Childrens Book Review of Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie dePaola

The Cinderella figure appears as Adelita (“Little Noblewoman”) Mercado Martínez in author-illustrator Tomie dePaola’s able hands. Adela dies shortly after Adelita’s delivery. Adelita nevertheless emerges as a young beauty thanks to:

• Her father Francisco’s love;
• Nanny Esperanza’s devotion.

Francisco expires from a sudden illness after marrying Señora Micaela de la Fortuna, the widowed mother of two daughters. Doña Micaela fires Esperanza. She has Adelita:

• Clean;
• Cook;
• Design dresses, press and wash clothing, stitch lace and ribbons for Dulce and Valentina;
• Move into the attic;
• Wear hand-me-downs.

She knows that Adelita is a beloved childhood acquaintance of Javier Gordillo. But she refuses to let Adelita attend the homecoming party which Señor Javier’s parents hold at the Gordillo ranch.

Esperanza appears after the departure of Adelita’s stepfamily. She braids Adelita’s tresses with flowers and ribbons. She brings Adela’s bird- and flower-embroidered shawl and old-fashioned white dress from a trunk in the storage room.  She gets Adelita to the party in a borrowed cart. Adelita introduces herself as Cenicienta (“Cinderella”). Fearing exposure as a kitchen maid unworthy of the town’s most eligible bachelor, Adelita leaves at midnight despite Javier’s:

• Dancing and dining only with her;
• Kissing her;
• Professing undying love.

Javier makes house-to-house searches the next day. He notices Adela’s shawl hanging from an attic window. He marries Adelita with Doña Micaela’s permission. Adelita and Javier welcome her stepfamily as wedding guests and Esperanza as household member.

Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story appears in English language format, with regular phrasing in Spanish. The English translations can be found after the Spanish phrases and in the glossary at the story’s end. The book’s release in 2002 draws upon the talents of:

• Tomie dePaola, as artist and author;
• Gina DiMassi and Cecilia Yung, as book designers;
• G.P. Putnam’s Sons, as publisher;
• South China Printing Co., as Hong Kong-based printer.  

The text is set most attractively and legibly in Esprit Bold against the artistic acrylics effectuated on 140-pound Arches cold-pressed handmade watercolor paper. It offers bi-cultural diversity, educational entertainment, family fun, and Mexican insights for readers aged 5 years and upward and students attending kindergarten and onward.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Tomie dePaola's signature
personal autograph collection of Wikimedia Commons User: Bradforce28: Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TomiedePaola.png

For the party that changes her life, Adelita wears a white dress that sets off her bird- and flower-embroidered shawl: White dresses are traditional festival apparel in Mexico.
Mexican festival; Provo, Utah County, north central Utah: Tai Gray, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/taigray/4958327803/

"Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story -- By Tomie DePaola" (1:40)
by VFIS Library to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_xI1qI6TE0

"Meet Tomie dePaola" (1:41) ~ Tomie dePaola's mother read to him every night in childhood; he always preferred folktales to fairy tales.
Uploaded June 17, 2013, by Open Road Media to YouTube ~ URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_XINGTzl5U 

dePaola, Tomie. 2002. Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story. G.P. Putnam's Sons.