Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola

This is the classic Cinderella story, but it is set in Mexico. There are many Spanish phrases (which are explained in English) and many aspects of Mexican culture are also included, both in the story and in the illustrations.

This book can promote cultural awareness and be helpful to English Language Learners (ELLs) because of the author’s use of Spanish phrases. The use of many languages in a classroom, particularly the native language of ELLs, is useful in making the classroom a welcoming environment and helping students to better learn material. While it would perhaps not be crucial for students to learn the story of Cinderella, this book, coupled with other lessons and materials that incorporated Spanish and other languages could be useful to achieve this.

The author does a wonderful job using and explaining Spanish terms and vocabulary in the story without breaking it up too much. This allows young children to be exposed to a language other than English, while at the same time enjoying the story. There is a lack of traditional Mexican culture in this book, so it would be important to remember that other materials about this culture along with classroom discussions would be necessary to make this book useful for educational purposes.

Students may question aspects of Mexican culture that are subtly mentioned in the story, such as hair decorations and clothing. A teacher should explain these within a wider context of Mexican culture, as it exists in today’s society. Additionally, students may ask more simplistic questions, such as why the stepmother is mean. A teacher should reply by explaining carefully the relationship between Adelita and her stepmother, so as to avoid calling the stepmother “mean” without any additional explanation or reasoning.

I would recommend this book for classrooms, so long as it is coupled with other books and materials around Mexican culture and other cultures. Additionally, resources for ELLs should also be included in lesson plans across the curriculum (see resources below).