The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story

The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story by Judy Sierra & Illustrated by Reynold Ruffins

I choose The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story as a traditional story which echos a European traditional story with which I am familiar.

The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story  is set in the Spice Islands in Indonesia and follows what most Westerns will recognize as the "Cinderella Story".  A lovely young woman named Damura mother dies and her father  marries another woman.  The new wife is quickly revealed to be evil and cruel, her daughter and herself treating Damura as a servant.  While she is washing clothes in a river, a magical talking crocodile gives Damura a lovely silver sarong when her own is lost. When a dance given by a local prince is announced, her stepsister decides to wear the silver sarong as her own.  Damura, sad because she will not be able to go to the dance with nothing to wear, goes to the crocodile who gives her a golden sarong and matching shoes.  However, she must return home before the rooster crows.  She attends the dance and enchants the prince, but must run away when the rooster crows.  The prince's only clue to her identity is the golden shoe that she mistakenly leaves behind.  With the shoe, he travels the land to find its owner, which, of course, is Damura.  After they are re-united, they marry.  Her stepmother and stepsister remain insanely jealous of Damura and throw her into the river to be eaten by a crocodile, hoping that the stepsister will become the prince's new love.  When the magic crocodile hears of this, she orders the other crocodile to spit out Damura and to hunt down the stepmother and stepsister.  Damura and the prince are re-united and the stepmother and stepsister are never heard from again.

The similarities to the Cinderella story with which I am familiar are clear.  The basic story and characters could be taken right out of the Disney version (minus talking mice of course).  The differences are in the setting and the end, in which the stepmother & stepsister try to kill the Cinderella-like character in a last-ditch attempt at "winning" the prince.  Since they are so similar, I wondered if this book was an attempt at creation of multi-cultural literature that modern educators are seeking (Horning, 50) and not a traditional tale at all?  However, on the last page of the book, the author has included an extensive source note which not only cites the source of the original story but also explains the background of the story and why there are so many similar "Cinderella" stories around the world.  I found it very interesting that evidence shows that spice traders from Asia traveled around the globe, bringing with them stories from their own lands and those that they visited.  Since the first recorded Cinderella story was from China, it is quite possible that this tale was re-told  and re-interpreted in the countries on the spice trade routes and beyond.  This does not refute the idea that similar tales sprung up due to the universality of human experience.  The tale was so popular because of this very reason, which led to its endurance.  The extensive source notes in this book are a good example of why their inclusion is so important in traditional tales.

Since this is an illustrated book, it is important to make a few observations on the images.  The paintings are bright, with vivid colors portraying a tropical locale.  Mood is conveyed through color and light.  For instance, in the scene in which Damura's mother is on her deathbed, her mother's bed is surrounded by darkness.  We know that death is near, but that the light shining on Damura and her mother symbolizes the importance of these last few moments together.  The scenes by the river are often dark, conveying mystery and sometimes, danger.  One issue with the illustrations is that some of the paintings do not convey the same message as the text.  For instance, the first sarong that is given to Damura is described as silver.  In the painting, the sarong is blue.  While this is not a huge difference, it does contradict the idea of illustrations supporting and further conveying the text.  When they contradict one another, it is almost as if the illustrator hasn't read the text.

This book would be a wonderful read-aloud to support multi-cultural stories or a unit on folklore, in particular if the source information is shared with students.  I believe that it is particularly well suited to primary grade students.

Source: Horning, Kathleen T. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. New York: Collins, 2010. Print.