In this version of the story, the message is still the same, but it has so many different setting details that it almost seems like a new story. Readers will notice that Cinderella is still a poor servant girl who is made fun of by other girls in the house, but since it takes place during the time of slaves in Egypt, Cinderella is actually a slave herself, and her “evil Stepmother” is actually a male slave master. As the story goes on, I noticed that another main difference is that there is no “fairy godmother” to help Cinderella. Instead, Cinderella’s course is altered by various Egyptian gods. Additionally, characters in this story utilize reed boats on the Nile river to get around, rather than horse-drawn carriages. For other uses, see Rhodopis (disambiguation). Pair of ancient sandals from Egypt, made of vegetable fiber

I enjoy Heller’s work, and I’ve read many of her books (and I own quite a few) but I recently noticed that I’ve been unaware of some books by her or at least illustrated by her. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-egyptian-cinderella-write-the-middle-of-the-story-12716147 The Egyptian Cinderella’s name was Rhodopis. This take is one of the earliest variations of the story, first recorded by Strabo, a Greek historian in the first century BC.

This book could be used when learning or exploring folklore and fairy tales (to build upon prior knowledge). This would also be a good piece of literature to compare with other versions of Cinderella (compare and contrast differences). Since this version of Cinderella is told from an Egyptian perspective, teachers could use that as an opportunity to create an interdisciplinary unit on Egypt. Egyptian history and culture can be covered during Social Studies, geometry of pyramids (and triangles) and logistics of the Egyptian economy could be discussed during Math, Egyptian plant life and embalming of mummies can be discussed during math, and ELA will involve the ideas discussed below.

The Egyptian Cinderella is a captivating retelling of the classic Cinderella tale. In this story, Rhodopis, meaning rosy-cheeked in Greek, is taken from her home and bought as a slave in Egypt. She looks different than the other slaves and servants there because of her hair and rosy-red face. Three servant girls treat her poorly because she is a slave. One day, when Rhodopis was dancing, the King rewarded her with especially made, sparkly slippers for her to wear while she danced. Soon, it was announced that everyone would be celebrating the Pharaoh Amasis. Rhodopis was expected to stay behind to clean. A falcon, the symbol of the god Horus, appeared to her. He stole one of her golden slippers and flew away towards the Pharaoh's party. The Pharaoh took the rose-red slipper as a sign that he must find the owner and make her his queen. He searched through many places along the Nile, and he finally found Rhodopis. The two got married and lived happily ever after. While I read this book because of the illustrator, I wasn’t wild about the illustrations. I liked them but not enough to have sought them out. The learners’ can use their work from Day 1 to Day 6 and interweave it into the Long Write. Some lessons include a word bank to support EAL/SEN learners. urn:lcp:egyptiancinderel0000clim:epub:67e717d8-3676-48a4-a3ff-a7b0387af738 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier egyptiancinderel0000clim Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t70w71144 Invoice 1652 Isbn 0064432793 Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-02-21 14:02:32 Associated-names Heller, Ruth, 1924-2004, illustrator Boxid IA1778217 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Col_number COL-609 Collection_set printdisabled External-identifierIf teachers don't have time to create lessons for each school subject, they could at least incorporate this story into an ELA unit on comparing and contrasting stories. This lesson could begin with the teacher reading the classic Disney version of Cinderella to students. Then, this Egyptian version can be read to them, and students can compare and contrast the two, and discuss how the story changes when it takes place somewhere else. Students could also discuss whether or not the moral of the story remains the same between the two versions. To extend this lesson, students could read yet another version of Cinderella. There are at least 10 other versions (including Korean, Native American, and Italian) of Cinderella, each from different countries, so students could get into groups of 3-4, according to which version they want to choose, and then create a summary and analysis of the version they got. Each group can then present their summaries and findings to the whole class. I think that students will find it fascinating that one story can so different when different cultural elements are added.

I read this book too late to enjoy it. As a small girl, I would have just relished the familiar retelling of my all-time favorite fairy tale. But I read it as a junior classics student in college, the semester I was taking several classes on Egypt and how it was influenced by the Hellenistic period, no less. Therefore, I just couldn't read it without thinking about my lectures and readings on ancient Egyptian people and traditions slowly consumed by the historical forces of Alexander the Great and Greco-Roman colonization (I know, I'm really fun at parties : P). This is an 8 day DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING POWERPOINT complete with a success criteria for each lesson, talk tasks, learner tasks as well as accompanying resources for the book, The Egyptian Cinderella. The lessons include comprehension and grammar based on the book and it is pitched at National Curriculum levels. All the lessons follow in sequence and each lesson whether comprehension or grammar builds up to the long writing task, which is to write the middle of the story, The Egyptian Cinderella.I *loved* this book as a child--I think partly because it was my first introduction to the idea that fairy tales can have different versions. Reading it to my kids as an adult, I still enjoy the story and the pictures, and I think it's interesting that Climo did some research and that the story apparently has some (small) basis in history. I opened the book expecting an Egyptian girl, and was disappointed to see a lone, sunburned Greek heroine amid nameless Egyptians. It was like the story was saying she was the most deserving girl of all simply because she wasn't Egyptian like all the others, not necessarily because she was kinder than her peers. The illustrations are lovely, of course, but I couldn't get over the fact that they cast a Greek girl as the heroine in an Egyptian story, much as Hollywood enjoys casting American actors as the lone hero among unsympathetic foreigners.

This is a great book to use when thinking about short stories or fairy-tales to compare the formats and alternatives that stories can take. The focus on Egypt and specific vocabulary can make this a good book to go alongside an Egyptian topic. This is a 7 day DIFFERENTIATED TEACHING POWERPOINT complete with a success criteria for each lesson, talk tasks, learner tasks as well as accompanying resources for the book, The Egyptian Cinderella. The lessons include comprehension and grammar based on the book and it is pitched at National Curriculum levels. Well, I have 4 more picture books to read in 2010, two illustrated by Ruth Heller and two both written & illustrated by her. I’m glad that I’m reading this book and The Korean Cinderella in succession; it will be interesting to compare them. Both are written by Shirley Climo.Reading multicultural books in your classroom is an excellent way for teachers to introduce students to the perspectives of people from cultures all around the world, and teaches them about people beyond the walls of their American classroom. The story called, Egyptian Cinderella, by Shirley Climo, tells one of the oldest known versions of the Cinderella story from an Egyptian perspective. This story was a WOW book for me because it opened my eyes to a new version of one of my favorite stories. With Disney movies being incredibly popular among American children, most people (myself included) don’t know that some of the most classic fairy tales have been based off of folktales from other countries. After reading this version of Cinderella, I was intrigued to find out more about where it came from. I learned that this story was passed down throughout the first century B.C., and it is based on a real slave girl named Rhodopis (Source: http://misskelly.org/cinderella/egypt... ). They tell the fabulous story that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the king was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, became the wife of the king. [3] Sources [ edit ]