Interstellar Cinderella – Perfect Picture Book Friday

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interTitle: Interstellar Cinderella

Written by: Deborah Underwood

Illustrated by: Meg Hunt

Published by: Chronicle Books LLC, 2015

Themes/Topics: retelling fairytales, Cinderella, outer space, rhyme

Suitable for ages: 4-8

40 pages

Opening:

Once upon a planetoid,
amid her tools and sprockets,
a girl named Cinderella dreamed
of fixing fancy rockets.

Synopsis:

This space Cinders doesn’t sweep and sew but she has the galactic skills to mend pretty much anything mechanical and in her free moments studies ship repair. The classes step family of their best to prevent Cinders attending the Prince’s Royal Space Parade but her fairy godrobot saves the show with a new set of tools and an atomic space suit. Her snazzy new socket wrench proves the perfect tool to mend the Prince’s ailing space ship.

Well the next is hisherstory, except the twist at the end puts this space Cinderella straight onto the Mighty Girls list, in my book.

Why I like This Book:

This retelling of the classic fairytale is narrated in rhyming stanzas that scan perfectly and race at stellar pace across these galactic pages. Who can resist a cosmic mechanic AND a robot mouse called Murgatroyd?! My favorite verse is:

Cinderella struggled,
but the space rope held her tight,
til Murgatroyd’s robotic teeth
cut through it with one bite.

The outer space setting combined with the practical nerdy heroine and tecnho wordplay make this a very pleasurable read-aloud for listener and reader. Note: when I am eager to reread the book straight away that is a sure sign of a winner for me! I can’t fault a picture book author who manages to use the word sprocket in their text. Brava, Deborah Underwood!

The details in the illustrations are also sublime. I personally loved the end papers with all their tools like a plasma pump and cosmicaliper!

Activities/Resources:

I think this setting is so awesome, I would challenge older children to retell other fairytales using the outer space theme.

Each week a group of bloggers reviews picture books we feel would make great educational reads. To help teachers, caregivers and parents, we have included resources and activities with each of our reviews. A complete list of the thousands of books we have reviewed can be found sorted alphabetically and by topics, here on Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

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13 Responses to Interstellar Cinderella – Perfect Picture Book Friday

  1. Oh, my goodness! I am always ready for a new Cinderella, and this one is “out of this world”! What fun! Thanks for pointing it out to me!

  2. I’ve been anxious to read this since it was featured on a Spring 2015 best books preview! Thanks for the sneak peek.

  3. Clarbojahn says:

    I saw this book when I was looking at Princess books to read at my princess ball I got to sign books at. I read it in the library standing up while browsing. It is a great selection and will be popular with the new breed of girls. Smart and saucy.

    Thanks for introducing this to us!

  4. Wow! I love this interstellar retelling of Cinderella. Kids will too! I like strong girls. Can’t wait to read it. Love the cover.

  5. What a fresh twist on an old story!! STEM+rhyming+fairy tale = genius. I have not seen this one. Deborah Underwood is amazing.

  6. Amazing how a great tale can be retold in so many ways – really does fascinate me – and I look forward to seeing what whimsy Deborah brings to it!

  7. Catherine says:

    I can’t wait to get this. It’s perfect for H. Great review, Joanna.

  8. This book looks FUN! definitely going to look for it… because who can resist yet another non-princess? Now we need to come up with a new jump-rope chant. What rhymes with Interstellar? Anyone?

  9. Keila Dawson says:

    Oh yeah, Cinderella 2015. Can’t wait to read this one.

  10. Nathalie says:

    I’m simply amazed by the creativity of the writer! I can’t wait to check that book out. Thanks for the review, Joanna.

  11. Erik - TKRB says:

    This sounds utterly amazing! 😀

  12. Pingback: Good Night Baddies – Perfect Picture Book Friday | Miss Marple's Musings

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