Children's Corner: Cinderella Smith

Summary: Cinderella Smith has a problem with a capital P. She loses shoes almost as quickly as she puts them on her feet. But now she’s lost the most important shoe of all: her shiny, ruby red tap shoe. Without it she won’t have a chance of being chosen Pumpkin Blossom Fairy for the fall dance recital—and that means no special tutu, no crown, and no solo!
The school year is starting out with big problems too. Her new teacher laughs at her name, she’s sitting at the smart-boys table, and her old best friend is ignoring her. Now the new girl, Erin, has asked for her advice on wicked stepsisters. And Cinderella doesn’t have stepsisters—wicked or otherwise! The recital is just around the corner and the stepsisters are on their way. Can Cinderella and Erin solve the capital P problems in time? ~amazon.com

Review: I will admit it when I requested this book I did it because it had to do with tap dancing, which my almost 6 year old is currently enrolled in. So, I will also say that when a chapter book showed up I was surprised. I thought it was going to be a book for her age in the same vain as Fancy Nancy or Pinkalicious. Now, that's not saying that I'm disappointed in the book, I'm not but next time I'll be a bit more careful when requesting a children's book.

This is a very cute book about a young girl who is trying to find her way through the curious world of middle school. You see Cinderella is always losing a shoe. She just can't help it. She misplaces them and then can't remember where she put them. Of course once her mom buys her the fancy ruby red tap shoes she swears she'll be better and now lose them. I think you can guess what happens.

More than the case of the missing ruby red tap shoe, is the story of friendship and trying to figure out where you fit in. How do you deal with it when your friends start to exclude you and make fun of you? How do you go about making new friends and figuring out who you want to be friends with?

It's a great book about telling the truth, being true to yourself and figuring out who you want your friends to be.

The illustrations fit well with the book and bring the story to life.

While I don't think my 6 year old understood all of the book, she did find it funny that Cinderella kept losing her shoes. She also enjoyed the dance class and tap references in the book.

I will be giving this to my sister who is the perfect age for this book (she'll be 10 in August).