The Irish Cinderlad

by Shirley Climo, Loretta Krupinski (Illustrator)

Overview

“A robust story of courage and danger” (Booklist). “A must for collectors of Cinderella variants” (Kirkus Reviews).

Folklorist Shirley Climo retells an age-old Irish tale that's an unusual twist on the popular Cinderella fairy tale. As Creativiteach.com says: "What would have happened if Cinderella were a man? How might the story be different? An old Irish folk tale provides one answer. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day."

Ever since he was a baby, Becan’s only worry has been his big feet—until his widowed father remarries. His new stepmother and her three daughters feed him crusts of bread and banish him to work in the fields. So Becan runs away.

With the help of his only friend, a magical bull, he defeats a giant, slays a dragon, and rescues a princess. But before she can thank him, Becan disappears, leaving behind him one of his enormous boots. The princess scours the kingdom for the owner of the giant boot. Will Becan’s feet give him away? And what will his fate be if they do?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780064435772
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/26/2000
Series:	Trophy Picture Bks.
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.08(d)
Lexile:	AD730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Shirley Climo's love of folklore began in her childhood and has provided the background for many of her children's books, such as The Korean Cinderella, Magic & Mischief: Tales from Cornwall, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World, A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World, and Someone Saw a Spider: Spider Facts and Folktales, an NCTE Teacher's Choice and Library of Congress Best Children's Book that was originally inspired by her research for Cobweb Christmas. Mrs. Climo and her husband live in Los Altos, California.

Loretta Krupinski has illustrated several children’s books, including Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here by Jean Craighead George, The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo, and her own Into the Woods: A Woodland Scrapbook. She has also illustrated one other book in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro. She successfully grew all the bean plants pictured in this book. She lives on the coast of Maine.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2A pleasant but rather bland condensation of a traditional tale. One of the sources cited, Sara Cone Bryant's "Billy Beg and His Bull" from Best Stories to Tell to Children (Houghton, 1912; o.p.), is much like Seumas MacManus's wonderful retelling in In Chimney Corners (Doubleday & McClure, 1899; o.p.), in which Billy and the Bull are lifelong companions. The old versions have wonderful runs of poetic language and lots of action, a fair amount of which is violent. As well as gentling the story, Climo seems to want to democratize it. The hero is not a king's son but the son of a traveling peddler. He is described as being small in stature with inordinately large feet and the reteller makes much of the fact that he is ridiculed for his appearance. She even names him Becan, or "Little One." There is no magic stick that turns into a sword and gives the lad wondrous strength, and no belt from the bull's hide to make him invincible. Instead, the bull tells Becan to take his tail after he is dead because it will protect him. In fact, the tail kills a giant and the dragon almost on its own accord when the boy unleashes it. The tidy, full- and double-page illustrations are done in pastel colors and look like opaque watercolors. The people's faces are round and simple. It's fine for young picture-book readers and squeamish parents. However, Ellin Greene's retelling, Billy Beg and His Bull (Holiday, 1994), is much closer to the early versions, with its spirited text and earthy and humorous illustrations by Kimberly Bulcken Root.Marilyn Iarusso, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

To her series of retellings (The Egyptian Cinderella, 1989; The Korean Cinderella, 1993) Climo adds this Irish version featuring a large-footed male character sometimes called Billy Beg and here named Becan. The magical being that aids the cinderlad is a speckled bull that, like the fish in the Chinese variant, Yeh- Shen, dies, leaving Becan with its tail as a weapon of extraordinary power. Becan wins the heart of Princess Finola by rescuing her from a sea serpent in a scene reminiscent of the story of Perseus and Andromeda; the princess traces him by means of his giant-sized boot; they live happily ever after. The sturdy, forthright telling is accompanied by pretty, predominantly blue, green, and purple paintings that show simply drawn human figures surrounded by highly detailed animals and landscape. Thousands of brush strokes render flower-spangled turf, the downy feathers of geese and seabirds, and the shaggy hides of cattle, horses, and donkeys. With an author's note on sources, this is a good addition to folklore collections and a must for collectors of Cinderella variants.

Kirkus Reviews