“Allah says a kindness never goes unrewarded.”
-Proverb
-Proverb
Based off the tale of The Little Red Fish and the Golden Clog - A story from Iraq
Click Here for the Full Tale
Summary
This book is similar to the traditional Cinderella story about a girl who is the servent of the mean stepmother and her stepsisters. This story takes place is the Middle East, with a girl named Maha. She wanted to father to get married so that she would have a mother. Her 'fairy godmother is a a catfish she caught in a basket, who grants her wishes. She goes to the fish in time of need, wishing to visit the bridal party; not a ball like in the traditional story. In her rush home she looses her golden sandal, to be picked up by the Tariq, brother of the bride. His mother searches for the woman who is the owner of the shoe, and finds her. In the end Maha and Tariq get married, and finally see each other and live happily ever after.
My Thoughts
Using the Blaska Article as a basis for my interpretation, this story is very culturally relevant. It has many cultural notions that distinguish it from the traditional story of Cinderella, including cultural traditions and names; such as Maha and Tariq. One example is the wedding party, the ceremony for the bride, who is being painted in henna. Which is used to intricately decorate the hands and feet. It is also interesting because I came to find out that women didn't go to these parties to meet men to marry, but instead to meet the mothers of the men to marry. This goes along with the cultural aspect of arranged marriages and that the daughters are paid for to marry the sons. Up until the end Maha had not met her husband to be. Her golden sandal that she drops also goes well with the cultural aspect, instead of having the glass slipper. It is slightly stereotypical the style of dress illustrated, like that out of Aladdin or Arabian Nights. The traditional head wraps and gold bangles the women wear is what we see in the media. But it could be argued that this is the style of dress in that specific culture at that time.
The main character Maha, is the servant to her stepmother, which promotes empathy.You feel for her, and hope that she succeeds in breaking free of the greedy woman. The fish who is like her 'fairy godmother' helps her when she needs it, so she doesn't feel so alone. The typical come to the rescue character. Along with the talking rooster who in the end saves her by revealing her whereabouts to Tariq's mother. The mother saves her from being a servant to her greedy stepmother. Solving all of her problems.
Everyone in the story is from the Middle East, so there are no cultural differences, or oppression, and establishes acceptance of middle eastern women. Throughout the story there different proverbs or sayings from the Middle East sprinkled in. For example references to the teachings of Allah, in the religion of Islam. It does not single out the characters as being different besides the fact that the stepmother is greedy and takes advantage of Maha. They all have similar style of dress and live in similar style houses. The pictures show colors used in the Middle East, lots of reds and golds. Which represents their culture, but to remember that this is just one place of many in the Middle East.
The characters are also portrayed and illustrated in a realistic manner, besides the talking fish. The father has a job and the mother stays home with the daughters. Since it is a fairy tale, it is realistic for the daughter Maha to do all of the chores, depicting the stepmother as mean. When the mother of Tariq is searching for the girl whose foot will fit in the shoe, she at first goes to the wealthiest part in town. This can be considered stereotyping that the girl whose shoe it belongs too is from a wealthy family. But when the girl is found, and is poor, it does not focus on that aspect. Instead on the kindness and beauty in her eyes.
One thing to note is that this tale takes place in Iraq, which is only one of many other countries representing the Middle East. So it is important to realize that not all of the cultures are going to be the same and have the same customs. Especially since this tale appears to take place awhile ago, not in modern times and that it is a fairy tale. The talking animals are not realistic, but I think that it is important that they represent hope. They help Maha get to her happy ending. It is important to have children realize that a man does not complete you and not every story will end with them getting what they want. This book would work well as part of a fairy tale unit, using different tales from many cultures. It is good for children to see the story told from another perspective other than the mainstream white character. This would also work well as part of a culture unit, having the characters and setting take place in the Middle East.
Looking more into the Author, she has written other books, all of which have another cultural aspect to them. The author as far as I know is not of Middle Eastern culture, but does include in her author's note that there other stories out there about a girl who go from rag to riches girl, who has a cruel stepmother and lazy stepsisters. She notes other cultural Cinderella stories too like Cinderella: A Casebook by Alan Dundes, which is from eastern Iran and western Afghanistan. The illustrator also comments on how he used the colors and tools to create these pictures. His source material used was from The World of ISLAM: Faith, People, Culture edited by Bernard Lewis. Even though the Author and Illustrator are not from the culture, they did their homework to make sure they were culturally relevant.
