The Korean Cinderella

Following The Egyptian Cinderella , Climo and Heller conflate several Korean variants of Cinderella to offer up the story of Pear Blossom, a lovely girl who is sorely mistreated by her nasty stepmother and stepsister. Climo's engaging reworking lends familiar thematic elements an Asian twist: the evil stepmother saddles Pear Blossom with such impossible tasks as picking up scattered grains of rice and weeding an enormous rice paddy; the girl's magical helpers include a tokgabi , or goblin; she loses one straw sandal on the way to the village festival. At once comfortingly familiar and intriguingly exotic, the text is especially noteworthy for its instructive but unobtrusive incorporation of Korean words. Heller's illustrations, based on extensive research of Korean art, are filled with images of enchanted animals, traditional costumes and, of course, pear blossoms. Lavish geometric borders combine intense greens, oranges and purples; the spreads, while making use of Western perspectives, retain a busy, Asian sense of pattern. Endnotes by both author and illustrator amplify the cultural context. Ages 4-8. (May)