Interstellar Cinderella
Written by Deborah Underwood, Illustrated by Meg Hunt
Chronicle Books, Copyright 2015
Science Fiction
Plot Summary:
This space themed version of the classic "Cinderella" story comes with a twist. In this story, Cinderella is an expert tinker who dreams of repairing spaceships, instead of just repairing whatever her stepmother forces her to. As in the classic story, Cinderella's evil stepmother and stepsisters leave her behind to attend the Prince's Royal Space Parade. With the help of her "fairy godbot," Cinderella gets to the parade by fixing a broken rocket and rocking a bejeweled space suit. When she arrives, she finds the people in panic because the Royal space ship is having engine trouble. Will Cinderella save the day? Will she meet the prince and fall in love, or stay with her true love of being a mechanic? This creative twist on a classic story is an empowering read for all ages!
Illustrations: The illustrations within this book are somewhat jumbled, creating a "space-like" atmosphere where there are no rules for gravity and other laws that are present on Earth. The colors used for the illustrations are different from that of a children's book that usually has a female protagonist and main character. Instead of primarily using pinks, purples, and yellows, the illustrator also uses dark blues, shadowy browns, and muted greens to emphasize the theme of the story: that girls can enjoy activities other than what their stereotyped image brings awareness to, and they can do anything they put their mind to, even if the job is usually done by a boy! There are also many eccentric colors used in the illustrations, such as neon colors, to give the impression of the story being set in the future.
I would definitely use this book for a 2nd-3rd grade reading or science lesson! This book is filled with comparisons to the original "Cinderella" story that my students could relate to, allowing them to practice the reading skill of "comparing and contrasting," and it also has many scientific terms and references to space that we could discuss in a science lesson centered on gravity and other science laws. I believe comparing and contrasting this story to the original story would benefit my students in that they could grow their comprehension skills, and I believe that relating the concepts in this book to what real life astronauts do in space and the scientific principles that go along with that would also benefit my students.
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