Review: Cinderella Skeleton

By Robert D. San Souci; Illustrated by David Catrow

Silver Whistle/Harcourt, Inc.; 2000

Picture Book; Fantasy

Grades: 2-5

ISBN: 0-15-202003-9

Cinderella Skeleton loses more than just her shoe when she attends the Halloween Ball in a verse retelling of the classic fairy tale.

My Thoughts:
Since this is another David Catrow book, I was predisposed to like it. Luckily, I was not disappointed. The illustrations evoke a spookily twisted, and yet elegant world. For all her grotesque skeleton-ness, Cinderella is beautiful. The stepmother and stepsisters are wickedly deviant and disturbing. I loved that rather than losing her slipper, Cinderella Skeleton loses her whole lower leg! This means that in order to try on the shoe, the would-be brides must also remove their whole lower limb!

The book is written at a level that allows it to be used with older students than I normally would recommend with a picture book. It would work really well as part of a poetry or folktale unit for upper elementary. The verse is well written, and full of tongue-in-cheek double meanings. It might be over younger kid's heads, but the familiar storyline and intrigueing illustrations will allow them to follow along. (This is a good way to introduce students to new vocabulary, since the students will be able to infer meaning from context and the pictures.) The illustrations are bright and active enough for young readers, with rich details and interesting juxtapositions for older readers. It reminded me a lot of the film Corpse Bride...and I mean that in a good way.

The Thoughts of Others:
School Library Journal published a review in 2000 by Susan Hepler. Hepler loved "this darkly humorous and spooky" story as much as I did, and agreed that older elementary kids would appreciate it. She felt that the hard part would be displaying it where the older kids would find it...rather than in the picture book area.

The 2000 reviewer for Kirkus Reviews compared the book to the Tim Burton Film Nightmare Before Christmas and recommended it to fans of Burton. I can also see the similarities. The reviewer though did not feel that the work was derivative, and instead felt that it was unique enough though to stand on its own.

Koto Tales

I went to go see Elizabeth Falconer, a Koto Master, perform at the Key Center Library. traditional Japanese Folk Tales, and performed traditional and contemporary Koto music. She toldOne of the legends, the Tanabata, is geared towards a slightly older audience. Another from Okinawa, about a dragon, centipede, and a rooster, was definitely a children's tale.

I really enjoyed watching how she incorporated music and instrumental sound effects into her tales. I was also very impressed with how she used the instrument and its components as a prop. With the dragon tale, she also used hand puppets, at one point using the dragons tail on the Koto to exemplify him stirring up the waves.

There were only two kids in the audience, which is why she also included the Tanabata legend. Still, it was very interesting. She also took time to explain the history of the Koto and Japanese storytelling. (And I got to play the Koto after the performance was over...FUN!!!)

The Library that hosted the session had put up a display of children's picture books based on Japanese folktales, featuring Japanese characters, or set in Japan. They did not, however, include my favorite Japanese tale...that of Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes. This is a true story, available as both a picture book and early reader chapter book. I think it would adapt well as a story telling tale, especially if one were to incorporate origami into the story (perhaps folding a paper crane as one spoke).