Cendrillon: A Cajun Cinderella (Traditional Literature)

Cendrillion, by Sheila Hebert Collins, is a variation on the classic fairy tale Cinderella. This version takes place in New Orleans. Cendrillon grows up in a nice house in New Orleans with out a mother, She is spoiled by her father in her mother's absence, and yet she still wishes for a mother. One day her Father finds a woman to marry, who has two daughters of her own. Cendrillon's Father passed away and her beautiful home was to much for the Stepmother and  the girls were forced to move to a much smaller shack. Her new stepmother gives Cendrillon all the chores to do around the house and was given the attic for her room and was only given rags to wear. Cendrillon befriends the animals in the woods by her new house since she has no one else to talk to. One day, the girls recieved invitations in the mail for a Mardi Gras Ball. Cendrillon is told she can go, but only after all of her chores are completed. She worked and worked but still she cannot go. Once her step sisters left Cendrillion was disrupted from her sorrow by the animals from the woods who had made her a beautiful dress. She raced to the carriage and was and was picked apart by her stepsisters and left on the road. Cendrillion was then met by her fairy god mother who granted her the wish of going to the ball, but only until midnight. Cendrillon went to the ball and met the Prince, but as the clock struck midnight she had to leave the prince and race home, even though she dropped  her shoe as she ran. The next day the prince;s court members searched all over for the owner of the shoe until he got to Cendrillon's house. Her stepsisters tried to claim the shoe was her but they knew that the sisters were lying. Cendrillion tried on the shoe and was brought back to the Prince when the courtmembers discovered that it was hers! The prince and Cendrillion were married and lived in a huge mansion once again.

As you can tell, this story is very similar to the traditional Cinderella with the exception of the setting and there are some varations between the exchange with the fairy godmother. In the classroom you could use this text to show students how different works among many cultures can be similar. Also, this text can be used to challenge students to come up with their own versions of a traditional fairytale, and write a narrative about them.