The Prince's Diary

Children's Literature

This title complements the publisher's existing list of Cinderella stories (other titles include Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition, and Anklet for a Princess: a Cinderella Story from India). Here Renee Ting switches the story to the prince's viewpoint, offering it up as a series of sequential entries in the young royal's diary. The story opens with the prince falling in love with a beautiful girl fetching water by the creek, and in his mind, naming her Cinderella. A stable of nobles and their eligible daughters notwithstanding, he remains true to this girl. It turns out that she is the orphaned daughter of a gentleman whom the king knew. Her real name is Cynthia, and she lives on the edge of the woods with her stepmother and, naturally, two stepsisters. Written in a wryly amusing voice, the diaries seem a tad passionless in places, especially when the young man writes about having lost the love of his life. Additionally, Cinderella seems a little too stoic, her jaunty tune seeming out of place, especially at a point in the tale when we expect her to be pining away for the prince. Illustrations are pleasant, albeit reminiscent of the Disney Cinderella. Elementary teachers might find this version useful in exploring motifs of Cinderella variants, or in introducing point of view. 2005, Shen's Books, Ages 6 to 10.
—Uma Krishnaswami