BETTER TOGETHER, CINDERELLA

Following her debut in Not Quite Snow White (2019), Tameika is excited about her new twin siblings, but she isn’t sure how to be a big sister. Will her new role be a smash or a flop?

Tameika asks her friend Khadija, who has some experience, how to be a big sister. Khadija insists that she “practice, practice, practice!” Tameika sets off to research her role. However, when the twins arrive, life with them is different from what she anticipated. In fact, the twins require so much from her parents, Tameika begins to feel left out. One day, Tameika learns about a family ball at which the participants with the best entrance win a prize, and she is ready to win! She decides to dress as Cinderella, complete with a horse-drawn carriage. But when her parents are delayed with the twins, Tameika is sent ahead of the rest of her family, ruining the entrance. Alone in the carriage (driven by her uncle), Tameika begins to see her hopes and dreams for the evening fade fast. This is a fresh, playful take on “Cinderella,” complete with a happy ending. This story is just right for a lap-sit or read-aloud with young children who are expecting a new sibling—or two. The fun and vibrant animation-inflected illustrations follow the story well, useful for very young readers who are not yet ready to sit through an entire story but could benefit from a picture walk. Tameika and her family present Black; Khadija has light-brown skin and wears hijab in public.

A cute, modern new-sibling twist on a classic fairy tale.