Written by Andrea Cefalo, author of The Fairytale Keeper series
While Cinderella is one of the most widely known tales, here are a few facts about it that are not…
1. From Russia to India and Vietnam to Scotland, nations from all over the world have their own traditional telling of the Cinderella story. A few examples of titles are The Story of Tam and Cam (Vietnam), Baba Yaga (Russia), The Saddleslut (Greece), Pepelyouga (Serbia), Ashey Pelt (Ireland), and Conkiajgharuna (Georgia).
2. Many Native American tribes fused the European Cinderella with their own legends to create unique versions of the tale. For example, Mi’kmaq Native Americans combined the French Cinderella with their own legends to come up with a version called The Invisible One. Some other Native American versions include The Turkey Herd and The Rough-Faced Girl.
3. The tale was first recorded in 9th century China by Tuan Che’ng-shih, but the tone of the tale suggests it was already a well-known story to its readers. That makes the story at least 1,140 years old!
4. The next recording didn’t come until over eight hundred years later when Charles Perrault of France published it in 1697. This version is the one Americans are most familiar with. That’s probably because it is kinder than most other versions which result in the maiming or killing of the wicked stepsisters in the end.
5. There are approximately 1,500 versions of the tale when one includes retellings, movies, musicals, operas, and picture books!
Resources:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html
THE WRITER-LY WORLD OF ANDREA CEFALO 