Interstellar Cinderella

Interstellar Cinderella | Science Fiction | Deborah Underwood | Amelia Bloomer Book List | ages 3-5 |

Interstellar Cinderella is a retelling of the famous Cinderella story with a different twist. Rather than Cinderella waiting for a prince to save her, and desiring to go to a ball, this Cinderella dreams of something else. She wants to repair fancy space ships and study ship repair, and one day she is given the opportunity to help the prince's ship. The prince then wishes to find this girl and marry her, but when he does find her, she declines his offer but proposes something else. That she may be his new chief mechanic. 

I find this book to interesting and impactful because it gives girls a different character to look up to. Cinderella is the story of a young girl who is saved by a prince and marries him. This new story changes that and they both save each other- Cinderella saves the prince and the prince saves Cinderella. I would love to use this book in my classroom to show girls, a similar Cinderella character doing different things that may make them feel empowered. Not only is the message good, but there's rhyming which ought to get their attention. The appropriate grade levels are prek to first grade. You can have your class compare and contrast this Cinderella story version to the one they know. This is good practice to identifying similarities and differences. We can also discuss different times we've done a good deed for a stranger, friends, and/or family and share as a class. Another topic to discuss is our favorite science activities. Cinderella in this story loves repairing ships, and the students may share different or similar ideas. This can get their minds ready and open to new possibilities.