Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Story from Korea
PreSchool-Grade 3-Beautiful Kongi, a farmer's daughter, endures the mocking of her stepsister while patiently bearing her stepmother's unreasonable demands and impossible tasks. Helpful animals come to Kongi's rescue, and a flock of splendid angels produces a gown, embroidered slippers, and a sedan chair to carry her to the palace where the prince is choosing a bride. The plot resembles the familiar Perrault story, but the tone is sweeter, for stepmother and stepsister are forgiven and reformed in the end. According to the jacket flap, Han heard the story from her father when she was a child in Seoul; no other source is given. A note describes some aspects of pre-20th century Korean rural life. A version in Frances Carpenter's Tales of a Korean Grandmother (Tuttle, 1972) resolves the stepsisters' rivalry without a prince or slipper. Han and Plunkett present the story in a straightforward style, eschewing the verbal and visual embellishments of Shirley Climo's The Korean Cinderella (HarperCollins, 1993). Han's glowing watercolor illustrations are more specific and less cluttered than those in the earlier picture book. Well-designed scenes illuminate setting and character, while authentic details-chests, baskets, and sewing tools-invite viewers into Kongi's world. Useful for comparison with Cinderella stories from other parts of the world, the book would make an interesting contrast to Nina Jaffe's Older Brother, Younger Brother (Viking, 1995).Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MACopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.