The Egyptian Cinderella

Climo has woven this ancient tale, a mixture of fact and myth, with clarity and eloquence. The beauty of the language is set off to perfection by Heller's arresting illustrations. A stunning combination of fluent prose and exquisitely wrought illustrations that makes] a winner for story hours, as well as a useful resource for the study of Cinderella through the ages. — SLJ.

Notable 1989 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)

Rhodopis, a Greek slave in ancient Egypt, is given a pair of rose-red slippers by her kindly old master. When a falcon swoops down and soars away with one of them, she is heartbroken. Little does she know that the falcon will deliver her slipper to the great Pharaoh himself, who will search Egypt to find its owner.

Shirley Climo's love of folklore began in her childhood and has provided the background for many of her children's books, such as The Korean Cinderella, Magic & Mischief: Tales from Cornwall, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World, A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World, and Someone Saw a Spider: Spider Facts and Folktales, an NCTE Teacher's Choice and Library of Congress Best Children's Book that was originally inspired by her research for Cobweb Christmas. Mrs. Climo and her husband live in Los Altos, California.

In Her Own Words...

"To write children's books always seemed the most wonderful goal in the world to me-and the most natural. My earliest memories are of being rocked in a creaky wicker swing while my mother, a children's book author, tried out various versions of her stories. Long before I could read, I'd begun telling my own tales to anyone willing to listen.

"I grew up, raised three children, a half dozen dogs, a clutch of cats, a horse, and a straggle of chickens. Each new addition provided story-telling material, and many two-legged and four-legged household members found their way into print. Even more important, I found that writing for young people was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped.

"My first book was Piskies, Spriggans and Other Magical Beings, a collection of folklore. My latest book is a revised and newly illustrated edition of Cobweb Christmas. Like the tradition of tinsel itself, the story of the spider's Christmas has become a part of holiday celebrations around the world. Its message of kindness to animals is as fresh today as it was when Cobweb Christmas was first told in Germany over two hundred years ago. In the twenty years between those two books, I've written picture books for the just-in-school set, chapter books for primary readers, story collections and nonfiction for middle grades, novels for preteens, and four retellings of the Cinderella theme — Egyptian, Korean, Irish, and Persian. I seldom stray very far or for very long from the favorite folktales of my childhood.

"A century ago, folklorist Andrew Lang said, "Nobody can write a new fairy tale; you can only mix up the old stories and put the characters into new dresses."

"For me, playing dress-up is fun at any age. "