Paul Fleischman

“Author’s Note”

"A chameleon changes color to match its surroundings. Stories do the same. The earliest recorded Cinderella tale is thought to date from ninth-century China. Traveling across the glove, it changed its clothes but not its essence. Rivalry, injustice and the dream of wrongs righted are universal, no matter our garments. When the story reached France, it acquired the glass slippers and coachmen-mice familiar to Western readers. More than a thousand other versions are known. I pictured a book that would let us listen in on the tale-tellers we don’t often hear, who’ve breathed this story to life around fires of peat and pinon pine, swinging in hammocks and snuggling under deerskins.”

Beautifully illustrated children’s book with each sentence of the familiar Cinderella story told in multiple ways, reflecting the culture from which each version sprung.

Lovely – highly recommended!… (mer)

This is a smile and laugh out loud book. Wesley certainly does not fit the mold as a "normal" young adult. While he runs away from the bullies, he also has a wonderful self concept that enables him to hold on to the wonderful things that others call abnormal.

When school is out and summer approaches, Wesley decides to build his own garden. As the flowers grow to high levels, he smiles and decides to create his own civilization including a unique language, clothing, food, and anything else that he can credit as a differently and unique.

When the bullies realize they cannot change him, they watch him closely, and decide they might benefit from his teachings.
Soon, they become part of his civilization so that by the time school rolls around again, they all walk , talk, play their own games, and they dress differently.

This is a well-deserved Newberry Medal Award winner

The reader cannot help but admire Wesley.… (mer)