furry Slippers by Davide Cali

Cinderella and the Furry Slippers by Davide Cali
Illustrator: Raphaelle Barbanegre
Published by Tundra Books (NY) on October 10, 2017
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Picture Book, Fairy tale
Pages: 32
Format: eARC
Purchase at Bookshop.org
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Cinderella is dying to go to the ball. She's seen pictures of the fancy castle and the handsome prince, she's heard the fairy tales about true love, she's found the perfect dress in Princess magazine and she's even found an ad for a Fairy Godmother. She's all set.

Except the fairy godmother doesn't look like the one in the ad. And the castle doesn't look like the picture. And the prince . . . well, Cinderella decides her fairy-tale ending is going to look different--and be a whole lot more fun.

This is a modern twist on the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Cinderella, per usual, spends her days cleaning and doing her stepmother’s and sisters’ hair. She sees the prince in a magazine and dreams coming to save her. When she finds out he’s having a ball, she calls up a fairy godmother and makes an appointment. That’s when it all starts to go awry. The godmother is not what she expects – and neither are the clothes. Even the ball is disappointing, and the prince – well, let’s just say he was more attractive in the magazine. So she makes her own happy ending.

I like the girl-power feel of this one, and the illustrations are bright and funny. I think this would make a good book to read aloud to any little girl, reinforcing that a girl can be whatever she wants to. And that pictures in magazines aren’t always realistic.

Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all. Feel free to join in.