Shen's Books: August 2008 Archives

The Prince's Diary by Renee Ting and illustrated by Elizabeth Dulemba

Ages 4-8 will relish this new take on the Cinderella story, which comes from the Prince's viewpoint. Elizabeth Dulemba provides lovely drawings and kids will find plenty of embellishment on the story of a frustrated prince who finds all kinds of things wrong with women - until he meets a particularly elusive woman. Better cover art would have attracted initial attention, but the story itself is excellent and appealing

The Prince's Diary is the charming story, written in diary form, from the Prince's point of view, his thoughts are as he sees and falls in love with Cinderella. It has a little different twist from the original story. Prince Stephen is out for a ride on his horse Silver when he sees the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. True to the story, she is wearing old, torn clothes as she fetches water. He falls in love at first sight.

The Queen invites young women to the castle to meet the Prince, but his thoughts are always with Cinderella. He asks his father about the family who lives at the edge of the woods. The King relates much the same story we are familiar with, about Cinderella and her two stepsisters.

A gala ball is planned and all eligible women are invited. This is where the plot changes. Prince Stephen takes a walk to escape the unwelcome advances of the stepsisters, and he finds Cinderella hiding in the bushes. She was unable to attend because she did not have the proper clothing. The Prince and Cinderella talk and enjoy each others company until the partygoers are leaving. Cinderella rushes home and the Prince finds a glass slipper, but it is not Cinderella's. It was left behind by one of the sisters. When the Prince returns the slipper to the stepsister he invites Cinderella to accompany him for a ride along the creek. To the sisters' chagrin the two of them ride off into the sunset.

Beautifully illustrated by Elizabeth O. Dulemba, your child will enjoy the cute, mischievous mice playing on each page. The tale of Cinderella through the eyes of the Prince in diary form is a new spin on this old classic fairy tale.

What was Cinderella's handsome prince doing while his future lady was toiling away at her work and wishing for a way to the ball? The Prince's Diary, a sweet new picture book from Renee Ting and Elizabeth O. Dulemba, answers that question. The book gives a charming and humorous flip side to the famous fairy tale, showing the prince bored stiff by his mother's marriage schemes and by all the young lovelies who would like to be his bride. What would he like to do instead? He wants to visit the whistling, rag-bedecked girl he keeps spotting. He doesn't know her name, but he writes in his diary, "I think I'll call her Cinderella."

Does the book take some liberties with the fairy tale? Definitely. There is a ball, a glass slipper, a prince, and a toiling girl named Cinderella (I mean Cynthia), but that's about it. Which is absolutely fine: folk tales are intrinsically changeable. The famous Disney film took incredible liberties with the story: the Grimm's collected tale "Ashenputtel" contained no fairy godmother at all, but a magic tree (which hinted at the ghostly existence of Cinderella's dead mother) that shook down magical dresses from its enchanted leaves.

Although the step-mother's evil intentions towards Cinderella are creepily palpable in the Disney version of the story, the film actually sapped the original tale of some of its darker elements (in the original tale, the step-sisters don't just get their hopes dashed, they get their feet bloodied and their eyes pecked out). The Prince's Diary goes a step further in lightening the story and gives us a cheery, unflappable Miss, who although apparently barred from the ball by her step-mother (and who doesn't make a gown-decked appearance at all), never lets her spirits droop and who never stops smiling.

Smile or no smile, the big question we must ask any version of the famous tale is this: does Cindy get her man? If a horse ride, shared blackberry scones, and furious step-relations are any indication, then this "Cinderella" hints at a happy ending worthy of all its predecessors. Elizabeth Dulemba's comical, perky drawings and Renee Ting's sweet text make this picture book a wonderful addition to the Cinderella tradition.