The main character Maha, is the servant to her stepmother, which promotes empathy.You feel for her, and hope that she succeeds in breaking free of the greedy woman. The fish who is like her 'fairy godmother' helps her when she needs it, so she doesn't feel so alone. The typical come to the rescue character. Along with the talking rooster who in the end saves her by revealing her whereabouts to Tariq's mother. The mother saves her from being a servant to her greedy stepmother. Solving all of her problems.
Everyone in the story is from the Middle East, so there are no cultural differences, or oppression, and establishes acceptance of middle eastern women. Throughout the story there different proverbs or sayings from the Middle East sprinkled in. For example references to the teachings of Allah, in the religion of Islam. It does not single out the characters as being different besides the fact that the stepmother is greedy and takes advantage of Maha. They all have similar style of dress and live in similar style houses. The pictures show colors used in the Middle East, lots of reds and golds. Which represents their culture, but to remember that this is just one place of many in the Middle East.
The characters are also portrayed and illustrated in a realistic manner, besides the talking fish. The father has a job and the mother stays home with the daughters. Since it is a fairy tale, it is realistic for the daughter Maha to do all of the chores, depicting the stepmother as mean. When the mother of Tariq is searching for the girl whose foot will fit in the shoe, she at first goes to the wealthiest part in town. This can be considered stereotyping that the girl whose shoe it belongs too is from a wealthy family. But when the girl is found, and is poor, it does not focus on that aspect. Instead on the kindness and beauty in her eyes.
One thing to note is that this tale takes place in Iraq, which is only one of many other countries representing the Middle East. So it is important to realize that not all of the cultures are going to be the same and have the same customs. Especially since this tale appears to take place awhile ago, not in modern times and that it is a fairy tale. The talking animals are not realistic, but I think that it is important that they represent hope. They help Maha get to her happy ending. It is important to have children realize that a man does not complete you and not every story will end with them getting what they want. This book would work well as part of a fairy tale unit, using different tales from many cultures. It is good for children to see the story told from another perspective other than the mainstream white character. This would also work well as part of a culture unit, having the characters and setting take place in the Middle East.
Looking more into the Author, she has written other books, all of which have another cultural aspect to them. The author as far as I know is not of Middle Eastern culture, but does include in her author's note that there other stories out there about a girl who go from rag to riches girl, who has a cruel stepmother and lazy stepsisters. She notes other cultural Cinderella stories too like Cinderella: A Casebook by Alan Dundes, which is from eastern Iran and western Afghanistan. The illustrator also comments on how he used the colors and tools to create these pictures. His source material used was from The World of ISLAM: Faith, People, Culture edited by Bernard Lewis. Even though the Author and Illustrator are not from the culture, they did their homework to make sure they were culturally relevant.
Review
School Library Journal
In this gentle Cinderella variant from Iraq, young Maha begs her widowed father to marry their seemingly kind neighbor, a widow with a daughter of her own. After the marriage, however, the woman grows to loathe her stepdaughter, and she and her daughter treat Maha like a slave. One day, the poor girl rescues a talking red fish that helps her over the years. Finally, it provides her with fine clothes so that she may attend a wealthy young woman's bridal ritual. She stays too long, and in her flight, she loses one of her golden sandals. Tariq, the bride's brother, finds it, and his mother searches the city for the owner of the shoe. Maha's foot is a perfect fit and she and Tariq live happily ever after. In her gracefully written narrative, Hickox effectively blends many familiar touches with elements of the story that will be new to Western audiences. An author's note provides the sources for this well-told tale. Hillenbrand's delicate, textured illustrations have the look of watered silk touched with glowing jewel-toned accents. The paintings integrate well with the text, and the result is a sweet, smooth book with just a hint of spice.
Donna L. Scanlon, Lancaster County Library, PA
Horn
Maha, the beloved daughter of a widowed fisherman from Iraq, joins the burgeoning ranks of beguiling picture-book Cinderellas from around the world. In this simply written version, Maha's father gives in to his daughter's urgings that he marry their "good neighbor," thereby giving her a mother and sister. Maha's fortunes alter - for the worse - and her needed fairy godmother appears as a red fish whose life Maha has spared. Maha earns the fish's eternal gratitude ("call for me any time and ask what you will"). The fish insures Maha's presence at the henna-painting celebration for a new bride, warning only that Maha leave before her stepmother. She does, but loses one of her golden sandals in her race across the footbridge. Illustrator Hillenbrand uses both interior and external architectural details to re-create the limpid Middle Eastern landscape. Beginning with young Maha's mended vest and her rooster's proud comb, Hillenbrand's dazzling reds contrast his more muted palette and direct our attention toward important elements in the tale: the scarlet henna-stained hands and feet of the bride; the crimson vest of Tariq, brother to the bride, who discovers Maha's sandal and deter-mines its owner will be his wife; the ruby fish. Throughout, Hillenbrand lightens the tale with humorous touches, none more so than his final portrait of Maha's stepsister, bald head polka-dotted with red blisters (a plan to cause Maha to lose all her hair having backfired) and a red fish earring dangling from her ear. A concluding note from author and illustrator records their respective research in bringing a new and appealing version of "Cinderella" to young readers.
