From The Ashes, Dreams Come True

To see the downtrodden lifted up, for a moment or for happily ever after, is food for the soul.  We cheer for their good fortune.  To see hope realized is a necessity.

A perennial favorite fairy tale, in all its variations, is of the orphan bullied by spoiled sisters and their haughty mother.  Who better to retell the tale than Jan Brett in Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.).  Let's open the cover stepping into a wintry Russia of the eighteenth century.

Snow on the outside, feathered friends on the inside.
  
At the end of every day Tasha takes a meal of oats to the chickens housed in the old tower.  Tonight it's hard for her to get there; a fierce blizzard is throwing wind and snow in all directions.  Finally out of the weather, three chickens, Largessa and her daughters, Pecky and Bossy, push their way forward to get most of the food.

Tasha brings Cinders out from beneath the wood stove where she hides. With Cinders in her arms, Tasha feeds here.  Snow has drifted against the door, leaving Tasha with no choice but to stay in the tower for the night until her father returns tomorrow.

Lulled by the cozy comfort found next to the stove in the chickens' tower, Tasha falls asleep.  Within seconds a golden light appears in the room.  The chickens' lives are about to take a flight of fancy.  There is an invitation to the Ice Palace by Prince Cockerel himself.

Cinders is at the peck and cackle of Largessa, Pecky and Bossy as they preen and dress for the ball.  After everyone leaves clothed in their finest gowns, Cinders is dismayed by her appearance and lack of anything to wear.  Her tears are interrupted by an unexpected light and the appearance of a Silkie hen.  Ah yes...a wand-waving fairy god-chicken has arrived to set things right.

A pumpkin, pigeons, mice and three ducks will serve as a sleigh, footmen, drivers and pullers taking Cinders dressed in a silver sarafan dress and slippers of crystal to the Prince's Ice Palace.  Cinders' arrival causes quite the stir among the gathered fowl.  Prince Cockerel is bewitched by her beauty.

The ice clock's chiming signals the breaking of the spell.  As dawn breaks on a new day, a crystal slipper, a shining egg, and an arrival complete not one but two stories.  On full moon nights you can never be quite sure what you might see or hear; perhaps magic will pay a visit.


One of the more unique qualities of this retelling by Jan Brett is having the Cinderella story told within the context of Tasha's love for her chicken friends.  It's only when she sleeps we readers see the chickens' other lives.  Alternating between a narrative and dialogue, Brett weaves a spell with her words like the Silkie does with her wand.  We are surrounded by the wonder of the events unfolding.  Here is a passage from the story.

The snow stopped and the moon shone a path through the window.
The chickens dressed in all their finery flew off to the Ice Palace.
All except Cinders. She looked down at her wet feathers and frayed
wing tips and started to cry.
Suddenly, the log in the stove flared. Into the light flew
a beautiful Silkie hen Cinders had never seen before.
"I'm here to get you ready for the ball," the Silkie promised,
and she brushed Cinders with her wand.


Jan Brett is known for visiting the place of her settings, to make sure everything, down to the tiniest detail, is authentic.  She and her husband, Joe, did indeed travel to St. Petersburg to become immersed in the architecture.  Unfolding the jacket and cover Cinders, riding in her sleigh is drawn through the snowy eighteenth-century Russian forest framed in white panels on the front as the Silkie hen wearing a glittering gown waves her sparkling wand framed in elegant scrollwork, cultural folk art and a wintry landscape on the back.  Endpapers in a brushed golden rose feature Cinders looking like she has been carved from wood surrounded by embellishments.

All the illustrations for this title are rendered in watercolor and gouache, spreading across two pages with a few exceptions.  Readers will be dazzled by the four page gatefold of the dancers at the ball.  The dark of night, the white of winter and the vibrant colors used for all the pictures inside contrast in a glorious array.  As readers have come to expect, Jan Brett adds to her story in the side panels giving us hints of the tale's path.  Intricate details on all the pages will have readers pausing and marveling at her skill, her love of art and storytelling.  I think one of my favorite illustrations is the outside of the Ice Palace with Silkie peering inside at the ball, right before the gatefold.


I highly recommend you add Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella written and illustrated by Jan Brett to your folktale collection, no matter how many variants you currently hold.  This depiction is simply lovely in word and pictures.  It will be a pleasure to share with one or many listeners.  Of course, I'm wondering if she still tucks Hedgie into her books.  I'll go back to look again and again.

