The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greece

Co-authors Anthony L. Manna and Soula Mitakidou (sometimes also credited as Christodoula Mitakidou) and illustrator Giselle Potter, who previously collaborated on Mr. Semolina-Semolinus: A Greek Folktale, join forces again in this retelling of a Cinderella story from the Greek tradition. Loved and pampered by her own mother, whom the eponymous orphan had the misfortune to lose at a young age, our heroine is mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. Taking strength from her midnight visit to her mother's grave, and the words her mother's spirit speaks to her, she is blessed with great gifts by Mother Nature, gifts she uses when visiting the local church while the prince is in attendance. Through these means she enchants that show more royal, fleeing at the end of both services she attends, but leaving behind one of her slippers on the second occasion...

According to the brief authors' note at the beginning of this book, the story in The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greece is taken from elements of two stories, found in Chrysoula Chatzitaki-Kapsomenou's The Modern Greek Folktale (Το νεοελληνικό λαϊκό παραμύθι) and Dimitrios Loukatos' Modern Greek Folk Texts. I am not familiar with those scholars (I am not sure they have been translated into English), but for my part, the story here put me strongly in mind of Fair, Brown and Trembling, an Irish variant of the Cinderella story which also features a heroine who attends mass on a succession of occasions, thanks to the intercession of a hen-wife. In any case, I found this one very enjoyable, appreciating both the story and the stylized artwork from Giselle Potter. Her work is not always my cup of tea, aesthetically speaking, but is always interesting to look at. Recommended to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, to readers looking for international variants of Cinderella and/or for Greek folklore. show less

The main idea of this book is to retell the story of Cinderella as the tale of an orphan from Greece whose mother speaks from the grave and gives her courage and beautiful gifts.
I enjoyed this book for many reasons. I really enjoyed the incorporation of Cinderella's mother into the story. In other stories about Cinderella, you hear about the mother briefly in the beginning and then the story focuses on the awful stepmother. This retelling includes the mother as a prominent, kind character. She is the "fairy godmother" for the orphan! She encourages the orphan and guides her throughout the story, even though she is dead. For example, she tells the orphan, "Go, my child, go to good, with all my blessings, go! Your sorrow weighs upon my show more heart, your pain, it wounds me so." I like this incorporation of the mother/daughter relationship because I think it will be comforting to children, especially those who may have lost their mother.
I also liked this book because of the beautiful language and personification used in the narration. For example, one page reads, "The Sun gave her brilliance; the Moon, beauty; the Dawn bestowed gracefulness...the Morning Star let her wear the Evening Star as a wreath; the Meadows gave her three beautiful dresses, and the Sea, a pair of delicate blue shoes to fit her tiny feet." I found this type of language quite beautiful and interesting. I loved that "Mother Nature and her children" were the ones giving Cinderella their gifts. It makes the story that much more rich and places it more deeply within the traditional literature genre, in my opinion. show less

I was on the fence about this book. I like the illustrations with their bold colors and interesting interpretations of the actions. However, I did not like the way the story was retold. As a tale from Greece, I would expect more things that represented the culture. The main idea was that good things come to those who wait and work hard.

If you’re looking for an alternate version of this classic fairytale, maybe one that’s a little heavier on the girl power, look no further than this extended picture book drawing on Greek versions of the Cinderella mythology. The drawings are minimal but charming and well-executed. This telling of Cinderella relies on the Universe, some words of wisdom from a dead mother, and Cinderella’s own resourceful self for deliverance without waiting for the prince to save her and improve her circumstances. That a girl! Recommended.

I liked this book due to various reasons. First, I really enjoyed this authors writing style. He had a lot of parallel structuring to his story. For example I loved when he wrote “What did the father do? What could he do? Why he…” I feel like the way he repeated this phrase really placed emphasis on the helplessness that some of the characters faced. It gave the characters more depth and enhanced the flow of the story. The author did a very good job of really telling this story. There was never a dull moment in this book, and although the story was predictable and did not contain too many changes from the original story, there were still enough variations to make the story interesting and captivate the reader’s attention. For show more example, I loved how her gifts came from “mother nature and her children,” rather than one magical entity. I also really enjoyed how the orphan really took her fate into her own hands while still obeying the words of deceased mother, showing her faithfulness. The one aspect of this story that I found slightly disappointing was the lack of cultural insertion of Greece. I did not learn anything about the Greek culture through this book, but it was still a delightful story with a happy ending that I really enjoyed. show less

I liked this book especially as a multi cultural book. The plot was very well done overall. The author makes the plot suspenseful and enjoyable to read. It follows typical traditional literal style of the simple plot and few characters. Additional to the plot, I found that the illustrations enhanced the story greatly. They depict the words very well in a way that children can more easily comprehend. The story can be slightly confusing and children tend to anticipate what will happen based on their prior knowledge of Cinderella stories, so having these detailed pictures is helpful for understanding content. For example when Cinderella's moms ghost gives her the dress and shoes, this is different than the American version. Having the show more pictures helps to keep the story clear. The main idea of this story is to entertain. show less

In my opinion, this is a great twist on a classic book. Orphan is closely related to the fairytale Cinderella, and I think because of this it has many of the same positive traits. First, the characters are believable, and certainly well-deveoped. The characters are developed with such realistic traits, that I found it impossible not to like this book.

Second, I also liked the plot. It brings the reader just the right amount of suspension and tension that they want to keep flipping the pages. The plot keeps a steady pace, and brings the conflict the orphan experiences not too soon, yet not too late.

The last couple of reasons I found this an enjoyable read was because the illustrations matched the written text, they kind of had a dull show more appearance, which gave it a mythological feel. The book pushes readers to think about tough issues and broadens perspectives, and this is the main message of this book. It is telling the reader that sometimes households hold different kind of families, it is telling them that people don't always get treated as nicely as they should, yet it should never stop you from pursuing your goal, which is exactly what The Orphan did. show less