Cinderella Skeleton

Cinderella Skeleton

By Robert D. San Souc

Illustrated by David Catrow

Cinderella Skeleton is a twisted and ghoulish interpretation (fractured fairy tale) of the classic Cinderella tale. Instead of taking place in a land of ‘once upon a time’ and ‘happily ever after’ this story is set in a grave yard. Skeletons make up the characters of the book. The text is presented in a rhyming, poetic way. It isn’t always consistent in its’ rhyme structure which can make it a little more complicated to read, but it is rich with vocabulary and twists on the original fairy tale which makes it an engaging read. This story provides a humorous re-imagination of the story of Cinderella. This freshness will appeal to children who may or may not feel they are beyond the basic fairy tales. The fresh and ghoulish tale is also very appealing to boys who might otherwise be turned off from the love story. Some major changes from the original story would include that instead of spending her days cleaning, Cinderella Skeleton must spend her days streaking the windows and strewing cobwebs and the fairy godmother is replaced by a witch. Perhaps, the most surprising and best twist in Cinderella Skeleton is when Cinderella escapes the Halloween Ball, she not only leaves behind her shoe, but her foot and shin bone. Children will be thrilled by these wonderful twists and won’t be able to wait to share the story with others.

The illustrations by David Catrow are spooky, yet still mesmerizingly beautiful. They are very similar in style to that you would expect to see in a Tim Burton film. He create the illustrations with pencil-and-watercolor illustrations featuring “wiggly lines, lurid pink and bilious green accents. (School Library Journal, 2000)” With the poetic nature of the text, young readers will really rely on the illustrations to bring this story to life (or death as it may be). They are in luck because the illustrations are so elaborate that they become the story, with the text providing an elaborate description. They are rich in vivid and creepy detail. The illustrator showed great talent in his ability to give skeletons such a range of expression and emotion. A reader  will reveal in the grotesque nature of the images which somehow don’t lose their beauty.  This book is a beautifully formatted piece of work where the text fit into the space of the illustrations. In this case, it seems impossible that author and illustrator created their work separate from each other, thought they did. This story with illustrations of lesser quality or detail wouldn’t work because they really set the mood for the book

I was pleasantly surprised when a group of third graders wanted to stay in from recess to read Cinderella Skeleton last week. It was so adorable that they took so much pleasure in reading the book.