Fractured Fairy Tale

Seriously, Cinderella is so annoying! : The story of Cinderella as told by the wicked stepmother

Written by: Trisha Speed Shaskan

Illustrated by: Gerald Guerlais

Picture Window Books, 2011

24 pages

Fractured Fairy Tale

I picked this fractured fairy tale because I think the stepmother was always the wickedest character in fairy tales. All of the fractured fairy tales fascinate me. I had never heard of this genre before I entered the education program and I think that turn of perspective is genius. This book was recommended to me by a friend in Lit Block. She introduced me to this book and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. This book takes the classic Cinderella story and puts a twist on it. Instead of showing the step mother as an evil character, she is shown as a character that is worried about Cindy. Cindy as she goes by in this book is shown as a whimsical character who almost sounds crazy with her storytelling.  The step mother is shown making all both of her daughters clean but they can’t keep up with Cindy’s pace. Does Cindy get the whole house cleaned? Does she continue to tell ludicrous stories? The most important question is does this fractured fairy tale princess still get her prince?

              The illustrations in this picture book are very detailed. The illustrations and text are critical to the story. The use of digital illustrations provide a cartoon like image. The lines the illustrator uses suggest movement throughout the book. The colors used are very dull, not bright or exciting. Even though the colors aren't very bright the pictures still draw your eyes to every detail. These illustrations help the readers visualize and comprehend as they read the story.

              This book is appropriate for four to eight years old. This book is grade level appropriate for 1^st graders. You can use this book for a social studies, arts, and writing activities. Social studies activity could include creating a timeline. You could have strips of events and have the student’s place them on the timeline is their order they go in. In the arts you can have the students create their own castle they would like to live in if they were in a fairy tale. The boys and especially the girls could get into this activity. Writing activities with this book are endless. You can prompt the students with many questions. Prompting the students to write from a different point of view would make a interesting paper to read. The fractured fairy tales show children point of view that is easy for them to understand and catch on to. Everyone has heard the real Cinderella story so they automatically know that something is different. I could not find any awards presented to this book.