Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale

Cinderella fans have to be rapid readers to keep up with the steady stream of new renditions, but this consolidation of old and new published versions mixes laughter and romance in pleasing proportion—and features an unusual (to say the least) fairy godmother. A source note is provided.

In a year full of Cinderella variations, this one is a welcome addition.

Golden light suffuses the watercolor paintings, while accurate details root the story in the colonial Spanish tradition.

Gr 1-5-To add to Jewell Reinhart Coburn's Domitila (Shen's, 2000) and Joe Hayes's Little Gold Star/Estrellita de oro (Cinco Puntos, 2000), comes San Souci's variant of the same story. Sweet young Teresa lives peacefully with her father, Tom s, in the high hills of New Mexico. He tends sheep, and she keeps house. Their measured existence is shattered when an opportunistic widow with two daughters persuades Tom s to marry her. On a rare visit home, Tom s brings a lamb to his daughter. The outraged stepmother kills it and sends the brokenhearted girl to wash its fleece in the river. The fleece is snatched by a fish, and as Teresa begins to cry, a lovely woman in blue appears and promises to get it back if she will tend to the old man and the baby in a hut on the hill. Teresa does so gladly, not knowing that the woman is the Virgin Mary and that she has been asked to care for the Holy Family. Her reward is a gold star, planted in the middle of her forehead. When she returns home, the stepmother is again enraged, but sends her daughters to do the same and receive gold stars. The results are disastrous. From this point on, the story follows the traditional tale, until the satisfying ending when the Blessed Virgin again helps the young woman. San Souci's telling is smooth and fluid. Martinez's lovely, luminous watercolor illustrations are a perfect match for the text. His accomplished sense of extended line gives all of his figures a romantic, elongated look, and his command of expression is exceptional. A noteworthy addition to an already impressive crop of Southwestern "Cinderella" stories.-Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"This is effective fairy-tale magic transported to new terrain."" — Bulletin of the Center for Children' s Books