Please follow the link embedded in Jan Brett's name to access her official website.  This links to her 2014 calendar based upon Cinders.  For a special page to color of Cinders follow this link.

A Race...Life Lessons

Tucked in a corner of one of my bookcases is a much loved set of four books.  These four books, The Tall Book of Make Believe, The Tall Book of Bible Stories, The Tall Book of Christmas and The Tall Book of Nursery Tales are my earliest childhood connection to a vast array of classic stories and poems.  They all show signs of repeated readings; only one still has its jacket.

Illustrated by the 1956 Caldecott Medal winner, Feodor Rojankovsky, The Book of Nursery Tales, introduced me to fairy tale and fable favorites.  The lesson taken from the race of mismatched opponents has served me well again and again over the years.  Jerry Pinkney's latest release, The Tortoise & The Hare (Little, Brown and Company) is a gorgeous retelling of a cherished tale, a companion to his Caldecott Medal winner, The Mouse & The Lion.


Every single time I hold a book with illustrations by Jerry Pinkney, its like I have an incomparable treasure in my possession.  A heavy matte-finished jacket with a double-page illustration edge to edge introduces the two main characters, front and center, and several smaller supporting members of the cast on the back.  Set in the American Southwest, the color palette reflects the warm and sunny, dry and dusty surroundings.  Beneath the jacket, the cover is wordless, in two frames a close-up of the Tortoise and the Hare facing one another appears on the front.  On the back in a single, framed picture, the duo are walking away side by side.

Opening endpapers feature a desert vista, filled with rocky formations and flora native to the region; a barn, silo, windmill and garden are tucked in the upper left-hand corner.  Dotted lines show the route the racers will soon follow.  Tortoise is resting on a stump, head tucked into his shell, as hare hops hurriedly down the trail toward him.

The first page turn reveals another two page visual dedicated to the title as well as beginning the story.  Animals are running toward Hare and Tortoise as the two converse.  Another group off to the side are chatting excitedly.

On your marks, 
get set...
Go!

Hare's walking stick and black and white checked kerchief given to Coyote, to use as a visual starter, has dropped as the verbal signal is given.   Hare leaps away down the route.  Tortoise negotiates the path at a much slower pace; mice, bees, a grasshopper, moths, a bird and lizard offering advice and encouragement.

Startled frogs scurry and splash as Hare hops unannounced over their watery residence.  They gleefully guide and ride Tortoise as he swims through the pond.  So far ahead he has lost sight of Tortoise, Hare can't help but notice and slow for a lush garden full of lettuce.

Digging, eating and sleeping are the next order of business for Hare.  Tortoise, on the other hand, tumbles, plods and passes.  The race ends as it has for centuries but Pinkney enhances the outcome with his personal perspective; much can be learned from both sides of a story.


Jerry Pinkney uses the text of the closing line,

Slow and steady wins the race!

to add energy and tension to his retelling.  As we readers watch Tortoise picture by picture move along, the first word is added.  In the next visual the first two words are included.  Each time, a new word is added until the thought is complete.  In your reader's mind it makes a rhythmic beat, building to the finish.  Other than the opening lines these are the only words used in the narrative.

In an Artist's Note at the book's end, Jerry Pinkney explains his choice of setting, color palette, ending and reason for clothing his characters.  Rendered in graphite, watercolor, colored pencils, gouache and pastel, these illustrations pulse with life.  A very real sense of emotion and personality traits of all the characters is conveyed with affection.

Readers are treated to colorful, animated double page illustrations or smaller framed panels with some elements leaving the confines of the lines to represent life and movement.  The choice of clothing for each of the animals is sure to evoke smiles among all readers.  I believe my favorite illustration is of Tortoise emerging from the stream, one frog perched upon his back, another still in the water, arms upraised and a third leading the way laughing and leaping.


Jerry Pinkney's The Tortoise & The Hare, is a brilliant and masterfully artistic interpretation of a well-known fable.  I, for one, am thrilled with his illustrating of classic fables, nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  His valued perspectives contribute more than can be measured to the world of children's literature.  I believe every collection should include these titles.

Make sure to visit Jerry Pinkney's website by following the link embedded in his name.  PW KidsCast: A Conversation with Jerry Pinkney is an audio interview in which he discusses this latest book.  The widget below allows you to see pictures from inside the book.  Enjoy Jerry Pinkney talking about his work in the video below.