Estrellita De Oro/Little Gold Star A Cinderella Cuento

Joe Hayes tells one of the world's favorite folktales in Spanish and English. The Cinderella story is common to cultures the world over. Spanish settlers brought the tale to the New World centuries ago, and through many tellings it evolved into Little Gold Star. Like every Cinderella tale, Little Gold Star is a wonderful celebration of the human spirit. As always, the kind heroine triumphs over her envious stepmother and stepsisters. But in this humorous version, the teller weaves the enchanting elements of the story to show us how the inner qualities of the characters are revealed in their appearance. Each girl has an encounter with a magical hawk. When the heroine is kind to the bird, she receives a gold star on her forehead; but when her spiteful sisters go in search of their own gold stars, one is rewarded with a donkey's ear and the other gets a cow's horn. You can just imagine how a prince would feel about asking those two stepsisters to be his bride! "Hayes, a veteran folklorist, offers an engaging telling of Cinderella that is popular in the mountain communities of New Mexico. There are some significant variations that add depth to the story, making it in many ways more interesting than the original...The English text, which is made full-bodied by its many details, appears with a Spanish translation. The impressive acrylic illustrations, done in a sturdy folk-art style, are thick with color and bright with humor." -Booklist "The telling, in both English and a charming colloquial Spanish, is crisp, lively and individual. It is well matched by the primitive, acrylic-on-art board paintings that blend vivid colors with strong lines to impel the movement of the story. The unique flavor of this retelling from the American Southwest makes this not only a good introduction to the teller's art, but also an engaging entrée into Hispanic culture." -School Library JournalHayes, Joe is the author of 'Estrellita De Oro/Little Gold Star A Cinderella Cuento' with ISBN 9780938317685 and ISBN 0938317687.