Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 4:11
Cinderella
Cinderella sweeps the cinders, a fairy godmother works pumpkin magic, and one glass slipper does the rest. A warm bedtime retelling of Perrault's tale.
Narrator
Cinderella
The Stepmother
The Elder Sister
The Younger Sister
The Fairy Godmother
The PrinceOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
Cinderella is a folk tale told all over the world; this version follows Charles Perrault's Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper, published in France in 1697, with its fairy godmother, pumpkin coach, midnight deadline and glass slippers. It keeps Perrault's two balls and his forgiving ending, where Cinderella pardons her stepsisters. The Brothers Grimm's Aschenputtel (1812) ends much more harshly for the sisters; that ending is left out here.
What it teaches
Kindness and grace are worth more than fine clothes or good looks. Cinderella stays gentle when people are unkind to her, and when she wins, she forgives instead of getting even.
Suits
Ages 4–9
Tips for telling it
- Count the twelve bongs of midnight together, getting faster and faster.
- Let your child guess what each animal will turn into before the godmother taps it.
- Afterwards, ask why Cinderella forgave her sisters, and whether that was easy.
Questions people ask
- What is the moral of Cinderella?
- Kindness and good grace matter more than beauty or riches. Perrault's own rhyming moral says graciousness is a greater gift than good looks, and Cinderella shows it by forgiving the sisters who mistreated her.
- Who wrote Cinderella?
- Cinderella is an old folk tale with versions in many countries. The best-known written versions are Charles Perrault's (France, 1697) and the Brothers Grimm's Aschenputtel (Germany, 1812); one of the oldest relatives is the Chinese story of Ye Xian, written down in the 9th century.
- Are the glass slippers in the original Cinderella?
- Yes. Glass slippers come from Perrault, whose title is literally Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper. In the Grimms' version there is no fairy godmother, and the slipper she loses is made of gold.
More Fairy tales
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The Golden Goose
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Kind-hearted Simpleton shares his lunch, finds a goose with golden feathers, and leads a parade of stuck people to a princess who never laughs.
