Ella's Big Chance

Bibliographical information: "Ella's Big Change"
Author and illustrator: Shirley Hughes
Publisher: The Bodley Head, published in Great Britain. 2003.
Genre: Picture book/ fairy tale.

Plot: Shirley Hughes retells the beloved tale of Cinderella with a few alterations. Mr. Cinders owns a small dress shop, and sells beautiful dresses to people from all over the world. Mr. Cinder's wife passes away, leaving him with his daughter, Ella. Eventually, Mr. Cinders marries a snotty woman with two rude, yet beautiful daughters.The mother and her girls mistreat Ella and always take advantage of her. They force her to stitch all the dresses in the shop, and make her sleep in a cramped up basement. The father who is very loving and caring, is unable to speak against the actions of his new wife and stepdaughters. Buttons, a young man, is the only person to take Ella's side. One day, the Duke and his mother come into town. Later, an invitation to a ball was announced. Sadly, the mother does not let Ella attend the ball despite the fact the invitation said that everybody was invited. Broken hearted, Ella tries to forget about it. However, with the help of a Fairy God Mother, her cat, and a little magic, Ella is transformed into a princess. There is one catch to all of this: Ella can go to the ball. At the ball, the Duke falls in love with her, but is unable to win her over for two reasons. 1. She runs away and 2. She falls in love with someone else. Unlike the original version of Cinderella, Ella ends up marrying another man. To find out who Ella married, check out this book at your library!

Themes: Not all fairy tales have to end with the girl marrying a prince.
The type of person you are is all that matters, not your title or status.

Illustrations: According to Hughes, her artwork is done in gouache color with pen line. Her ball scenes are influenced by the dance sequences in the R.K.O. Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger movies. I was impressed to read that the dresses which the father made, were actually the illustrator's design. The dresses were inspired by French couturiers during the 1920's such as Douchet, Poiret and Patou. In addition, Hughes captures the rude and snottish behavior of the mother and the daughter. They are bony, tall and lanky. Their eyebrows are always furrowed like they are angry.

Reflection: I believe that this is the type of book a teacher can read aloud to a class. It would be a bit too hard for them to read on their own. (depending on the age level) I really liked the ending of this fairy tale because Ella does not end up with the prince like in the orginal story. Instead, she falls for a man who always had feelings for her. This is a wonderful book to read to children of all ages. Young children learn that they should accept someone for the type of person they are, and older children learn what true love really means.

Extension Activity: Suppose you want to write your own version of Cinderella, what would you name your characters? How would your story end? Explain why you made these changes. As a fun group activity, or with your child at home, write your own story of Cinderella.