Kinuko Craft

With thousands of known variants worldwide, Cinderella is the quintessential fairy-tale, and needs little introduction. This lavishly-illustrated version, with paintings that are consciously modeled on the aesthetic motifs of seventeenth and eighteenth-century France, serves as a showcase for the talent of the marvelous Kinuko Craft. Beautiful full-page plates are paired with text that is embellished with decorative borders and ornamental initial letters. The painting in which Cinderella is show more pouring water, as well as the two-page spread in which the fairy godmother is transforming mice into horses, are particularly fine, with very sharp and expressive faces. I was disappointed to note however, that some of the other illustrations, though beautiful as a whole, lack a real sense of definition when it comes to the faces - they appear almost blurry. This is unfortunate, as it is such a joy to pore over Kinuko Craft's paintings, which are usually pleasing in both their totality and their details...

The text of this retelling is largely taken from the version found in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book, although the language has been significantly modernized. The element of the injured bluebird, which turns out to be the fairy godmother, is taken from the variant found in the Brothers Grimm (Aschenputtel). All this information is helpfully supplied on the title page, although no indication is given as to who actually wrote the text, and is therefore responsible for the adaptation and synthesizing of these two variants. Craft herself, perhaps? show less

At last, a Cinderella book that brings back the memory of my favorite fairytale book as a child. It was an entire volume of the Encyclopedia dedicated to classic fairy tales. Each double spread had long text on one side and a full-page glossy oil painting in great detail on the other. This book is similarly laid out but with less text, thankfully. The illustrations will knock your socks off. They are beautiful enough to be framed and hung. K. V. Craft is an extraordinary artist.

The first show more letter of each text of page is done like an illuminated manuscript, similar to my book Rumpelstiltskin's Child (I am not comparing my work to an artist of this calibre). I love the little details such as lizards climbing on the golden reeds.

Cinderella's ball gown is in a whole new category. The dance scene looks as though it is taking place at Versailles. Cinderellas second ball gown is even more stunning than the first. (This version follows the traditional story of two nights.) On the final page, where Cinderella and the Prince pose with his dog, the painting looks like it stepped off a museum wall.

On the title page it reads "the text for this book was adapted primarily from the Arthur Rackham Fairy Book and Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book." On the first two pages we encounter the words haughty, assigned, chambers, mournful, lame, gallant, noble, distracted, huddled, wandered, humble, and hastily. The vocabulary is as rich as the illustrations.

This is the kind of book an older child would read or a parent might share and discuss with their child. If you want your child to experience an authentic Cinderella story, this is the one to choose. No matter how independent women become, some version of this story will always exist for little girls to enjoy and imagine.

For more children's book reviews and tips for sharing books with children, go to https://bferrante.wordpress.com/ show less

This story may have been told over and over, but this particular version is worth getting for the illustrations alone. Absolutely stunning. Like, OH MY GOD SO FUCKING GORGEOUS.

This story is about a beautiful maiden whose father died soon after marriage leaving her at the mercy of her stepmother and stepsisters who treat her as servant. The maiden desperately wishes to attend a royal ball and finds that a blue bird she rescued the day before has turned into a fairy godmother that makes it possible for her to attend the ball. The maiden, after being warned that the spell will expire at midnight, attends the ball and gains the attention of the handsome prince. She show more attends a second ball where she leaves behind a single glass slipper which the prince uses to track down his new love.

I thought this book was absolutely beautiful. The text was a bit long for very young children but the illustrations were gorgeous. Each picture was soft and had the effect of a renaissance painting. I felt like I could look at illustrations alone and understand the story. The text itself was easy to follow and flowed well with the story. The story has the wonderful moral of treating others as you would like to be treated.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. I could ask the children what they think other good morals would be. They can write a list of their own Golden Rules to post in the classroom.
2. Each child can draw their own interpretation of a scene from Cinderella which I could use to make sequence cards. I would scramble the cards and the children would try and put them in sequential order. show less