The Korean Cinderella, by Shirley Climo - Traditional Literature

The book The Korean Cinderella starts off in much the same way that other Cinderella stories start off, with a father and mother having a long awaited for child, the mother dying, and the father searching for a stepmother for the little child. In this story, the stepmother brings in one stepsister, and mother and stepsister alike treat Pear Blossom (Cinderella) with meanness. They dress her in rags, make her do all their work, and call her Pigling! Her father is still alive, however, but he is to old to do anything to save his daughter from the evil and malicious clutches of the stepmother and stepsister! Still, with a little help from some magical animals, a lost straw slipper, and the “love at first sight” of a rich magistrate, Pear Blossom eventually lives happily ever after.

The author notes that in Korea there are several different versions of Cinderella and that this is just one of them. The author also let the reader know in the “Author Notes” how the Korean versions of Cinderella use Tokgabi’s (or goblins) in their stories and how in Korea these are viewed as the spirits of kind people who has passed on. The illustrator notes the work that she did to prepare for this story, but talking about how she visited many Korean cultural festivals and activities in order to accurately portray the Korean colors, symbols, and styles as they would have been depicted 300 years ago.

The illustrations have an “other world” and “heavenly” quality to them when Pear Blossom is being helped by the magical Tokgabis. In these illustrations all of the animals and nature itself is larger than normal in perspective to the characters in the story. Nature and the animals almost seem to be saying that no problem is unsolvable for Pear Blossom because she has a good heart. Pear Blossom is always shown lower on the pages when she is in the illustrations with her stepmother and stepsister, almost to point out to the reader how severe her life is and how inferior they are trying to make her. This changes with the entrance and proposal of marriage from the magistrate. At this point and throughout the rest of the book, she is in equal stature or higher than her stepmother or stepsister, pointing out to the reader that Pear Blossom is no longer under the tyranny of the “negative” duo. The most interesting picture in the book, in my opinion, is the picture of the festival in the village. There is so much activity going on that Pear Blossom forgets about her missing shoe, her mean-hearted stepmother and stepsister, and the fright with the magistrate. The illustrator makes the festival come to life for the reader by using bright colors, wavy and curvy lines, and may diagonal lines and angles. The placement of human figures all over the page in various places doing various things really draws the reader to the conclusion that this if a fantastic festival with so much excitement and nonstop movement!

I know that there really is no Cinderella story, at least not like what I have read about in fairytales. Sure, I have an idea that in history, at sometime, a girl and a boy of higher esteem fell in love and married. Nothing like today’s love stories, however. Still, I find myself drawn to this type of story with a passion. If I see a different version of Cinderella that I haven’t read, I pick it up instantly and read it as if I were eating chocolate candy for the first time. This story has that sweetness that I would expect in a Cinderella book (a mistreated girl finds love and honor with a wealthy man who wants to live happily ever after with her for the rest of his days). What more could the world ask for?