Ashpet

Ashpet

From School Library JournalGrade 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, LaramieCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.A hilarious, whimsically illustrated Appalachian-based retelling of the Cinderella story recounts how poor mistreated Ashpet is rescued from a life of drudgery by her magical old Granny.From Publishers WeeklyIn 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 Kirkus ReviewsThe 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