Prince Cinders (Sandcastle)

by Babette Cole

Book Overview

Take a classic story, substitute a few key ingredients, season freely with silliness and imagination, dress it all up in jaunty illustrations, and you get this story! Copyright ? Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399218823
• ISBN13: 9780399218828
• Release Date: April 1992
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 9.0" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

A charming prince.

This is one of the most charming and funny modern rewrites of a fairy tale IÕve ever read. In this version, the poor over-worked kid with the wicked stepsiblings is a boy, Prince Cinders. Just like Cinderella, he does all the dirty work around the house, while his three big, handsome (well, they think they are anyway) brothers go out dancing and carousing. Also like Cinderella, Cinders has a fairy godmother. Unfortunately, his fairy seems to lack any qualifications for the job, and in trying to turn him into a big, hairy, hypermasculine hunk like his brothers, she messes up and turns him into ape. I wonÕt go into all the details, but after he loses his pants (no glass slipper here), a clever and beautiful princess chooses him over the big, hairy hunks. The gender switch is clever, and food for thought. But this book works because itÕs just a terrific story with a central character whoÕs a real charmer, and the illustrations are laugh-out-loud funny. My daughter and I both love this book.

Prince Cinders

Prince Cinders, a children's book written by Babette Cole, is a very charming spoof of "Cinderella." It is the story of a boy, Prince Cinders, who is forced to be a slave for his three older, hairy brothers. The illustrations fit the story perfectly. When the fairy accidentally turns "Prince Cinders" into a big, scary, ape the illustrations showed it. And when he looked into the mirror and thought that he looked like a prince dressed in a tux, the illustrations showed that too. I don't think that I could have ever imagined the absurd things that the story conveys had the author not drawn them this way. The illustrations are delightful and colorful. They made it so that I could really identify with "Prince Cinders." The best thing about this story is that even though the "dirty fairy" got all of the spells wrong, things work out for Prince Cinders in the end. Not only are the brothers punished for what they have done to their brother, but the punishments also fit the crimes.

Another great twist on the Cinderella story

In this Cinderella story, Cinderella goes by the name of Prince Cinders. He looks like the "before" picture in an ad for a mail order body-building course, while his big and hairy older brothers look like the "after" picture. The older brothers party all night at the Palace Disco with their princess girlfriends, while Prince Cinders cleans up their beer cans, cigarette butts, and macho magazines. One night, while Prince Cinders is doing a load of dirty socks, a fairy drops down the chimney. She tries to make all his wishes come true. She changes a crumpled beer can into a red sports car, a toy red sports car, that is. "That can't be right," the fairy muses. She gives him a new suit to wear to the Palace Disco -- a swim suit. Finally, she makes him big and hairy, like his brothers, sort of. Now he's a big hairy ape wearing a swimsuit! The fairy is pretty sure the spell will wear off by midnight. In the meantime, Prince Cinders admires himself in the mirror -- he sees a dashing prince in an Armani suit -- and hops on (not in) the little red sports car to check out the Palace Disco. He's so big that he can't fit in the door. He wisely decides to take the bus home, and bumps into pretty Princess Lovelypenny. "Luckily, midnight struck and Prince Cinders changed back into himself. The princess thought he had saved her by frightening away the big hairy monkey. 'Wait!' she shouted, but Prince Cinders was too shy. He even lost his trousers in the rush!" Soon all the princes in the land are standing around in their underwear, waiting for the chance to try on the trousers. Of course, these trousers only fit a scrawny guy like Prince Cinders. He tries them on; they fit, and Prince Cinders and Princess Lovelypenny are wed. The princess tells the fairy about the way Prince Cinders' older brothers used to treat him, and suddenly they are turned into house fairies, in charge of keeping the palace spic and span forever. My four year old son loves this story, especially the illustration of Prince Cinders as the big hairy ape, peering through the window at the royalty dancing at the Palace Disco. My six year old daughter likes Princess Lovelypenny's leopard print outfit. Both my kids think being doomed to clean the palace forever is a fate worse than death, and from the expressions on the faces of the house fairies, Prince Cinders's brothers would probably agree.

Prince Cinders is a nice spin on a classy tale

Prince cinders is a laugh out loud book that should be shared with kids of all ages. Prince Cinders is a clumsy, unsure-of-himself kind of guy who is bullied by his macho brothers. However things start to turn around when Prince Cinders looses his trousers and meets a Princess. The author does a great job of turning an all too common tale into one that is once again entertaining.