There is perhaps no better loved, no more universal story than Cinderella. Almost
             every country in the world has a version of it, but the favorite of story-tellers must be the
             French version by Charles Perrault. In the translation of Perrault's beloved fairy tale,
             Marcia Brown offers a lively retelling which is made truly magical by some of the most
             exquisite pictures we have ever seen. Brown's adaptation of Perrault's story, Cinderella
             or The Little Glass Slipper, is a rags to riches story of a mistreated, beautiful young girl
             who, with the help of her fairy godmother, becomes the wife of a Prince. It is an
             excellently written and illustrated children's book that should be on the shelf of any child
             as well as any serious student of children literature.
             In the beginning of the book, when the stepmother married Cinderella's father, she
             and her two daughters became wealthy instantly, but to them it still wasn't enough. They
             couldn't stand any competition and they felt Cinderella posed that threat. Cinderella's evil
             stepmother "could not abide this young girl, whose goodness made her own daughters
             seem more hateful than ever." Therefore, "She gave her the vilest household tasks; it was
             Cinderella who scoured the pots and scrubbed the stairs, Cinderella who polished the
             bedchamber of madame and also those of her daughters." This was an attempt to take
             away her dignity, so that the stepmother and her two daughters could feel superior to
             Cinderella and her beauty. This point in the story is when the conflict arises. Cinderella
             could not do anything to defend herself from the mistreatment she received from her
             stepmother and stepsisters. She could only do what they asked. "The poor girl put up with
             everything. She dared not complain, even to her father. He would only have scolded her,
             because--alas!--he was tied hand and foot to...