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The Glass Slipper
A retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella, based upon an earlier play of the same name. Brings to vivid life the trials and tribulations of young Ella, mistreated by her nasty stepmother and unattractive stepsisters, who dreams of going to the Prince's ball.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
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384 people want to read
About the author
Eleanor Farjeon
194 books66 followersDaughter of Benjamin Leopold Farjeon, sister of Herbert Farjeon and J. Jefferson Farjeon.
Eleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Many of her works had charming illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also been published. She won many literary awards and the prestigious Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature is presented annually in her memory by the Children's Book Circle, a society of publishers.
Awards:
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1956)
Eleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Many of her works had charming illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also been published. She won many literary awards and the prestigious Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature is presented annually in her memory by the Children's Book Circle, a society of publishers.
Awards:
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1956)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 15, 2010
The Glass Slipper' is one of the books that began my lifelong fascination with fairytale retellings, and with tales of magic and marvel, one which drives my writing today. It is told simply, but with such wit and humour, charm and playfulness, that it is far fresher than any other version of the old tale I've read. Yet it is not a book that can be bought in any good bookstore – it has been out of print as long as I've been alive. Most people have never even heard of Eleanor Farjeon, yet she wrote more than thirty works of fiction, three plays, thirty-three collections of poetry, and numerous biographies and memoirs. There is an award for children's literature named after her in the UK, and she wrote the words to the hymn 'Morning has Broken', which Cat Stevens turned into a mega-hit in the early '70s.
Born in 1881, the daughter of a novelist and granddaughter of an actor, Eleanor Farjeon was brought up in a household of books, and encouraged to write from an early age. At the age of eighteen, she wrote the lyrics to an operetta penned by her brother Harry which was performed at St George's Hall in London. At nineteen, she sold her first story for three guineas, a fairytale called 'The Cardboard Angel' She counted D.H. Lawrence, Walter de la Mare and Robert Frost among her friends, and received the Hans Christian Anderson Medal in 1956.
'The Glass Slipper' was first written with her brother Herbert as a play in 1944, and turned into a book in 1955. Eleanor's love of poetry and song comes through in every line – it has the sort of playfulness with language that is rarely seen nowadays.
'When (Ella) was refused (permission to go to the ball), she clung to the last few minutes of the spilt finery, the hasty scramble out of the house, the little squeaks and shrieks on the slippery path: 'It's freezing! It's freezing! Go carefully! Hang on to me! stop gripping me! you're tripping me! Oops! Ma was nearly down that time! I'm petrified! I'm paralysed! Stop dragging me! stop nagging me! I'm dithery! It's slithery! OOOPS! Ma was really down that time! We'll be late, we'll be late! Look alive, look alive! The horses are waiting at the end of the drive ...'
Eleanor Farjeon once wrote of herself, 'I can hardly remember a time when it did not seem easier to write in running rhymes than in plodding prose,' and this facility with rhythm and rhyme can be heard on every line.
It is, of course, a strange and poignant experience, reading again as an adult a book one had loved as a child. The scales of innocence are lost from our eyes; we have inherited a world-weariness along with our wisdom. I always loved Enid Blyton when I was seven, but reading her now to my seven year old son, I cannot help grinning when one of her bossy boys says 'I came over all queer.' I find myself subtly editing as I read, even though I strongly disapprove of trying to modernize old stories, much of whose charm comes from the stiltedness and strangeness of the language.
Reading 'The Glass Slipper' again, I was conscious of the distance between myself as a child, discovering the tale for the first time and being utterly enchanted, and me as an adult wishing Ella would be a little less sweet to her nasty step-sisters. Yet now that I have it in my hand again, I cannot wait to read to my own children, and particularly to my own Ella, the story of Cinderella, “barefoot, tangle-haired and tattered, but with a face as fresh as a flower.'
Born in 1881, the daughter of a novelist and granddaughter of an actor, Eleanor Farjeon was brought up in a household of books, and encouraged to write from an early age. At the age of eighteen, she wrote the lyrics to an operetta penned by her brother Harry which was performed at St George's Hall in London. At nineteen, she sold her first story for three guineas, a fairytale called 'The Cardboard Angel' She counted D.H. Lawrence, Walter de la Mare and Robert Frost among her friends, and received the Hans Christian Anderson Medal in 1956.
'The Glass Slipper' was first written with her brother Herbert as a play in 1944, and turned into a book in 1955. Eleanor's love of poetry and song comes through in every line – it has the sort of playfulness with language that is rarely seen nowadays.
'When (Ella) was refused (permission to go to the ball), she clung to the last few minutes of the spilt finery, the hasty scramble out of the house, the little squeaks and shrieks on the slippery path: 'It's freezing! It's freezing! Go carefully! Hang on to me! stop gripping me! you're tripping me! Oops! Ma was nearly down that time! I'm petrified! I'm paralysed! Stop dragging me! stop nagging me! I'm dithery! It's slithery! OOOPS! Ma was really down that time! We'll be late, we'll be late! Look alive, look alive! The horses are waiting at the end of the drive ...'
Eleanor Farjeon once wrote of herself, 'I can hardly remember a time when it did not seem easier to write in running rhymes than in plodding prose,' and this facility with rhythm and rhyme can be heard on every line.
It is, of course, a strange and poignant experience, reading again as an adult a book one had loved as a child. The scales of innocence are lost from our eyes; we have inherited a world-weariness along with our wisdom. I always loved Enid Blyton when I was seven, but reading her now to my seven year old son, I cannot help grinning when one of her bossy boys says 'I came over all queer.' I find myself subtly editing as I read, even though I strongly disapprove of trying to modernize old stories, much of whose charm comes from the stiltedness and strangeness of the language.
Reading 'The Glass Slipper' again, I was conscious of the distance between myself as a child, discovering the tale for the first time and being utterly enchanted, and me as an adult wishing Ella would be a little less sweet to her nasty step-sisters. Yet now that I have it in my hand again, I cannot wait to read to my own children, and particularly to my own Ella, the story of Cinderella, “barefoot, tangle-haired and tattered, but with a face as fresh as a flower.'
January 2, 2017
OOOh if you love children's lit and folk tales, this is an important classic. It's full of great read-aloud rhyming and word play, and there are many fun, silly theatrical vignetettes. I found it surprisingly modern, and delightfully corny and fun. Too bad about that annoying obsession with fair skin and delicate "beauty," but of course Farjeon was just echoing what had been out there. The rest is priceless, if you ask me.
August 1, 2020
Does anyone know if the Disney movie was based on this book? Because this book was the book version of the movie with a few differences and I felt like it was more of a "Been there done that" book. It didn't hold my attention but not because it is old but because of how similar the plot was. Some people will not be bothered by that but I really was.
AGE RECOMMENDATION: Any age is fine. I would read this one to a princess obsessed five year old.
PARENT NOTE: This book is very clean. And is fine for any age but this book might appeal to older children more.
IS IT CLEAN: Yes.
SWEARING: None.
AGE RECOMMENDATION: Any age is fine. I would read this one to a princess obsessed five year old.
PARENT NOTE: This book is very clean. And is fine for any age but this book might appeal to older children more.
IS IT CLEAN: Yes.
SWEARING: None.
November 12, 2025
Farjeon is usually wonderful, but gosh she blew it here. Some bits of word-play and poetry earn it the second star, but gosh.
The prince wants a bride "with folded hands and downcast eyes." At midnight he sends the "slavey girl" tumbling down the stairs while looking for his 'princess.' His "Zany" (a mute Jester) is like a dog to him, even to sitting under the tablecloth, eating tidbits dropped by the prince.
The insta-love is almost obscene. They are 'made for each other' because neither likes to get up in the morning and they both like flowers. And she's incredibly beautiful, of course. With dainty feet and snow-white hands (despite being a shoeless scullery 'slut').
The father is an utter coward, which explains why Ella was until she had an out. She 'tried to be good' - sure.... Well, she was kind to the cat, the crone, the Things (broom, teapot, etc.) but mainly she let herself be victimized.
I did like the bits about the ladies being inspired to actually have fun at the ball. And, in a way, it was Ella who accidentally enabled that, so ok.
This was never my favorite story, but I had expected more from this author. There are lots of other retellings that are fine, but please don't bother with this one.
The prince wants a bride "with folded hands and downcast eyes." At midnight he sends the "slavey girl" tumbling down the stairs while looking for his 'princess.' His "Zany" (a mute Jester) is like a dog to him, even to sitting under the tablecloth, eating tidbits dropped by the prince.
The insta-love is almost obscene. They are 'made for each other' because neither likes to get up in the morning and they both like flowers. And she's incredibly beautiful, of course. With dainty feet and snow-white hands (despite being a shoeless scullery 'slut').
The father is an utter coward, which explains why Ella was until she had an out. She 'tried to be good' - sure.... Well, she was kind to the cat, the crone, the Things (broom, teapot, etc.) but mainly she let herself be victimized.
I did like the bits about the ladies being inspired to actually have fun at the ball. And, in a way, it was Ella who accidentally enabled that, so ok.
This was never my favorite story, but I had expected more from this author. There are lots of other retellings that are fine, but please don't bother with this one.
December 18, 2021
Farjeon's Cinderella has a lyrical feel infused with a balance of magic, humanity, and humor. It's a little dated and uses several words with "archaic" definitions which have different meanings today. If you give it to your middle grade reader, be prepared to discuss them. Otherwise, highly recommend!
March 29, 2023
I looked this up on a recommendation from a friend, and was intrigued. Some of the language and characterization is not what we would use today, but the word play is whimsical and fun, and the interactions between Cinderella and the Prince feel real and sentimental. I must say too that in this version the father is alive, and my heart just broke for him--he's a sweet, lost character, also a victim of the stepmother's abuse.
I have a theory--totally unproven, and I've only done the most cursory of research--but still, I have a theory that this book helped inform the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Instances of unique language and the fairy godmother backstory are the same, and some of Cinderella's dialogue with the Prince feels similar. I only happened to notice it because I saw the musical recently. ;)
I have a theory--totally unproven, and I've only done the most cursory of research--but still, I have a theory that this book helped inform the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Instances of unique language and the fairy godmother backstory are the same, and some of Cinderella's dialogue with the Prince feels similar. I only happened to notice it because I saw the musical recently. ;)
February 27, 2009
This is not a great book, but it was still fun to read. What the author did was take the Charles Perrault version and expand it. Her writing style is very turn-of-the-century children's lit and I found it a bit tedious. I did like her storyline though. I also felt a connection to each of the characters. If only she had a better writing style!
October 14, 2023
A classical, poetic retelling of Cinderella. If it was really published in 1947, I can definitely see the influence it most likely had on Disney's 1950 adaptation. (e.g. The opening scene with Ella waking up in the morning and speaking to a clock is remarkably similar.)
I thought that the author maybe found some inspiration in the Soviet 1947 Cinderella film; it definitely had the same dreamy feel and there were some similar scenes.
I know that it's almost unfair to compare this book to some of the modern Cinderella retellings, but I still want to mention some things that bothered me:
- Ella's father is alive and still physically well enough to travel and trade. He knows about the abuse his daughter suffers (the stepmother literally slaps Ella in front of him at one point), but he does nothing to prevent it. Needless to say: he is verbally abused by his wife and stepdaughters as well, but why does he put up with it? Is the house not his? Are he and Ella at mercy of their new family? It was really unclear. Since the author kept the father alive AND established his relationship with his daughter as loving (he even brought her sweets from the ball), I sorely missed some final reunion once she is chosen as the Prince's bride in the finale.
- When the clock strikes 12, Ella is transformed into her usual dress in the royal gardens in front of the crowd. But everyone ignores her because they are looking for her "Princess" self. The Prince even shoves Ella while looking for the mysterious Princess!
Why? The romance was already underdeveloped, but why did the author add this?
- The Prince is accompanied by a simpleton/jester called Zany, who sits under his table and eats the scraps....this was just unnecessary and weird and didn't paint the Prince in the best light.
- one error: in the finale the Prince calls Ella "Cinderella" - but he could not have known about this nickname before. Her stepsisters call her "Cinders" and "Ella" in front of him, never "Cinderella".
I thought it was really interesting that Ella's friends are the Things in this retelling - the clock, the chair, the broom - that even help her against her stepmother when she wants to lock up Ella. I also liked the onomatopoeic effect of the author's prose.
If you want a good, classical Cinderella retelling with more romance, I would recommend Silver Woven in My Hair over this one. From the more modern ones, I'd go for Ella Enchanted or Princess of Glass.
