Tattercoats

Author: Margaret Greaves
Illutrator: Margaret Chamberlain
Publisher and date of publication: Clarckson N. Potter, Inc. 1990
Genre: Picture Book, Fairy Tale (multicultural)
Grade: K-3

Tattercoats is the name of the young woman in this story. She lived with her grandfather in his castle. He disliked her very much because she reminded him of his daughter who had died. Tattercoats is what all the servants called her because she lived off of scraps and tatters. She never did know her real name. She had one friend, a boy, who looked after geese. He often played the pipe which would cheer her up. One day a messenger came and said "The King commands your presence at a great ball". It was to celebrate the prince's coming of age and his chance to choose a bride. The grandfather prepared for the ball but forbid Tattercoats to go. She cried and her friend the goose boy said that they could go and watch the people at the gates, the fireworks and anything else they could observe from outside the walls. On the way to the palace a young man came up behind them, swung from his horse and started to travel with Tattercoats and her friend. After talking and walking for a long time the prince asked if she would marry him. She refused and said that she was not fit for a prince. He could not persuade her to change her mind however he did make her promise to meet him at the hall of the palace at midnight. When midnight came Tattercoats came walking through the door to the palace. The Prince went to her and claimed to all the people in the land that this was his bride. Instantly Tattercoats rags fell away and she stood in a gown of gold. They were married the next day. As for the grandfather he laughed his glooms away, forgot his sulks and became a wonderful grandfather to Tattercoats.

I enjoyed the story. I was simple and sweet much like the Cinderella story I know from Disney. I was expecting there to much more depth and character to the book however it almost seemed like just another princess story with a happily ever after ending. There was nothing about a glass slipper, fairy godmother, or anything magical to make this story unique. I could not pick out the culture from the country in which it derived from. It is a story from England and I can honestly say that only thing that struck me as English was the goose boy friend and that fact that the author wrote that the ball was for the prince's coming of age. I do know that in England you’re coming out or coming of age party is a big deal and highly celebrated a tradition which is still carried out today. So, really to me nothing made this story special or unique it was just "cute" like many other princesses, happy ending stories. I think that the book was done in water colors. There was no set structure the pages or the pictures that were painted on them. They looked very "watery", with no real direction. The colors were light and airy with pretty blues, pinks and other light colors. There was never too much darkness which really helped to bring life to this light and airy tale. When she painted the king and his horse she used very royal colors, deep reds, blues, yellows and purples. Colors that to me represent a sense of royalty. I would also say that some of the pictures look as if crayon were used on top of the paint to bring some accents to the pictures. It is definitely something that children could look and at and think oh, I can do that. The images truly did capture the essence of the story.

In the classroom I would use this book to read if I were doing a Cinderella unit. I am not even sure that would use it just as a fairy tale book because so much better are out there. I honestly look at this book as one of those that you would simply just read. I would not use if for educational purposes. It does not offer much to a teacher and like I just said there are better books to use for educational purposes. I would however use it a nice read to my students.