Ten Cinderella Tales from Around the World

It's officially summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and we'd like to take this season to focus on folk and fairy tales (and perhaps myths and legends, too) here on Ink & Pen. So, to start things off here are ten Cinderella tales from around the world. Considering that it is widely accepted that the Cinderella tale was first recorded in China, it's surprising that multicultural versions of the story are not more popular, but thankfully there are a multitude of picture book versions from a truly diverse array of countries and cultures.

When I was a teacher, I spent an entire month exploring Cinderella tales with my students and we still didn't get through every culture's version. I found my students open to and interested in Cinderella stories from every culture. In fact, when I began reading them a Perrault version (what would be the "standard" for those of us in mainstream Western culture--except perhaps in Germany) they asked me what country the story was from, not viewing it as more original, authentic, or authoritative than any other version.

Of course, the Cinderella tale can be problematic when it comes to gender, body image, etc. I would strongly recommend that you engage any children you may be reading with in a discussion about standards of beauty as well as any other issues you may see with the tale. It's important for children to know that physical attributes are not an indicator of inner worth, and while some children will come to this conclusion on their own, it is helpful to have a trusted adult either introduce or reaffirm this notion.

I'm not including synopses for these books for though they differ widely in details, they are all versions of the same tale. Here are my top ten (in no particular order):

1. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale


2. The Korean Cinderella


3. The Rough-Face Girl

Seven Folktales from Asia and the Pacific Islands

Though May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, an important part of any heritage are the stories which travel with immigrants from their native land to wherever they land. Below are six folktales in picture book form, and one collection of Aboriginal stories, from Asia and the Pacific Islands. They are all excellent tales, but due to time constraints, the summaries come from Goodreads.

As stated in a previous post, the only stories featuring Pacific Islander characters that I could find are the folktales featured here. I couldn't find any picture books that featured Pacific American characters, let alone protagonists. While this is sadly not surprising, the (seeming) complete lack of Pacific American representation is truly appalling. If you know of any good picture books (not Lilo & Stitch--though we're not making a judgement on that movie!) with Pacific Islander characters, please share them in the comments! I hope that some of you are authors and illustrators and involved in book publishing--this is clearly a problem that needs to be rectified!

Another issue I found in researching books to feature this month is that while some Asian cultures are well represented in picture books, multiple others are either underrepresented or completely neglected. I was hard pressed to find any books set in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, or the Samoan Islands, among other countries, or books featuring Americans of those heritages. The books we feature here represent only a fraction of the diversity of Asian and Pacific Island cultures. It is my hope that in the near future we will see a better reflection of that diversity in picture books available to us.


Pig-Boy: A Trickster Tale from Hawai'i
retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

"Pig-Boy is hairy. Pig-Boy is dirty. Pig-Boy is hungry! And when trouble comes, he knows just what to do. (Of course, escaping trouble comes easily to a trickster, who can shape-shift his way out of sticky situations just in time!) With the tropical colors and cadences of the islands, master artist and storyteller Gerald McDermott brings irrepressible humor and energy to a Hawaiian trickster tale that's been beloved for generations. Includes an author's note."