I thought that the author maybe found some inspiration in the Soviet 1947 Cinderella film; it definitely had the same dreamy feel and there were some similar scenes.
I know that it's almost unfair to compare this book to some of the modern Cinderella retellings, but I still want to mention some things that bothered me:
- Ella's father is alive and still physically well enough to travel and trade. He knows about the abuse his daughter suffers (the stepmother literally slaps Ella in front of him at one point), but he does nothing to prevent it. Needless to say: he is verbally abused by his wife and stepdaughters as well, but why does he put up with it? Is the house not his? Are he and Ella at mercy of their new family? It was really unclear. Since the author kept the father alive AND established his relationship with his daughter as loving (he even brought her sweets from the ball), I sorely missed some final reunion once she is chosen as the Prince's bride in the finale.
- When the clock strikes 12, Ella is transformed into her usual dress in the royal gardens in front of the crowd. But everyone ignores her because they are looking for her "Princess" self. The Prince even shoves Ella while looking for the mysterious Princess!
Why? The romance was already underdeveloped, but why did the author add this?
- The Prince is accompanied by a simpleton/jester called Zany, who sits under his table and eats the scraps....this was just unnecessary and weird and didn't paint the Prince in the best light.
- one error: in the finale the Prince calls Ella "Cinderella" - but he could not have known about this nickname before. Her stepsisters call her "Cinders" and "Ella" in front of him, never "Cinderella".
I thought it was really interesting that Ella's friends are the Things in this retelling - the clock, the chair, the broom - that even help her against her stepmother when she wants to lock up Ella. I also liked the onomatopoeic effect of the author's prose.
If you want a good, classical Cinderella retelling with more romance, I would recommend Silver Woven in My Hair over this one. From the more modern ones, I'd go for Ella Enchanted or Princess of Glass.
June 1, 2022
Cinderella stories are an interesting way to keep track of a society's anxieties about women's behavior, and the way women do violence to each other. The stepsisters here were very interesting - the first character trait you are presented with is that they are bad at sewing! You don't see that in modern adaptations.
"her pink wrapper had a lot of cheap lace about it, badly torn and very dirty; most of the buttons had come off, and the hem was undone in two places; she had used a whole packet of safety-pins to pin the hem up and pull the front together, and the torn lace was held in place by eleven brooches out of Christmas crackers"
The dressing gown really pulls its weight in this scene!
Overall, an interesting series of choices in this adaptation. The father is alive, the housekeeping implements and furniture talk to Cinderella, there's a magical scene in the woods with the fairy godmother that feels borrowed from some other fairytale, and the prince has a court jester. There's a lot of poetry and song and rhyming proverbs in this one, including one about a pineapple. It felt a lot like an adaptation from a play, which, as it turned out, it was.
I found this while searching for the 1955 Cinderella movie, The Glass Slipper, which was also good, if you're in the mood for an unusual take on a classic.
"her pink wrapper had a lot of cheap lace about it, badly torn and very dirty; most of the buttons had come off, and the hem was undone in two places; she had used a whole packet of safety-pins to pin the hem up and pull the front together, and the torn lace was held in place by eleven brooches out of Christmas crackers"
The dressing gown really pulls its weight in this scene!
Overall, an interesting series of choices in this adaptation. The father is alive, the housekeeping implements and furniture talk to Cinderella, there's a magical scene in the woods with the fairy godmother that feels borrowed from some other fairytale, and the prince has a court jester. There's a lot of poetry and song and rhyming proverbs in this one, including one about a pineapple. It felt a lot like an adaptation from a play, which, as it turned out, it was.
I found this while searching for the 1955 Cinderella movie, The Glass Slipper, which was also good, if you're in the mood for an unusual take on a classic.
May 8, 2021
I loved Farjon's Martin Pippin and was looking forward to her take on Cinderella. I was surprised to find it a very straightforward retelling of the fairy tale, with no great departures or unique perspectives. I would have described it as altogether unobjectionable, except for the reoccurrence of one word--one that whose meaning has changed over the last few decades, that I am unwilling to introduce my girls to at their ages. Generally, I'm fine with my kids absorbing an antiquated vocabulary through the books we read, and don't mind explaining that a word used to mean something different, so we shouldn't casually throw it around now, but this particular case hit differently, and I'll be removing The Glass Slipper from our shelves, at least for now. I'm not one for censoring older books because they don't conform to our culture's current standards, and I've never pulled a book from our shelves because of one word before, but this one just didn't sit well with me. The Glass Slipper's charm and playfulness wasn't enough to make it worth it, at least for now.
