Yeh-Shen
by Ai-Ling Louie
Picture book · ages 5–9 · grades K–4 · 620L · 32 pages · 1999
Why we'd hand it over
The Chinese Cinderella ancestor—richer language, deeper cultural specificity, and a heroine whose goodness isn't rewarded by a man but by cosmic justice; a parent's first reach for non-European fairy tales.