School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3This tender variant of the Cinderella story from the Hmong people of Southeast Asia takes place in a peasant village. After Jouanah's mother is willingly transformed into a cow to help the family prosper, her father takes another wife with a daughter who is as ugly and mean-spirited as Jouanah is kind and selfless. The stepmother lies and manipulates, the cow dies of grief, and the father soon follows his first wife to the grave. Treated cruelly, Jouanah is left at home to work during the New Year celebration. Dressed in finery bestowed by her mother's spirit, the young woman belatedly joins the festivities, catching the eye of the village elder's son. A lost slipper brings the lovers together, though the stepmother schemes to keep them apart. O'Brien's realistic, expressive paintings breathe with the atmosphere of "a sun-splashed clearing high in the mountains" while adding depth to the characters portrayed in the text. A publisher's note gives the source for the story. Libraries owning familiar European versions as well as A-Ling Louie's Yeh Shen (Putnam, 1988) and Oki S. Han and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett's Kongi and Potgi (Dial, 1994) will find this new title valuable for comparison. An authentic, satisfying story of good character rewarded.Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
