Louie, A. (1988). Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China. Illus. Ed Young. New York, NY: Putnam Books.
Brief Annotation: Yeh-Shen is brought up by her cruel stepmother after her father dies. Lonely and heartbroken, Yeh-Shen finds comfort in her only friend, a tiny fish. Her evil stepmother, who doesn't want Yeh-Shen to have any happiness, cooks up the fish for dinner one night! Yeh-Shen keeps the bones of the fish and makes a wish on the night of the King's Dance. Her wish is granted and she attends the festival...but loses one of her gold slippers. Who will find it, I wonder?
Genre: Folklore
Grade Level: 1-5
Readers who will like this: Culturally diverse students, students who like fairytales.
Response/Rating (1-4): ****. I specifically looked for this book when doing the folktale comparison because I remembered it from my childhood. The illustrations and story had a lasting impact on me. I appreciated this take on a story I was familiar with.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Why do you think there are numerous versions of the same story?
Will you be comparing variants of the Cinderella story? Looks that way to me!
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