Robin Redbreast

Robin Redbreast
Birds can represent the fluttering, darting thoughts of intuition. This is why little birds helped Cinderella help herself.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

365 Cinderellas: The First Cinderella

One of the limitations of my project is that I am focusing on the Cinderella Story as opposed to the girl. As an elementary school teacher I will leave some areas open for future exploration and keep the focus on interpretation of symbology in its lighter shades. Correlations with themes such as shoes can be drawn to other children's literature. Shoes in any society show much about status. The expression, "To walk a mile in my shoes" is an idiomatic expression meaning "to see things from my point of view". The winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal book Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, explores this theme via the American Indian saying, "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins. " 13 year old Salamanca Tree Hiddle learns much about this as she rides across country with her grandparents, in search of her mother.  Shoes, as part of clothing, are one of humanity's Fundamental Needs. Imagine how Cinderella might have fared running from the ball wearing the different shoes in the slideshow.