The illustrations are really striking, but I didn't like the poem. I also can't think of any kids that would like the book.

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother. “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book! Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes. Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.



“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother. “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book! Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes. Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.



“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Fantasy / Africa ./ Folktale / Horror

Year Published: 1982

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

“Shadow” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book by Marcia Brown and it is about what shadows do around people and what they do when they are not looking. “Shadow” may be a bit scary for smaller children, but it is truly a mesmerizing book that children would enjoy for many years.

Marcia Brown has wonderfully given a vivid description of what shadows do and what they are like and put the description of shadows in a poetic format and Marcia Brown does a great job at making shadows seem so mysterious as they constantly follow people around in ghostly figures. Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly eerie yet creative as the people in the book are drawn as black shadows while the shadows themselves are drawn as white ghostly figures following the shadowed characters, however, there are some shadows that are dark figures such as the shadow coming out of the ash from the fire. The images perfectly blend color and black and white to bring out a more effective look at the world of shadows such as putting shadowed figures against colorful mountainsides or forests.



Parents should know that there are some scary images in this book which involves images of the shadows taking frightening shapes such as one shadow wearing a very frightening mask and another large shadow that has ash for eyes and is walking on four wobbly legs. Many small children would also be frighten about the idea that shadows can come to life when they least expect it and it might cause many small children to not go to sleep at night because they might be afraid of their shadows coming to life to get them. Parents need to explain to their children that shadows do not come alive and they are apart of people.

“Shadow” is a brilliant book that takes on the views of the mysterious world of shadows and it will have many children mesmerized for many years. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since the images are truly frightening and smaller children might be frightened at the idea that shadows come to life in this book.


Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog