Cinderelliot: A Scrumptious Fairytale

by Mark Ceilley, Rachel Smoka-Richardson, Stephanie Laberis (Illustrator)

Overview

A 2023 ALA Rainbow Book List Book!

A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale—a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.

Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings insist that Cinderelliot bake their entries, leaving no time for he, himself, to compete. Fairy Godfather Ludwig appears and magically helps Cinderelliot bake his best chocolate cake, clean up, and get to the competition via limo. At the bake-off, Prince Samuel falls in love with Cinderelliot's cake, but our hero has to run off as the clock strikes midnight, leaving behind his chef hat. The next day, Prince Samuel searches the kingdom for the owner of the hat and finds that it fits perfectly on Cinderelliot's head. The prince is delighted to find not only his new baker but also the man of his dreams, and Cinderelliot creates a magnificent wedding cake—and the two live scrumptiously ever after.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762499595
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mark Ceilley earned his MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University. He has taught Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, and Second grades, and is currently a reading interventionist. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his husband. This is his first picture book.

Rachel Smoka-Richardson has a MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her free time, Rachel loves to read, craft, travel, and hang out with her husband and sweet rescue dogs at their Minneapolis home. This is her first picture book.

Stephanie Laberis is a California-based artist and RISD alumna, specializing in kidlit illustration and character design for animation. When she's not drawing, Steph volunteers at her local wildlife hospital or spends quality time with her beloved cats, rats, and mice.

 

Editorial Reviews

"A fairy-tale retelling with a sprinkle of gender swapping (and actual sprinkles)....Shamelessly saccharine and delightfully queer."—Kirkus Reviews

"Always room for one more happy ending, and the fairy godfather is truly scrumptious."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

06/03/2022

PreS-K—Yellow-teethed and rude, Cinderelliot's stepsiblings eyeball his patisserie-level baked goods and scream shrewishly for him to make them goodies to enter into a competition, which he does. Neville and Gertrude, who are pale with dark hair, head off to the palace with his treats, and just as Cinderelliot is about to slip into self-pity, a spectacular-looking man appears, a bit Elton John circa 1970s with wings, and gives our boy the confidence to create the tiered chocolate treat to beat, plus the loan of a limo for delivery. Prince Samuel, a bewildered brown-skinned royal batting interlopers such as Neville and Gertrude away, locks eyes with Cinderelliot, and that's pretty much it. Yes, there is the slipping on of a lost chef's toque, and then these two wed and bake happily ever after. It's a fluffy trifle of a familiar story and readers will see the ending coming a kingdom away. VERDICT Always room for one more happy ending, and the fairy godfather is truly scrumptious; for all ages.—Kimberly Olson Fakih

School Library Journal

2022-04-13
A fairy-tale retelling with a sprinkle of gender swapping (and actual sprinkles!).

Cinderelliot absolutely adores baking, from measuring ingredients to putting on the finishing touches. But as (ful)filling as baking can be, Cinderelliot wishes for more—for someone to love him as much as they love what he bakes. Unfortunately, his stepsiblings don't fit that bill, though they do love his desserts—so much so that when the prince holds a competition to choose a new palace baker, the cruel pair demand that Cinderelliot make pastries that they can pass off as their own. Readers can guess what comes next—a desperate wish to attend the competition granted by a stylishly besuited fairy godfather; instant sparks with the smitten, sweet-toothed prince; and a midnight dash leaving only a chef's hat behind. Gender play in fairy-tale retellings is hardly new, and some elements are a bit overdone here, but the baking spin and dash of fluffy romance sealed with a kiss on the cheek keep the plot from going stale. Animated illustrations look as though they might jump off the page with cascades of color and all the frenetic energy one expects of a sugar-charged adventure. Cinderelliot and his stepsiblings are light-skinned, and Prince Samuel is dark-skinned along with a smattering of background cast in the palace. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Shamelessly saccharine and delightfully queer. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews