Product Description

Once upon a time, there was a sweet cowgirl named Cindy Ellen, who lived with the orneriest stepmother west of the Mississippi and two stepsisters who were so nasty, they made rattlesnakes look nice! But when a fast-talkin' fairy godmother teaches Cindy Ellen a little lesson about gumption, Cindy lassos first place at the rodeo and the heart of Joe Prince....

You may think you've heard the story before-but you'll get a side-splittin' bellyache after you're through with this hilarious rendition told Wild West-style!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30531 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-01
• Released on: 2001-12-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 40 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780064438643
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
If there's one thing the traditional fairy-tale Cinderella is lacking, it's some rip-snortin', gravel-in-the-gizzard gumption. And until her Wild West counterpart, Cindy Ellen, meets her own fairy godmother, she too is sorely deficient in the grit and guts department, even if she is a durn good cowgirl. Cindy Ellen's meaner-than-a-rattlesnake stepmother bullies her into doing all the dirty work on the ranch and forbids her to attend the biggest event of the season, a rodeo and square dance. Enter her spur-jangling, gun-firing, no-nonsense fairy godmother: "Magic is plumb worthless without gumption.... Stop that tomfool blubbering, and let's get busy." And just like that, Cindy is outfitted in the "finest riding clothes west of the East," including a pair of diamond-studded spurs. You can guess the rest. It involves six cactus mice transformed into six dappled horses, a lost diamond spur, and a rodeo champion by the name of Joe Prince.

Simply put, Cindy Ellen is a riot. Joined with Jane Manning's over-the-top illustrations, this sidesplitting retelling of a classic will keep young buckaroos in stitches. Susan Lowell has enchanted readers with several earlier Wild West remakes, including The Bootmaker and the Elves and The Three Little Javelinas. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
"Savory slang adds punch to this tale, which stresses the fairy godmother's message that `magic is plumb worthless without gumption.' Illustrations lush with cactus-flower colors and pale maize gold enhance this rawhide-and-lace fantasy," said PW. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
With a yee-haw and a do-si-do, the everlasting Cinderella story blooms again. Cindy Ellen's stepmother is the orneriest woman west of the Mississippi, and her two daughters are just as mean. Cindy Ellen is kept from the rodeo and square dance, but then her fairy godmother appears with a golden six-gun, and points out that Cindy needs some gumption before anything else. So off she goes with diamond spurs on her little boots. She rides the bucking bronco and steals the heart of one Joe Prince. The next night at the square dance she and Joe dance the night away, with the usual midnight foofaraw. But Joe tracks her with the mate to the diamond spur, and they get hitched "and live happily ever after in a ranch house full of love and rodeo trophies." The nasty sisters marry city slickers. The smooth, hard-edged illustrations lack personality, despite Cindy Ellen's many freckles; the fairy godmother has the most spirit, in her huge sombrero and red-fringed gloves. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Cinderella meets the Wild West
When sweet Cindy Ellen's father marries his ornery new wife, she and her nasty daughters take to picking on Cindy. This retelling of the traditional Cinderella tale is full of "twirling swirling" fun. Cindy's fairy godmother helps her get to both the wild and woolly rodeo and the square dance where Cindy Ellen meets the rodeo champion Joe Prince. Of course, sparks fly - as does Cindy at the stroke of midnight, leaving Joe Prince to search out his lost cowgirl. In this version, Cindy Ellen must gather her gumption to receive the fairy godmother's magical gifts and the result is a cowgirl who is strong as well as pretty, making this a positive read for both children and parents.

Cindy Ellen
The book was great! My daughter's loved it, and so did my four year old son.

New take on old story
I bought this book to include in a literature unit on Cinderella stories for my second grade class. They loved it. The story was especially fun for us in Oklahoma. Cindy is much more like my girls and the events are more familiar. They don't go to balls or fancy parties yet, but they sure know about rodeos and bar-b-ques.
Any teacher doing Cinderella stories must have this one.