Cinderlily Ages 5-9

Where have all the flowers gone? They’re dancing up a storm in this whimsical, wondrous rendition of a well-known fairy tale, created by the one and only David Ellwand.

For hours beneath the velvet sky they dance without a care,
Until the clock chimes midnight . . . then she’s no longer there!
Just a single lily petal and her fragrance in the air.

One magic night, a poor cinder girl is granted an impossible wish. It may be the most familiar of tales, but under the inimitable wand of David Ellwand, this timeless story blooms as never before. Here, the innocent heroine is a delicate flower, a lily whose faded petals spring to new life as she arrives at the Sultan’s ball in a butterfly-drawn coach. When the smitten Prince sets out in search of the shy, retiring flower who has vanished into thin air, leaving but a petal behind, it’s clear that Cinderlily’s comically garish, pansy-faced stepsisters won’t stand a chance.

With singular vision, humor, and a touch of computer magic, David Ellwand directs a delightfully expressive cast of flowers in a breathtaking production sure to enchant lovers of fairy tales - and lovers of flowers, too.

Cinderlily: A Floral Fairy Tale in Three Acts

By David Ellwand, Christine Tagg, Charles Perrault

Illustrated by David Ellwand, Christine Tagg

Contributor David Ellwand, Christine Tagg

Edition: illustrated

Published by Candlewick Press, 2003

ISBN 0763623288, 9780763623289

32 pages

Waving his digital wand, Ellwand poses ...

... balletic figures made from flower parts against black backgrounds for an uncommonly elegant, theatrical rendition of the fairy tale. Just an upended stem with slender, graceful lily stamens for ... more » limbs and a twist of dried petals for dress, Cinderlily arrives at the Sultan's palace in a pumpkin coach with sunflower wheels; those petals open to dazzling white curls as she enters, and she leaves one behind when they revert at midnight. In the pared-down plot, the Sultan, quite dashing in his iris-petal pantaloons, quickly tracks Cinderlily down, upon which her stepsisters, instead of suffering just deserts, merely slip offstage. Written in stumbling meter and printed in a set of ornate typefaces, the text doesn't measure up to the inventive art—but children will know how the story goes anyway. An eye-catcher. (Picture book/folktale. 7, 8, 9)

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K-Gr 3, Ages 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -In this visually intriguing twist ...

... on the traditional tale, Ellwand has replaced the human protagonists with flowers. Using Adobe Photoshop, he has arranged lilies, pansies, tulips, roses, and other petals in graceful poses against ... more » stark black backgrounds. While the pictures are technically well executed, it is unlikely they will engender other than a passing interest in children. Tagg's text, written in reasonably well-rhymed couplets, is thin on plot, character development, and imagery. In addition, the alterations she makes in the original tale are incongruous. The prince has become a Sultan, but nonetheless the "band strikes up a waltz" at his Royal Autumn Ball. The fonts, which change frequently in an apparent attempt to match the action of the story, are often hard to read, particularly when placed against those black backgrounds. For a more effective use of natural objects as characters, stay with Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffer's How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods (Scholastic, 1999).-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

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