February 6, 2020
This was a classic novelisation of the play of the same name and is a familiar one to all of us.
It's a sweet children's retelling of Cinderella.
A nice easy read I think this would be perfect for either confident readers or for just reading aloud.
It has charming illustrations throughout and harks back to bygone days.
The version I have was published in the 70s but was a reprint of the earlier 50s edition.
It's a sweet children's retelling of Cinderella.
A nice easy read I think this would be perfect for either confident readers or for just reading aloud.
It has charming illustrations throughout and harks back to bygone days.
The version I have was published in the 70s but was a reprint of the earlier 50s edition.
October 12, 2023
I first read this book about 30 years ago at primary school - and I've been desperate to re-read it ever since. As I didn't remember either the title or the author, it's proved a tricky endeavour. But thanks in no small part to Goodreads, I finally found it - and it lived up to the memory. Charming, whimsical, magical; a sweet and pretty retelling of the Cinderella story. So glad I found it again!
March 19, 2025
It's a pantomime. It's lavishly weird. I read this as a child and was utterly taken by the weirdness--the mime-only communication of Zany, the Things, Araminta and Arethusa's utter vulgarity and bad manners, etc. Our heroine Ella is at the mercy of her family and surroundings. She wanders through the story like she's dreaming. There's a lot going on in here, and it would be super fun to see it staged.
June 20, 2022
Please read!
I wish I had read this to our children. I've learned several new words - simoon is one. The Zany is a novel character and I delight in the author's way with words. I love that Cinderella is kind and merciful. The only downside in the story is the father. He is a sad, pathetic man.
I wish I had read this to our children. I've learned several new words - simoon is one. The Zany is a novel character and I delight in the author's way with words. I love that Cinderella is kind and merciful. The only downside in the story is the father. He is a sad, pathetic man.
January 15, 2024
Reread this sweet classic, which was a favorite from my childhood; the familiar story is updated a bit and Ella here is a friend of all the Things in her kitchen (clock, fire, etc.) which support her as she dreams of attending the ball and meets the Prince. A bit similar to the film Ever After, all turns out well is this charming fairy tale.
June 19, 2020
Delightful wordplay and rhymes, frothy, fun. My six-year-old was desperate for each next chapter even though it's not exactly a surprise how it ends. Typical early 20th-century fat shaming which I edited out on the fly, but for its age it wasn't as sexist as I thought it might be.
March 20, 2024
This apparently came out after Disney's version of Cinderella, but I like this version better than D's story about mice that also includes Cinderella meeting the Prince. I love the language of this book and all the magic it has. I'm glad I revisited it again.
December 31, 2017
Sweet retelling of the story of Cinderella. Very light and fun with some delicious rhyming word play. A charming read but doesn’t really deal with some of the darker aspects of the story.
January 21, 2019
A bit over-written. I did not especially like her twist on the fairy tale—except for the stepmother getting her comeuppance!
January 30, 2022
I absolutely love this delightful retelling of Cinderella! It's so cute and I've read it so many times! Highly recommended!!!!!
July 4, 2024
I read this as a kid when I was enamored of fairy tale retellings. I was not a fan.
March 11, 2025
Incredibly twee. Not recommended.
Want to read
June 18, 2025SM
September 19, 2025
Extra lovely knowing it was adapted from a play, and also E. H. Shepard IS THE ILLUSTRATOR?!!?
July 11, 2025
I loved this as a child, and strongly recommend getting the version with illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard, who also did the illos for Winnie the Pooh, another of my childhood favorites. Farjean's version of Cinderella is based on a play by her brother, and I think someone involved in the 1950 Disney version of the story must've seen the play, because there are definite similarities.
What I loved, and love, about this version is the poetic language and imagery, and the word play. For example, when the King's Herald and company first come to the house, and the two sisters are fighting over the window, one says:
“That’s right, dig your skinny elbows into my poor ribs. I’ll be blue as blackberries tomorrow.”
And the other replies:
>i>“Go on, shove your great shoulders into my backbone, do! I’ll be black as blueberries tonight.”
