Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by A Year of Literacy Coaching.

My selection is "If the shoe fits: voices from Cinderella" written by Laura Whipple with illustrations by Laura Beingessner.

Whipple offers up a reimagined look at a classic favorite.  New voices, familiar voices, and unexpected voices tell the story in blank verse from their varied points of view.  The troubled ghost of Cinderella's father, the garden cat, the rat turned coachman, and even the glass slippers speak -- longing to be reunited.  Multiple perspectives enable readers to delve deeper into the story's well known characters.  Why is the stepmother so cruel?  How will the Queen welcome Cinderella?  Who was the Fairy Godmother's accomplice? Did the magic of that night endure?"  Was there really a "Happy Ever After?"   Thirty-three poems weave the tale that begins and ends with Cinderella's voice.

Beingessner's artwork varies from portraits to full page spreads and beautifully succeeds in capturing the magic of this classic story.