Cinderella Stories Around the World Unit Study

We recently finished a unit study about fairy tales using "Cinderella Stories Around the World Project Pack" from Hands of a Child as the primary component of our unit. The unit was a big success with all three of my children (6th grade girl, 4th grade boy, and 2nd grade boy). I was a little nervous about how my boys would react to "Cinderella Stories" but there is enough action and intrigue in the stories to keep any active boy interested! I also extended the theme to include fractured fairy tales and those funny fractured tales were a HUGE hit with my boys!

The most interesting aspect of the unit study for me was comparing and contrasting the different Cinderella stories. My daughter noticed that the stories varied widely in how the mean step-mother and step-sisters (or whoever was mean to the Cinderella character) were punished (or not punished) in the end. For example, in the Chinese version, nothing at all happens to the step-mother and, to some extent, she is allowed to save face at the end. On the other hand, in a Russian tale, "Baba-Yaga and Vasilia the Brave," the step-mother and step-sisters are all killed. My children all enjoyed "rating" each Cinderella story on a scale of 1-5 stars in their "Around the World with Cinderella Stories" rating mini-books. It was fun for me to see them debating on just how many stars to give each of the stories we read together.

The unit's suggested target range was 4-8th grade but I was easily able to include my 2nd grade son in the unit study - I just did not have him do a few of the more challenging mini-books. One suggestion I have though for those who would like to include younger students in the study is to check your local library for picture books to coordinate with the study. Even though the full text for many Cinderella stories are included in the Project Pack, I was able to find a picture book version of many of the Cinderella stories at the library. The pictures really helped to keep everybody's interest during our read-aloud times.

Here is a list of all of the books that we read during our fairy tales unit. While many of them are Cinderella stories from different cultures, I also extended the unit to include fractured fairy tales. We also covered a few more Cinderella stories than were included in the Project Pack.

• Adelita (A Mexican Cinderella Story) by Tomie dePaola
• Baba Yaga and Vasilia the Brave by Marianna Mayer (A Russian Cinderella Story)
• Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson
• Cinderella by The Brothers Grimm translated by Margaret Taylor
• Cinderella Penguin or The Little Glass Flipper by Janet Perlman
• Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci
• The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo
• Fair, Brown, & Trembling: An Irish Cinderella Story by Jude Daly
• The Frog Prince by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka
• Giants Have Feelings, Too by Dr. Alvin Granowsky
• The Golden Slipper, A Vietnamese Legend Retold by Darrell Lum
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears retold by Jan Brett
• The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo
• Jack and the Beanstalk by Richard Walker and Niamh Sharkey
• Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne
• The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo
• Lily and the Wooden Bowl by Yoriko Ito
• Little Red Riding Hood retold by Trina Schart Hyman
• The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
• Prince Cinders by Babette Cole
• The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch
• Rufferella by Vanessa Gill-Brown and Mandy Stanley
• Sootface: An Ojibwa Cinderella Story Retold by Robert D. San Souci
• Tattercoats by Flora Annie Steel
• The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell
• The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf by Eugene Trivizas and
  Helen Oxenbury
• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf as told to Jon Scieszka
• The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-Be by Mini Grey

I was also able to find some delightful DVDs for us to watch during the course of the study.
DVD – The Talking Eggs
“This colorful folktale, set deep in the bayou of Louisiana, tells the story of a young girl who befriends a mysterious, old woman. The young girl is ultimately rewarded for her kindness with several magical eggs in the class story of good versus evil.”
VHS – Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China
“Based upon a Library of Congress “Children’s Book of the Year,” and named a “Best Book of the Year” by School Library Journal, this fresh yet familiar tale of good vs. evil, and dreams come true, predates the European Cinderella by 1000 years!”

We also attended a play as part of the unit study. "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" can be found in book or video form as well. The play was wonderful, though!
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
“Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” has often been called an African Cinderella story. A man’s two very different daughters set out on an adventure. But who will win the heart of a king?”
“Based on John Steptoe’s award winning book, Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, uses African music, dance and storytelling traditions to celebrate goodness, generosity, and love.”

Each of my children completed their own lapbook for the study and wrote their own fractured fairy tales. I have previously posted the text of my daughter's story and the text and pictures of my youngest son's story.