Found on the Barnes & Nobel Website
In this gentle Cinderella variant from Iraq, young Maha begs her widowed father to marry their seemingly kind neighbor, a widow with a daughter of her own. After the marriage, however, the woman grows to loathe her stepdaughter, and she and her daughter treat Maha like a slave. One day, the poor girl rescues a talking red fish that helps her over the years. Finally, it provides her with fine clothes so that she may attend a wealthy young woman's bridal ritual. She stays too long, and in her flight, she loses one of her golden sandals. Tariq, the bride's brother, finds it, and his mother searches the city for the owner of the shoe. Maha's foot is a perfect fit and she and Tariq live happily ever after. In her gracefully written narrative, Hickox effectively blends many familiar touches with elements of the story that will be new to Western audiences. An author's note provides the sources for this well-told tale. Hillenbrand's delicate, textured illustrations have the look of watered silk touched with glowing jewel-toned accents. The paintings integrate well with the text, and the result is a sweet, smooth book with just a hint of spice.
Donna L. Scanlon, Lancaster County Library, PA
Horn
Maha, the beloved daughter of a widowed fisherman from Iraq, joins the burgeoning ranks of beguiling picture-book Cinderellas from around the world. In this simply written version, Maha's father gives in to his daughter's urgings that he marry their "good neighbor," thereby giving her a mother and sister. Maha's fortunes alter - for the worse - and her needed fairy godmother appears as a red fish whose life Maha has spared. Maha earns the fish's eternal gratitude ("call for me any time and ask what you will"). The fish insures Maha's presence at the henna-painting celebration for a new bride, warning only that Maha leave before her stepmother. She does, but loses one of her golden sandals in her race across the footbridge. Illustrator Hillenbrand uses both interior and external architectural details to re-create the limpid Middle Eastern landscape. Beginning with young Maha's mended vest and her rooster's proud comb, Hillenbrand's dazzling reds contrast his more muted palette and direct our attention toward important elements in the tale: the scarlet henna-stained hands and feet of the bride; the crimson vest of Tariq, brother to the bride, who discovers Maha's sandal and deter-mines its owner will be his wife; the ruby fish. Throughout, Hillenbrand lightens the tale with humorous touches, none more so than his final portrait of Maha's stepsister, bald head polka-dotted with red blisters (a plan to cause Maha to lose all her hair having backfired) and a red fish earring dangling from her ear. A concluding note from author and illustrator records their respective research in bringing a new and appealing version of "Cinderella" to young readers.
Found on the Barnes & Nobel Website
Review of the Review
I agree with the School Library Journal when they say that, "Hickox effectively blends many familiar touches with elements of the story that will be new to Western audiences". You can pick out the familiar western parts of the Cinderella story that we all know and love. You can pick out the elements of the traditional story in the culture, but they have their own spin on them that makes them specific to Middle Eastern culture. As she says, "elements new to western culture," this story does explore the customs such as the bridal parties and the topics of how marriage is arranged. It also touches on the aspect of religion. She also notes the illustrations, and how they "have the look of watered silk touched with glowing jewel-toned accents" which can reflect on the clothes of the culture and the sources used to create the story and pictures. Horn says "A concluding nore from the author and illustrator records their respective research in brining a new and appealing version of Cinderella to young readers." I agree that they did do their research to better understand the culture and appropriately write and illustrate on it. I agree that there are humorous touches sprinkled throughout the book. It is a good first exposure to Middle Eastern culture, and in a familiar format, will make it an easier read. I do wish that the reviewers would have gone into more detail and pick out what was culturally relevant. Do they think this is a good portrayal and representation of the culture?
Hickox, R. (1998). The golden sandal" a middle eastern cinderella story. (1st ed.). New York: Holiday House.