Why I think that's funny I couldn't tell you, but I do -- and it's somehow characteristic of the two, as well. And there are little philosophical asides that intrigued my child self, such as this exchange between Cinderella and the Prince at the ball:
Cinderella asks the Prince, “Are you very, very happy?”
“Sometimes,” he said, “I am extraordinarily happy, and yet I haven’t the faintest notion why. And sometimes I am extraordinarily unhappy, and I don’t know why either.”
“How strange!” said Ella. “It is exactly the same with me.”
My family discussed emotions only as something to be repressed, and I had often wondered at how disconnected my emotions could be from anything I could pin down, so it was a delight to have this recognized.
Some might find the language a bit over the top, as in these next two passages, where the Herald is frustrated with the ladies clamoring to try on the glass slipper:
Had he not been up and about and in and out, hence, thence, and whence, hither and thither and all of a dither, performing, since long before daybreak, the various, multifarious, unaccountable, unsurmountable, unprecedented, one might almost say the deliberately invented duties which had accumulated ever since the Prince’s order to have all the ladies back in the throne room by nine o’clock to try on the glass slipper which the Zany had found in the snow? Now it is one thing to be a Personage on the spot (and the Herald was fully aware that a Personage of his importance would be far-to-seek, being, so-to-speak, Unique) ; but another thing altogether to expect a Personage to be a hundred persons in a hundred places at one and the same moment. It was, considered as such, a touch too much.
...
The ladies, however, were entirely unsortable. They flocked round the Herald, crying, “The slipper! the slipper! we’ve come for the slipper!” till he could hardly hear himself think. In vain, his hands to his ears, he pointed out to them that silence is golden, that the amorous are never clamorous, that to be loquacious is ungracious, and to be tacit is an asset — in ever-rising excitement they persisted in crying out to him that they had come for the slipper! to try on the slipper! where was the slipper, the slipper, the slipper? — until, losing his temper once and for all, he shouted, “Stop that noise!” The ladies stopped instantly; and this, oddly enough, offended him to the extreme. His courtesy had been wasted on them. They had obliged him to resort to Bad Manners. Where, he asked himself, had these ladies been brought up?
But, again, for me that very stylized, poetic language was a big part of the appeal. For all its weirdness (various details of the story are rather unusual for a Cinderella tale), it remains a delightful tale for kids who like language and word play -- and for adults who appreciate the same.
What I loved, and love, about this version is the poetic language and imagery, and the word play. For example, when the King's Herald and company first come to the house, and the two sisters are fighting over the window, one says:
“That’s right, dig your skinny elbows into my poor ribs. I’ll be blue as blackberries tomorrow.”
And the other replies:
>i>“Go on, shove your great shoulders into my backbone, do! I’ll be black as blueberries tonight.”
Why I think that's funny I couldn't tell you, but I do -- and it's somehow characteristic of the two, as well. And there are little philosophical asides that intrigued my child self, such as this exchange between Cinderella and the Prince at the ball:
Cinderella asks the Prince, “Are you very, very happy?”
“Sometimes,” he said, “I am extraordinarily happy, and yet I haven’t the faintest notion why. And sometimes I am extraordinarily unhappy, and I don’t know why either.”
“How strange!” said Ella. “It is exactly the same with me.”
My family discussed emotions only as something to be repressed, and I had often wondered at how disconnected my emotions could be from anything I could pin down, so it was a delight to have this recognized.
Some might find the language a bit over the top, as in these next two passages, where the Herald is frustrated with the ladies clamoring to try on the glass slipper:
Had he not been up and about and in and out, hence, thence, and whence, hither and thither and all of a dither, performing, since long before daybreak, the various, multifarious, unaccountable, unsurmountable, unprecedented, one might almost say the deliberately invented duties which had accumulated ever since the Prince’s order to have all the ladies back in the throne room by nine o’clock to try on the glass slipper which the Zany had found in the snow? Now it is one thing to be a Personage on the spot (and the Herald was fully aware that a Personage of his importance would be far-to-seek, being, so-to-speak, Unique) ; but another thing altogether to expect a Personage to be a hundred persons in a hundred places at one and the same moment. It was, considered as such, a touch too much.
...
The ladies, however, were entirely unsortable. They flocked round the Herald, crying, “The slipper! the slipper! we’ve come for the slipper!” till he could hardly hear himself think. In vain, his hands to his ears, he pointed out to them that silence is golden, that the amorous are never clamorous, that to be loquacious is ungracious, and to be tacit is an asset — in ever-rising excitement they persisted in crying out to him that they had come for the slipper! to try on the slipper! where was the slipper, the slipper, the slipper? — until, losing his temper once and for all, he shouted, “Stop that noise!” The ladies stopped instantly; and this, oddly enough, offended him to the extreme. His courtesy had been wasted on them. They had obliged him to resort to Bad Manners. Where, he asked himself, had these ladies been brought up?
But, again, for me that very stylized, poetic language was a big part of the appeal. For all its weirdness (various details of the story are rather unusual for a Cinderella tale), it remains a delightful tale for kids who like language and word play -- and for adults who appreciate the same.
April 9, 2015
See full review on Redeemed Reader
Farjeon’s Glass Slipper is a romp through Cinderella’s story complete with ugly, rude stepsisters, an abominable stepmother, a loving but wimpy father, and a mysterious “crone” who transforms Cinderella into a breathtaking beauty the night of the ball. Cinderella reveals her kindhearted nature throughout the story as she offers food to animals, takes care of her father, and tries not to complain. In this version, it is not animals who talk but the “Things” that surround Cinderella (particularly the grandfather clock). Jaunty little songs sprinkle the text, and the reader will sense the theatrical elements that are holdovers from the dramatic version (as well as the Disney songs like “Bippity Boppity Boo”). A great fit for young, advanced readers who enjoy princess stories, this is also a good companion to the animated Disney version.
Farjeon’s Glass Slipper is a romp through Cinderella’s story complete with ugly, rude stepsisters, an abominable stepmother, a loving but wimpy father, and a mysterious “crone” who transforms Cinderella into a breathtaking beauty the night of the ball. Cinderella reveals her kindhearted nature throughout the story as she offers food to animals, takes care of her father, and tries not to complain. In this version, it is not animals who talk but the “Things” that surround Cinderella (particularly the grandfather clock). Jaunty little songs sprinkle the text, and the reader will sense the theatrical elements that are holdovers from the dramatic version (as well as the Disney songs like “Bippity Boppity Boo”). A great fit for young, advanced readers who enjoy princess stories, this is also a good companion to the animated Disney version.
May 20, 2016
It started out promising with a brilliant introduction to a seemingly naive but refreshingly direct protagonist and deliciously nasty step-sisters and their mother. However, at times the author's language subsides into annoying onomtopoeia and the verses repeatedly become mindnumbingly repetitive and dull. At other times the author shows off her linguistic prowess by stringing more than half a dozen synonyms together for seemingly no reason at all. Reading this version of the well-known fairy tale my impression was that it had potential which was wasted by the text vacillating between infantile nursery language and pompous verbosity, only occasionally managing to find the right balance.
December 14, 2016
What is so weird to me is that she wrote a play that went on to become a musical (and this book is just her novelization of her own play), but the musical that most resembles this book is the Rodgers and Hammerstein version that came out two years later (and the superior 90s remake of same musical). Anyway, this book is great and perfect, and the only literary version of Cinderella I accept (except like the two others I like). If the father character wasn't in this book it'd be 5 stars (weak dad who lets evil mom do horrible things is literally my least favorite character in fiction, even over fictional bully who picks one person to be evil towards for almost quite literally no reason).
August 18, 2010
I can't even remember the first time I read this - I was 8 or 9 and I got it at an airport and read it on a plane. I read it again in high school, and again as an adult. I own three editions of it but my favorite is the one by "Tempo Books." It has the wonderful line illustrations. It may not be sophisticated but it is my favorite re-telling of Cinderella, written decades before re-tellings became clever and witty and trendy. (Second place is Beauty by McKinley which also came out decades before the trend).
December 8, 2016
I remember loving this novel as a child. Sadly it doesn't quite live up to my fond memories. It's a little too childish, with all the sing-song rhymes and Ella's saintly goodness. But I did enjoy Ella invoking the guests to play hide-and-seek at the ball and how she became strong enough to stand up to her stepmother at the end. Still a worthwhile read, but more for children than adults.
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