This Korean Cinderella post is for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) announced the theme for the 2016 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is “Walk Together, Embrace Differences, Build Legacies.“

Korean Cinderella Compare/Contrast

Free PDF Compare-contrast-Cinderella-and-Korean-Cinderella

The Korean folk story for children, Korean Cinderella by Edward B. Adams, is quite different from the American version. Dozens of countries have their own version of this story, and they are very interesting to compare and contrast. I’m assuming you know the American version. At this link is an online Cinderella book, and either read or listen may be selected. The Korean version (online YouTube story read aloud at this link) may surprise you. We have had and loved our book for many years as my daughter is adopted from South Korea. Her hanbok (dress) is in the photo with the book covers, above.

In the Korean story, Pear Blossom has only one step-sister and no fairy godmother. However, a black cow helps her weed the field one day when she is only given a wooden hoe with which to work, and it breaks. Stepmother is mad the work was done and still won’t give her supper, though. Then Pear Blossom has to carry water in a jug, but the jug is broken. A toad helps plug the hole in the jug. When there is rice to hull, birds come and help. There is also a magic weaving maid from beyond the Milky Way who weaves the 40 yards of cloth that must be finished in a day. So along the way, there is magic, but very different from the American version. She has to walk to her uncle’s house as there is no castle or coach in this version. She does lose a red shoe, not a glass slipper, and then you can imagine the rest as it has a similar ending.

The printable has cards to help students compare and contrast the two stories. They are so different there are no exact parallels but a great discussion is sure to take place. Korea’s Favorite Tales and Lyrics includes the Cinderella story, but in much greater detail with more events, tension, and surprises for the reader.

The next video shows some of the cards in the printable.

Thank you for reading, Carolyn

Little Art City on the Prairie: Impressions of Faulkton South Dakota

Written by I. Reid, Gary L. Wilhelm, and Carolyn Wilhelm, Cover Illustrator Pieter Els

The beauty of the prairie and the loveliness of the area inspired the main author, I. Reid. Faulkton is an example of a city that refused to simply exist (and perhaps become obsolete) and turned to its arts council for ideas.

A Mom: What is an Adoptive Mother? Children’s Book

What is a mother? A mother is the same whether children are adopted or biological. In this story, the child has been adopted. It is written from the viewpoint of the child to help explain mother is the same in any family. Mom helps check under the bed for monsters, reads books, and watches movies with the girl. She does the same things every mother does. Visually, the images show a white mother and an Asian daughter. The main author, I-Reid, has previously written blog posts for this blog, and now she has written her first children’s picture book.