Module 2: The Orphan

Module 2: The Orphan

Book Summary:

The Orphan is a retelling of the classic fairy tale Cinderella, in which the authors drew inspiration from similar tales in Greek. A young girl who was well loved by her parents is essentially orphaned when her mother passes away and her father remarries. Her stepmother and stepsisters mistreated her and one night, she makes a plea on her mother's grave for help. She is bestowed with gifts by Mother Nature, not only beautiful things to wear but attributes such as brilliance and beauty as well. In Cinderella-style, the Prince gains a glimpse of her but is unable to catch her when she flees due to a time limit on her gifts. At the next event, the Prince strives to catch her using honey and wax laid on the church's threshold but instead traps only a shoe, which leads to the traditional "find the maiden who fits the shoe". The Prince is reunited with the orphan and they are incredibly happy together and end up getting married.

APA Reference of Book:

Manna, A. L., & Mitakidou, S. (2011). The orphan. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books.

Impressions:

The Orphan was a very enjoyable and slightly varied Greek version of the Cinderella tale. The first thing that grabbed my attention on every page were the colors of the illustrations. The illustrator Giselle Potter did an excellent job picking colors that really reflected not only the emotions evoked by the drawings and words on the pages but also just giving the story an overall Greek/ Mediterranean feel. On the page where the orphan cries on her mother's grave, everything is so dark, the despair feels almost palpable which is in stark contrast to the next page which is alight with the brilliant colors of the sun and Mother Nature as the orphan receives her gifts. The cobblestone streets and furniture of the background as well as the grape leaves bordering the pages give the feel of old Europe. While the story was excellent, the illustrations were phenomenal!

In this version, the gifts are bestowed by Mother Nature rather than a fairy godmother and the Prince sees the orphan at a church service rather than a royal ball, the overall tale of Cinderella is the same. The moral that goodness prevails over selfishness is still clearly prevalent and the orphan receives her happy ending and just reward for persevering in the face of her hardships. It was also nice to see the title "Cinderella" character being a little more proactive than your typical princess-to-be character and taking charge of her own destiny. She asks for help and receives it and heeds the instructions given in return for the help. A much better lesson than waiting for your prince to come. Overall, an excellent read that I would definitely recommend for early elementary school age.

Professional Review:

"A child becomes an orphan when she loses her mother," goes the Greek saying, and that's precisely what happens to the unnamed heroine in this Greek version of the Cinderella tale. The tale has the familiar elements of stepmother and stepsisters and a handsome prince, but it's Mother Nature who confers the fancy outfits and it's a church service at which the orphan sports them and wins the heart of the prince. When she returns to the church the next week, the wily prince spreads honey and wax on the church's threshold and traps the fleeing orphan's shoe, resulting in the classic fit-the-slipper-to-the-maiden drama. The piquant differences from the Perrault and Grimm Cinderella versions (the orphan also distracts the villagers with gold coins while she escapes and rides a white horse created from a cloud) and the friendly, conversational voice will seem fresh and engaging to young audiences who have been over-saturated with Disney-fied tales. Potter's signature folk artish watercolor illustrations are a perfect fit for the folkloric Greek setting and characters, and her black-haired heroine is an appropriately Mediterranean version. Potter is particularly effective at evoking emotion with her images: the spread depicting the orphan receiving her gifts simply radiates joy. This would be a useful for a lesson in comparative literature, as a readaloud, and for storytellers looking for new versions of old tales. It's unfortunate that there's no note, so it's not clear whether this is a traditional Greek version or an original tale that happens to be set in Greece. [End Page 157]

Hulick, J. (2011). [Review of the book The orphan, by A. Manna & S. Mitakidou]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 65(3), 157. Retrieved from: http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/

Library Uses:

This book would make for a fun comparison exercise with early elementary age readers. After reading both books, they could point out the similarities and differences between this telling of the story and the more traditional versions they have heard/seen before or another version of the Cinderella tale.

Include this book in a display of fairy tales and all their various versions. It would be fun to show all the different incarnations of Cinderella for example so people can see how many different ways the same story has been imagined.