#211 of 1001 · February 27, 2021

Here’s the final post in my week of Cinderella books! This has been a delightful experiment, and I would love to repeat it in the near future with another tale type. This last version comes from illustrator Kinuko Y. Craft, whose lyrical writing voice delves deeply and sensitively into her heroine’s emotional life. An array of truly sumptuous paintings rendered in oil over watercolor produce an atmosphere of gilded, shimmering fantasy. A note for folklore enthusiasts: the front matter lists as sources the renditions of “Cinderella” in The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book and Andrew Lang’s The Blue Fairy Book. Both texts are in fact relatively close translations of Perrault’s French original. Craft departs from tradition with a chance encounter between Cinderella and the prince in the forest at the start of the story. She also weaves threads of tantalizing mystery into her distinctive portrayal of the fairy godmother, who initially appears in the form of a bird, and whose drop-waist gown and beaded headpiece, in contrast to the surrounding early modern French fashion, give off a subtly futuristic sensibility. #cinderella #glass #slipper #fairy #godmother #fairygodmother #magic #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks