Genre: Folktale / Friendship / African American / Magic

Year Published: 1995

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

“The Faithful Friend” is a Caldecott Honor Book and a Coretta Scott King Award winning book from master storyteller, Robert D. San Souci along with illustrations by Brian Pinkney.  This story is about how Hippolyte, a faithful friend of Clement, tries to save his friend from the misfortune that occurs to him when Clement tries to marry Pauline.  “The Faithful Friend” is definitely one of the greatest books about friendship ever written for children.

Robert D. San Souci has done a fantastic job at writing this book as it is based off the classic Brothers Grimm tale, “Faithful Joannes.”  Robert D. San Souci has successfully delivered the message about how a true friend will help a friend in their time of need as Hippolyte stayed loyal to his friend Clement in order to protect him from the evil Monsieur Zabocat.  Brian Pinkney’s illustrations are truly magnificent as the characters seem to glow in every page and even though the characters have some scratchy edges to their structures, they look extremely realistic and colorful that will mesmerize children to no end.  The images that stood out the most in this book was the image of Pauline, Clement and Hippolyte leaving Monsieur Zabocat’s plantation in the middle of the night as the sky is clear blue and the characters effectively glow against the small moon in the image.

“The Faithful Friend” is the perfect for children who want to learn more about what it takes to be a true friend and who loves romance.  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since the book is a bit too long for smaller children to handle and there are some Caribbean words such as “Bonjou” and “quimboiseur” that younger children would have trouble understanding.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Genre:  Family / Caribbean / Fairy Tale / Folktale / Retelling

Year Published: 1998

Year Read:  2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers   

I have read many different versions of “Cinderella” during my time, but this is the first time I have heard of a Caribbean version of the classic fairy tale!  “Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella” is a unique retelling of the classic fairy tale by Robert D. San Souci along with illustrations by Brian Pinkney and it is about a young woman named Cendrillon who, with the help of her godmother, tries to go to the ball to meet the handsome prince!  “Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella” is a brilliant retelling of the classic Cinderella tale that everyone will love!

I have really enjoyed this version of the classic fairy tale!  Robert D. San Souci has, as usual, done an excellent job at retelling this French-Caribbean folktale and what I really loved about Robert D. San Souci's writing  is that it is told from the godmother's point of view.  This aspect of the story was quite unusual for me since I have always read the story from Cinderella's point of view and this was the first time that I have read a version of Cinderella from the godmother's point of view.  I really did enjoy seeing the story told from the fairy godmother's point of view because it really helped me see how close the godmother was to Cendrillon and you gain a better understanding of the story if it is told from a first person's point of view.  Another aspect of the story I really loved was how the godmother was so close to Cendrillon that you can see the relationship as more like a mother and daughter relationship and it made the book so heartwarming to read through.  As I love to read in various fairy tales and folktales that originate from other countries, I was glad that there was a French Creole translation key at the end of the book since it really helped me understand the story much better and I love learning about languages from different countries, so this was a treat to read!  Brian Pinkney's illustrations are beyond beautiful in this book as all the characters look extremely realistic yet colorful at the same time.  I loved the scratchy look that Brian Pinkney provided to the illustrations since it really made the illustrations stand out.  My favorite illustration int his book was of the mansion of Monsieur Thibault as his mansion is huge and is surrounded by palm trees and flowers and the purple sky really brought out the true beauty of seeing a lit up mansion at night!

Overall, “Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella” is a fantastic retelling of Cinderella that every child who love fairy tales will definitely enjoy for many years!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the French Creole language might be hard for younger children to understand.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog