Cinderella #38 I Can Read...Cinderella (2009)

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy Cinderella! 

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, kind girl called Cinderella.  She lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters.  They were not kind to Cinderella.  She had to cook and clean all day.  Cinderella did all the work.  One day, a letter came from the palace.  The prince was having a ball.  ‘You have to stay at home,’ her stepmother and stepsisters told Cinderella.  She had to help them put on their best dresses.  Cinderella was very sad.  She was sitting alone by the fire when a beautiful woman appeared.  ‘I am your fairy godmother!’ she said. ‘ You shall go to the ball! Bring me a pumpkin, four mice and a cat.' Cinderella’s fairy godmother waved her magic wand.  The pumpkin turned into a golden coach.  The mice turned into four footmen.  And the cat turned into a coachman.  ‘ I cannot go to the ball in my old clothes,’ said Cinderella.  Her fairy godmother waved her wand again.  Now Cinderella wore a beautiful dress and glass slippers.  ‘Enjoy yourself at the ball!’ she told Cinderella.  ‘But remember, you have to be home by midnight.’ Cinderella was the most beautiful girl at the ball.  She danced  with Prince Charming all night.  She did not notice the time.  Then the clock struck twelve! Quickly, Cinderella ran down the stairs to her coach.  Cinderella ran so fast that one of her slippers fell off.  The prince ran after her. He did not see Cinderella, but the prince found Cinderella’s slipper.  ‘I will marry the girl who can wear this slipper, ‘ he said.  The prince looked everywhere for the girl who could wear the glass slipper.  At last, he came to Cinderella’s house.  One of her stepsisters tried to put on the slipper.  ‘Ouch!’ she cried.  Cinderella’s other stepsister tried to put on the slipper.  It was too small for her, too.  The slipper did not fit the stepsisters.  ‘Please, may I try on the slipper?’ asked Cinderella.  ‘Don’t be silly,’ said her stepmother.  But the prince let Cinderella try on the glass slipper.  It fitted Cinderella perfectly.  The prince and Cinderella fell in love.  Cinderella forgave her stepsisters and made them promise to be kind to everyone.  They all lived happily ever after. “

Notes:  This is the entire text of I Can Read...Cinderella.  As a teacher who has spent many hours coaching five and six year olds through daily one on one reading, I love this book.  Understand, all you who may not like the illustrations, or wonder why I disliked the Disney version so much but appreciate this one. Here is why: 1. This book is designed for children who are just learning to read.  The inside cover explains that the page on the left, with the bulk of the text, is for the adult to read, then the child can attempt one sentence, printed on the right hand side.  That sentence is one the child has just heard the adult read.  2. Text is important in learning to read! According to Hiebert, E. & Fisher, C. (2005) “The more frequent the word, the more opportunities students have to encounter the word, and to figure it out.  Further, encounters with words that have common and consistent graphonic relationships aid readers in becoming automatic in their use of  these relationships, the hallmark of proficient, beginning, reading.”   In other words, when kids see the same word over and over, and know the phonemes that make it up, they learn how to spell these phonemes and then use that knowledge to sound out other words.  3. The Disney book is filled with random words, many of which are confusing and non-phonetic. Do not misunderstand me: I am not advocating a dumbing down of literature.  It is that I see such books as these as bridges to more complex stories.  I believe a child who is proud and happy to read this easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy version of Cinderella will be motivated to read more complex ones. 4. This book gives a list of key words for children to find.  I remember working with a 7 year old, doing remedial reading.  He did not want to read at all and the only way I got him going was to let him bring his own comic books, then we chose one word, such as THE, to find on each page. It worked, and gradually led him to more recognition of sight words.  This book offers fairy godmother, coach, Cinderella, stepsisters and glass slipper as words to look for.  5. It offers a very usable Question and Answer page.  6. It gives a Tell Your Own Story lesson in the back. 7. This one is for my little friends from Five Year Old Club: Kiana, Emily, Juniper, Ashley, Leo, Nana, Anthony, the other Emily, and Mia. 

Montessori Connection 6-9: Language/ Short Phonograms/ i sound in Cinderella, slipper, prince. 1. If you are a good reader, read this book out loud to another child. 2. Now follow the directions and do Key Words, Questions and Answers, and Mix and Match, in the back pages.  3. If you are learning to read: Find an older child who will listen to you, and either: read the sentences on the right hand side or look for the key words.  4. Remember that double consonants  such as ll make the vowel, i,  have the short sound.  5. Ask for a lesson on the Magic E! Did you know that you can turn where you are into what you had for lunch? (at + e = ate) Did you know that you can turn something you sit on into a good friend? (mat + e = mate). 6. Riddle: If you made something and I took away your e, what would you be? 

More Cinderella easy-readers: 

 Cinderella (I Can Read) available from www.igloo-books.com.  Also try: Cinderella , Look At Me I Can Read; Cinderella (Usborne Fairytale Sticker Stories), The Usborne Book of Fairy Tales: "Cinderella", "The Story of Rumpelstiltskin", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Sleeping Beauty", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Three Little Pigs"Cinderella Kid Kit: With Pop Out Pumpkin Coach.