The Korean Cinderella (Traditional)

This book, published by Shirley Climo, is a version of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. In this story however, Cinderella is named Pear Blossom, and she lives in Korea. This story weaves in similar themes found in the traditional Cinderella with cultural tales. Pear Blossom is born to an older man and his wife, each year the child grew and the pear tree that was planted in her honor bloomed until one winter, when no buds were found on the tree and the young girl was left without a mother. Pear Blossom's father went to the village matchmaker and seeked out a wife to help tend to Pear Blossom. The new step mother was just like the traditional Cinderella's step mother, she was wicked and callous and treated Pear Blossom very poorly, making her do all the house chores. One day Pear Blossom was ragged and run down doing her chores and she encountered several magical creatures who helped her speed up her chores, she had help from a frog, sparrows, and a magical Ox. With their help they were able to send Pear Blossom to the village festival. On her way to the festival Pear Blossom stopped to shake out a stone in her show when she was pushed off the road by the Magistrate's men on their way to the festival too. She hid behind a willow tree next to the river and as she hid her sandal slipped into the water. Pear blossom ran away in fear towards the festival, where she forgot about her missing shoe. When the magistrate arrived to the festival he announced that he was looking for a girl with one shoe, her wicked step sister told her she was in trouble and was quick to announce that it was Pear Blossom's shoe. The magistrate announced that she must be his husband, and they lived...happily ever after.

I would use this book in the classroom to help show children the connections that other cultures have within our society. This version of Cinderella has many commonalities to our familiar version but also incorportates many cultural customs specific to Korea. I would use this book to help students organize comparison/contrast situations. You could create a Venn diagram comparing the two Cinderellas, this would familiarize students with graphic organizers as well as what constitutes as a similarity and a difference.