The Irish Cinderlad

Bibliography: Climo, S., & Krupinski, L. (1996). The Irish Cinderlad. New York: HarperCollins Publishers

Annotation: A young Irish boy named Becan who lives with his father, step mother and step sisters. He is fed very little is meant to take care of the bulls. He befriends a very special magical bull. The bull helps him by feeding him an abundance of food. Becan overheard his stepmother noticing the bull giving him and food and warns the bull. The bull then tells Becan that he must die by the gray bull and Becan is to take his tail and use it in times of need. He then takes a job from a man herding more bulls. Becan becomes encountered with a giant and fights him off with the magic of the bulls tail. Becan had heard about the dragon that would come and steal a beautiful woman that happened to the princess and he decided that he would save her. He used a large sword on the dragon and became very tired. He then went for his tail and threw it to the dragons nose which stopped the flames and took down the dragon. However the tail went with the dragon. The princess grabbed one of his boots as he fled the scene. The princess searched everywhere for the man who fit the boot. She found Becan and then they married.

Genre: Fiction

Grade: K-5

Readers: The readers that would enjoy this book are ones how enjoy Irish folk tales. Other readers that will enjoy this book are readers that enjoy twists of Cinderella.

Rate/Response: 10 This book is very diverse yet similar to Cinderella. I loved that Cinderella was a male this time and he was able to be a hero within the story. I also enjoyed the fantasy aspect within the book.

Question: Do you think boys can have a story like Cinderella? Who has heard of the Irish version of Cinderella?