Welcome to A Week of Cinderella! Grab some promotional buttons for your blog HERE and stop back all week long for fun guest posts, exciting author visits (because, after all, Marissa isn't the ONLY author with a kick-ass Cinderella to celebrate!), giveaways, reviews, and a blog tour stop for CINDER!
Mandy runs a small but fun blog; I especially love reading about her cherished memories of her favorite author, which she hosts in a special section of its own. You can also find Mandy on Twitter @romancebookie!
The Ultimate Love Story
Cinderella.
We all know her, and we all love her, right? Okay, so maybe not all of us love her. But she is definitely someone I have looked up to since I was a little girl. Over the past twenty years that I have been alive, I've seen and read many different Cinderella stories. I can’t tell you exactly what it is that I love about her, but there’s just something that makes her the most special Disney Princess to me. Maybe it’s that she wasn’t born into royalty like Ariel or Jasmine, maybe it’s that she knows how life can be when you don’t get everything you hope for, or maybe it’s just the incredible love story of when she meets her Prince Charming and he fights to have her in his life again.
The main thing that’s always amazed me about Cinderella is how universal she is. Whether you are American, Indian, Chinese, German, etc, there is always some kind of Cinderella story in your culture. Being German myself, I grew up with the story of Aschenputtel; which is pretty much the same idea as the Disney Cinderella, except for a few changes (if you want to read the full German version, here is an English translation.
Growing up, I also heard many different versions such as the Native American tale called ROUGH-FACED GIRL, which features a Native American Girl living with her step siblings, who make fun of her because she has a scar on her face. They treat her differently, but ultimately, the way she is treated is what makes her the person she becomes: Kind, unselfish, and caring to everyone around her. And in the end, it’s what allows her to have her own happy ending.
In elementary school, I was introduced to ELLA ENCHANTED, which became one of my all time favorite novels. It involved not only the Cinderella story aspect, but also included bits and pieces of many other fairy tales that I grew up on. This book was even nominated for and received the Newbery Honor, which is a very special award to receive in the children’s book industry; and it was also later on adapted into a movie featuring Anne Hathaway as the main character Ella, and of course, the handsome Hugh Dancy playing Prince Charmont.
I loved all Cinderella-style movies, whether it was the original Disney version of CINDERELLA, EVER AFTER (with Drew Barrymore), or one of my all-time personal favorites, A CINDERELLA STORY (with Hilary Duff), because so many different (yet similar) story ideas can be made out of that one Grimm fairy tale.
I love having that feeling of hope. Hope that true love exists, even if I just get to read about it every day. It doesn’t matter to me, because ultimately love is important. Any kind of love. We all want to feel it, experience it, and be a part of it. And Cinderella was the first to show me that.
~ The Romance Bookie :)
PS: If you’re looking for another great Cinderella-turned-modern-tale similar to A CINDERELLA STORY, I also recommend watching SHE'S ALL THAT with Rachel Leigh Cook and Freddie Prince Jr. That’s a super cute movie! :)
We all know her, and we all love her, right? Okay, so maybe not all of us love her. But she is definitely someone I have looked up to since I was a little girl. Over the past twenty years that I have been alive, I've seen and read many different Cinderella stories. I can’t tell you exactly what it is that I love about her, but there’s just something that makes her the most special Disney Princess to me. Maybe it’s that she wasn’t born into royalty like Ariel or Jasmine, maybe it’s that she knows how life can be when you don’t get everything you hope for, or maybe it’s just the incredible love story of when she meets her Prince Charming and he fights to have her in his life again.
The main thing that’s always amazed me about Cinderella is how universal she is. Whether you are American, Indian, Chinese, German, etc, there is always some kind of Cinderella story in your culture. Being German myself, I grew up with the story of Aschenputtel; which is pretty much the same idea as the Disney Cinderella, except for a few changes (if you want to read the full German version, here is an English translation.
Growing up, I also heard many different versions such as the Native American tale called ROUGH-FACED GIRL, which features a Native American Girl living with her step siblings, who make fun of her because she has a scar on her face. They treat her differently, but ultimately, the way she is treated is what makes her the person she becomes: Kind, unselfish, and caring to everyone around her. And in the end, it’s what allows her to have her own happy ending.
In elementary school, I was introduced to ELLA ENCHANTED, which became one of my all time favorite novels. It involved not only the Cinderella story aspect, but also included bits and pieces of many other fairy tales that I grew up on. This book was even nominated for and received the Newbery Honor, which is a very special award to receive in the children’s book industry; and it was also later on adapted into a movie featuring Anne Hathaway as the main character Ella, and of course, the handsome Hugh Dancy playing Prince Charmont.
I loved all Cinderella-style movies, whether it was the original Disney version of CINDERELLA, EVER AFTER (with Drew Barrymore), or one of my all-time personal favorites, A CINDERELLA STORY (with Hilary Duff), because so many different (yet similar) story ideas can be made out of that one Grimm fairy tale.
I love having that feeling of hope. Hope that true love exists, even if I just get to read about it every day. It doesn’t matter to me, because ultimately love is important. Any kind of love. We all want to feel it, experience it, and be a part of it. And Cinderella was the first to show me that.
~ The Romance Bookie :)
PS: If you’re looking for another great Cinderella-turned-modern-tale similar to A CINDERELLA STORY, I also recommend watching SHE'S ALL THAT with Rachel Leigh Cook and Freddie Prince Jr. That’s a super cute movie! :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me on the Cinder tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThere's even another Cinderella movie coming out with the girl playing Aria in Pretty Little Liars. I think it's on t.v. this week!
ReplyDeleteAnd Selena Gomez plays in a Cinderella Story as well. They all play a little bit different on the story.
Heather
Yeah I saw both of those already haha, but for me, nothing beats the "original" one. :) They were ok, at points cute, but a little over done with the whole step mom bit and sisters. They were really stupid!! haha
ReplyDelete