I honestly love Cinderella retellings. Not because of the story, but because the art and the culture really makes the difference. And this one had lovely art. ( )

When a widowed New Mexican sheepherder named Tomás remarries, his new wife and stepdaughters treat his own daughter, Teresa, with unkindness. A kind and obedient girl, Teresa encounters the Virgin Mary while washing a sheepskin at the local stream, and after a miraculous visit in which she cares for Saint Joseph and the infant Jesus, she is given a blessing - a blessing which manifests itself as a little gold star on her forehead. Her stepsisters do not fare so well, and after they treat the Holy Family with scorn, are given horns and donkey ears. When Teresa catches the eye of the handsome Don Miguel, and dances with him at his feast, he is determined to find and wed her. Teresa's stepmother stands in the way of the marriage, until the Virgin Mary once again interceded...

Taken from a variety of sources, this folktale from the American Southwest - New Mexico is the setting - is a lovely variant of the Cinderella tale-type. It is quite interesting to note that in Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale the magical elements provided by the fairy godmother in the more well-known French variant of this story, are instead provided by a religious figure. There seem to be a wealth of stories in the American Southwest concerning the Virgin Mary - see Eric A. Kimmel's The Lady in the Blue Cloak: Legends from the Texas Missions for one example - so it isn't really surprising that she would surface in regional retellings of widespread tales. I appreciated the different outlook that the inclusion of religious elements provided, and I liked the fact that the wicked stepmother and stepsisters were reformed in the end. This latter feels more appropriate, given the inclusion of Christian elements, and the fact that that religion emphasizes redemption and forgiveness. The accompanying artwork here, from Mexican illustrator Sergio Martinez, is absolutely lovely, and added to my reading pleasure. Recommended to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, and to anyone interesting in the Cinderella tale-type. ( )

Very interesting version of Cinderella.The theme is very similar to the traditional version We know. The story takes place in New Mexico where Theresa (Cinderella) has two mean stepsisters Isabel and Inez and stepmother. Virgin Mary (Fairy godmother) marks Theresa with a Golden Star in her forehead (instead of giving her the glass slippers) for her kindness after she clans the little shack with Jesus and Joeph and rocks baby Jesus to sleep with a nana.
On the other side, the stepsisters are given horns and donkey ears for their evil hearts.
When Don Miguel (the prince) asks Theresa's stepmother to have Theresa's hand in Marriage, she agrees with the condition Theresa has to complete three impossible tasks first:
- fill 10 bottles with birds' tears.
- Fill and fluff 12 matresses with bird feathers.
- Prepare a tableful of fine food.
With Mary's help and her magic golden star comes a happy ending.
I like how there's redemption for the stepmom and the stepsisters who learn to be kinder with time and their horns and ears disappear with it. ( )

Theresa was an only child who lost her mother and lived only with her father, Tomas. Tomas ended up marrying a widow who moved in nearby and who had two daughters. Theresa's stepmother was cruel and made Theresa do all of the chores around the house. While Theresa was outside one day, she met a woman in blue who recognized her kindness. When this woman touched Theresa's forehead, a little gold star appeared there. The next day, one of the other daughters went outside and saw this woman in blue. This time, the woman saw how cruel the daughter was and when she touched her forehead, horns grew. The following day, the other daughter went outside and also saw this woman in blue. When the woman touched the girl's forehead, donkey ears grew because this girl was also not nice. Miguel, a young man who had a beautiful mansion that overlooked the town, noticed Theresa and was intrigued by her. He went searching for her the next day and when he found her, he ended up marrying her. This story has a lot of the classic elements of Cinderella, but also has a few differences. This is most likely because it is written from a different culture, Spanish American. Though there were small differences, the moral of the story is still the same as the traditional Cinderella we know today. ( )

A Spanish American retelling of the Cinderella story with a very Catholic twist. In this version, The Virgin Mary replaces the fairy godmother. This would be great book for a comparison with the original Cinderella story for older students, and how the Catholic culture influenced the story. Reading level is listed at 3.2 and I still don't agree with the interest level. ( )