Babette Cole’s wonderful text and illustrations are full of humour and can be appreciated just as much by adults as by children. This is a humorous retelling of the Cinderella story with some wonderfully, original twists, a male main character and a fairy (dressed as a schoolgirl!) whose spells don’t work as they should. They only fit Prince Cinders and he marries Princess Lovelypenny (the fairy turns his brothers into palace cleaning fairies). Prince Cinders loses his trousers in his haste to get away from the princess so next day all the princes try them on. His monkey appearance frightens Princess Lovelypenny but then midnight strikes and he becomes his shy, skinny self again.
Her spells don’t go quite as planned and Prince Cinders can’t get into the Rock’n Royal Bash as he looks like a large monkey. One evening a dirty fairy falls down the chimney and tries to grant his wishes – he wants to be like his brothers. The Story: Shy Prince Cinders does all the housework while his brothers are at the disco. Lastly, this book is great for showing how our culture has taken a popular traditional story like Cinderella and tailored it to fit our culture today.Prince Cinders isn’t your archetypal dashing prince (unlike his three, large, hairy brothers) but with the help of a dirty fairy he does get his happy ending! It is also a great choice for children who are looking for a humorous read that plays off of a story that they most likely are fairly acquainted with. This is a great option to engage boys and girls alike in reading and examining the Cinderella story elements as a whole. Some of the humorous elements include the brothers going to “Palace Disco with their princess girlfriends” and how while Prince Cinders wishes he could be like his brothers he’s reading a book entitled “Use Bicepto Cream”. This is important since many Cinderella books are primarily targeted towards girls. The protagonist, Prince Cinders, widens the target audience to boys as well as girls. It maintains most of the necessary components to be considered a Cinderella story, but also puts a humorous spin on the story that most children have heard numerous times. This book plays off of the traditional Cinderella. Awards Won: 1987 Kate Greenaway Medal Nominee.
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