Saturday, June 8, 2019

The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo illustrated by Ruth Heller

Pear Blossom is loved by her mother and father.  When her mother dies, the father marries a widow who has a daughter, Peony.  Of course, the stepmother and stepdaughter are cruel to Pear Blossom like  the typical Cinderella story. A magical animals assist Pear Blossom throughout the story.  When she walks to a festival, she loses her straw sandal.  The magistrate sees her fleeing and retrieves the sandal.  He seeks the owner and all ends happily.
Beautiful illustrations (well researched-Ms. Heller visited Korea in order to accurately depict the Korean culture). 
Warning/point to discuss: I thought that the stepmother and stepdaughter were especially cruel to Pear Blossom.

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