Cinder Edna

Written by Ellen Jackson and illustrated by Kevin O'Malley
ages k-5

Cinder Edna and Cinder Ella live next door to one another. While both are forced to work long hours, toiling away while their stepmothers and stepsisters enjoy a leisurely existence, they have a very different way of viewing their circumstances. Cinder Ella spends her time pondering her existence and the troubles which have been heaped on her. Cinder Edna has a completely different attitude towards the work that she is forced to do; she improves herself, learning, and whistling while she works. While both girls end up going to the Royal ball, Cinder Ella is helpless without the help of a fairy godmother; Cinder Edna already has a dress on layaway just for this sort of occasion. Instead of a pumpkin coach, Cinder Edna goes by bus. Rather than wearing glass slippers (who can dance in glass slippers!) Edna wear sensible loafers. The girls meet two very different princes at the ball and marry- but only one will truly have her happily ever after. And although one girl ends up in the palace and the other in a small cottage with solar heating, it just proves that love and happiness come from embracing who you really are.

A twist on the traditional Cinderella story, Cinder Edna is clever and quirky. The book answers the age old questions: how did Cinderella really dance in those glass slippers and whose idea was it to try shoes on everyone's feet when the prince could have asked her name instead? The perfect book to cure the bedtime fairytale blues.