Poor Prince Cinders always has to clean up after his three big brothers. Until one night, when a small dirty fairy falls down the chimney and promises Prince Cinders that all his wishes will come.

This book is similar to the classic fairytale but is instead about a prince and his mean brothers. This prince is visited by a fairy who seems to mess everything up instead of actually helping him. Instead of turning the prince into somebody handsome like his brothers he turns him into a big hairy gorilla. In his gorilla form the prince runs into a princess and the changes back into a prince. The princess believed that the prince scared away the awful ape, but doesn't have a chance to thank him because he runs off. His pants ends up flying off as he runs away and the princess uses these to track him down. This book is hilarious and can be used to have students write a re-make of other classic stories. ( )

Prince Cinders is a goofy retelling of Cinderella with the roles switched. Prince Cinders's older brothers are big, hairy, bullies. When Prince Cinders appeals to a fairy for help, things don't exactly go right. However, in a humorous twist Cinders is mistaken for a hero by a princess at the bus stop. (Why she's alone at a bus stop on the night of a ball is beyond me.) When the Prince races off without his trousers, (yes, trousers) the Princess uses them to find him. The couple lives happily ever after while the bullying three brothers become their fairy housemaids.

This delightful little story is complemented by comical illustrations. The good prince is rewarded and the bad princes are punished. An older child might realize that Prince Cinders's relationship with his new wife is based on a lie, that he saved her from a big hairy monkey. But this story is not to be taken seriously. It pokes fun at sexism and stereotypes in a zany romp. Children will giggle at the final picture of the big brothers with pretty fairy wings, white socks, short white dresses, and hairy legs. ( )

This is an excellent book simply because it is a variant male version of Cinderella. Prince Cinders is about a male who can be compared to Cinderella in the traditional story. This book breaks gender stereotypes because it is told from a males prospective. Prince Cinders has three hairy, muscular brothers and he is the small one. A fairy grants him a wish to be big and muscular like his brother but turns him into a hair ape instead. He didn't lose a shoe, he lost his pants, so all the men came without there pants to see if they could into cinder's. This book is great for variants of fairy tales and students will love the twist to it. ( )

Take a classic story, substitute a few key ingredients, season freely with silliness and imagination, dress it all up in jaunty illustrations, and what have you got? In the case of Cole's Prince Cinders, an outrageously funny romp of a picture book. Prince Cinders is a spotty, skinny fellow who envies his brothers' brawn and hairiness. Left behind to do the laundry while they zoom off to the Palace Disco, he is visited one evening by a fairy who seeks to grant his wishes. Trouble is, the fairy hasn't quite gotten the knack of spell-casting and "big and hairy" translates into an oversized ape. Blissfully unaware of the slip-up, Prince Cinders heads off in his new incarnation to the Rock 'n' Royal Bash to claim his princessa conventional end he achieves through most unconventional means. A madcap, highly entertaining spoof.