BIBLIOGRAPHY

Coburn, Jewell Reinhart with Lee, Tzexa Cherta. 1996. Jouanah : A Hmong Cinderella. Ill. By Anna Sibley O’Brien. Arcadia, CA: Shen’s Books.
ISBN 1885008015


PLOT SUMMARY

In the clearing in the mountains, a Hmong farmer lives with his wife and daughter, Jouanah. Needing a cow to plow his fields, the farmer accepts his wife’s proposal and transforms her into the needed animal. Later the farmer, instead of restoring her, marries another woman with a daughter of her own. The cow dies of a broken heart and than the farmer dies, leaving Jouanah with her stepmother. Jouanah is left behind to work when stepmother and daughter leave to attend New Year festivities. The spirit of her mother creates beautiful clothes for Jouanah. She goes to the celebration and falls in love with Shee- Nang, the son of the village elder. Jouanah rushes home leaving behind one of her shoes. After seeking high and low, Shee – Nang matches the shoe to its rightful owner and they live happily ever after.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Hmong people are people who live in the hills of Southeast Asia and the origins of this story are lost in antiquity. The Cinderella theme is an archetypal motif which recurs in many cultures around the world. Coburn and Lee’s retelling succeeds in creating for the reader a sense of this people and their lives. As in all the variants, the characters represent specific human traits - Jouanah is familial loyalty, her mother love, her father emotional weakness, and her stepmother and her daughter selfishness. The story unfolds in a brisk and straightforward manner which holds the reader’s attention. O’Brien’s captivating paintings vibrate with life and provide texture and form the tale. This is a beautiful book in every way which will show children that even the most distant people share the same experiences.

REVIEW EXCERPT

“Children’s Literature”: “There are no surprises in the telling of this familiar story. The beauty is in the language and the art, which depict the clothing and life-style of the Hmong people. Each spread contains a full-page illustration with the text on the opposing page, enclosed in a border design that incorporates a small inset illustration. A true delight for the eyes, and a good story of a young woman who prevails over hardship and injustice. A great choice for libraries and classrooms .(…) Ages 5 to 10.” Marylyn Courtot


5. CONNECTIONS


Louie, Ai-Ling, and Ed Young. 1982. Yeh-Shen: a Cinderella story from China. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN: 9780399209000