Cendrillon by Robert D. San Souci

This story is told from the godmother's point of view. She worked as a washerwoman and scrubbed sheets for other people. She worked for a kind woman and the woman made her the godmother of Cendrillon. The mother died and the father remarried a cold woman. the woman and Cendrillon's father had a child and they had a party for it. At the party the godmother saw Cendrillon and her hands were blistered. The godmother wanted to help but she couldn't do anything. Cendrillon became the family maid as she grew older and she would come to the river to wash clothes. She was always happy but one day she came and was sad. There was a ball that Cendrillon wanted to go to but she was not allowed to attend. Her godmother assures that she will go to the ball. the godmother had a magic wand that her mother gave her and she used it to turn different things into the items that Cendrillon needed to go to the ball. She even tapped herself to change her attire and she went to the ball with Cendrillon. When they finally arrived, they made a grand entrance. Cendrillon danced with the prince Paul and forgot about the time. She had to leave at twelve so that no one would see her clothes, carriage, and horses change. As the clock chimed, Cendrillon and her godmother rushed out of the ball. Cendrillon left her pink slipper behind. After the ball Cendrillon was sick because she was in love with Paul and she knew he would not love her back because she was a maid. But Paul came looking for the owner of the slipper. Cendrillon tries on the slipper and it fits perfectly. Paul and Cendrillon get married and live happily ever after.

Teachers can use this book to discuss the different versions of fairytale. For example, teachers can read this story along with the original story of Cinderella and the students can compare the events that happen in the story.

This is a worlde that I used as technology for this book. In order to create a wordle, the students will have to type or paste words in the message box. After they do this they can create a wordle such as the one above. In the wordle, the words that are used more frequently are the biggest. Teachers can use a worldle as a resource in their classroom.

Ten Suns by Eric Kimmel

This is a story about the Eastern Emperor that had ten children. All of the children were boys and were his "suns". Each day, one of his suns had to walk across the sky alone so that the people on earth could have a sun to light up the sky. Walking alone everyday made the sunvery bored. They wanted to walk together so one day, they walked across the sky together. when they did this, the people on earth suffered. Forests caught on fire, lakes dried up, and oceans boiled. The people on earth did not know why the gods were destroy them. The Emperor sent Hu Yi, one of his greatest shooters, to shoot the ten suns with a magic bow that would turn them into black crows. Hu Yi had ten arrows and the Emperor didn't want all of his suns to turn into crows so he sent a messenger to take out one of the arrows. Hu Yi shot the nine suns and now every morning the crows gather to greet their brother as he walks alone across the sky.

Teachers could use this book to teach about Japanese culture and different myths. This story is a myth that explains why and how the sun rises everyday. Teachers can use this story along with other stories to discuss myths as well as discuss the Japanese culture.

Lon Po Po by Ed Young

There was a woman that lived alone with three children. On their grandmother's birthday, their mother left and left the children home alone. She told them to be good children and lock the door at night. Wolf saw the mother leave and disguised himself as an old woman. He was pretending to be the children's grandmother. The wolf tries his best to get into the house and the children finally let him in. The oldest child realizes that the wolf is lying when she lights the lamp and sees the wolf's face before he blows out the light. The oldest child offers the wolf ginko nuts. She tells the wolf how tender the nuts are and makes wolf want some right away. All three children climb the ginko tree and threw a basket down to wolf so he could climb in. The children pull wolf halfway and drop him to the ground. They repeat this three times and on the third time, wolf dies. Finally their mother returns home and the children tell her about the wolf coming to their house.

Teachers can use this book to teach fables and folktales in their classrooms. Children would learn morals from this book such as "do not talk to strangers" and "do not let strangers in your house". This book would get the attention of students because of all of the vivid pictures that are in the book. This book is from the Chinese culture and students would learn a little more about it from reading this book.

The Race of Toad and Deer by Pat Mora and Domi

This multicultural book is about Venado the deer and Sapo the toad. Venado loves to brag because he is the biggest deer in the jungle. He challenges toad to a race and is confident that he will win. What he does not know is that Sapo has a clever plan. He tells the other toads to cal out "Adelante Tio Venado" while deer was racing so that he would think that toad was ahead of him. Venado ran so fast and hard, he became extremely tired and toad won the race.

This story is the Spanish version of Tortoise and the Hare. The story has Spanish words that are easy to figure out because of the context. The students will know that venado means deer and sapo means toad. The book has lots of colorful pictures that make the story come alive.