Product Description

Long ago, in a cabin by Eagle's Nest Mountain, lived a servant girl called Ashpet. All day long, she cooked and cleaned for Widow Hooper and her cranky daughters. Ashpet had so much work to do, the widow wouldn't even allow her to go to the annual church picnic. Ashpet's life changes for the better, however, when old Granny shows up and works some magic. How Ashpet outshines the widow's daughters and captures the heart of the doctor's son ends this flavorful Appalachian Cinderella tale. Winner: 1994 Juvenile Literature Award Association of American Women/NC Chapter

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454538 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-21
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this capably handled hillbilly version of Cinderella , with elements borrowed from the Grimm Brothers' "Aschenputtel," a servant girl charms a doctor's son. "Fresh-faced and regular-featured" Ashpet is "bound out" to the Widow Hooper and her two daughters. When company stops by, Ashpet's employers, jealous of her looks, hide her under a washtub (the hem of her sackcloth dress sticks out from under it like a cat's tail). But Ashpet's kind-heartedness never flags, and her generosity toward their "peculiar" neighbor, Granny, pays off. When the Hoopers go off to an important church meeting, Granny magically cleans the house and provides Ashpet with a pretty red calico dress and red shoes. The rest is fairy-tale history. Joanne Compton dots the tale with "backwoods" lingo ("Jes' you fetch me out some fire"), while Kenn Compton opts for an artistic approach that's both subtler and more effective than that of the couple's debut, Granny Greenteeth and the Noise in the Night ; gangly Ashpet and her beau are goofy but not overbearingly so, and shucks, they're kinda cute. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-As they did with Jack the Giant Chaser (Holiday, 1993), the Comptons have provided a cheerful Appalachian retelling of a classic tale. Joanne Compton has used the version recorded in Richard Chase's Grandfather Tales (Houghton, 1973) and added some distinctive touches that enhance the story's regional flavor. Here, Ashpet is a widow's "hired-out" girl rather than a stepdaughter; the fairy godmother is an "old granny"; the ball is a lengthy church meeting; and the handsome suitor is not a prince but the doctor's son. Young readers may also note that, unlike some of the more passive Cinderellas, Ashpet earns her right to attend the church meeting by her kindness to the old granny and shows some ingenuity when she deliberately loses her shoe. Kenn Compton's humorous watercolor cartoons capture the action and feature wild facial expressions. Ashpet is depicted as being almost as homely as the widow's daughters. Readers will enjoy comparing this to versions of the tale by the Grimms and Perrault, as well as to Louie Ai-Ling's Yeh-Shen (1990), based on the ancient Chinese variant mentioned in the author's note and to other American regional variants such as Rafe Martin's The Rough-Face Girl (1992, both Putnam).
Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
The Comptons' ``Ashpet'' differs less from Richard Chase's version of this Cinderella variant than their Jack the Giant Chaser (1993) diverged from Chase's parallel tale; here, they simply change the ``witch-woman'' to an old neighbor called ``Granny'' and the king's son (a standard character in these mountain tales) to a doctor's son and omit Ashpet's further persecution and the punishment of the perpetrators, after her wedding. Their text reads smoothly, but the occasional touches of dialect aren't enough to give it the rich humor and verve of Chase's rendition. Storytellers will want to stick with Chase; however, young readers will enjoy this lively and accessible version, as well as Kenn Compton's big-nosed, comically exaggerated characters. Good source note. (Folklore/Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

An American Fairy Tale
This book is an American twist on the traditional Cinderella. Ashpet is a servant on an Appalachian farm. Instead of going to the ball, the charcters go to a "meeting." The Prince is a doctor's son. The fairy god mother is an elderly woman who is all alone. This book is a nice varient of Cinderella and will provide another view on the traditional tale.