To all the brothers at Number 12. You're invited to Kayleigh's party. Dress fancy. Come fancy. Dance!
Once upon a time, there lived Cinderfella – a little boy, forever bossed around by his two older brothers, Gus and Gareth. “Turn up the TV! Shine our scooters!" the brothers cry. "Finish our homework!” But on the day of our story, Kayleigh, the town's kick-fastic karate champion, is having a party, and Cinderfella is determined to dream big, dress fancy and DANCE. He’ll just need a little help along the way from his fairy dog-mother, Ruff – woof! A feel-good twist on the classic fairytale, brought to life with fresh vision and huge humour by Matt Hunt.
We're very excited to welcome Malachy Doyle to talk about Cinderfella
Growing up, I had four older brothers. Later I had one younger one. And later still I had two step-brothers. And a couple of sisters and a step-sister, too. My eldest brother, David, used to tell me
bedtime stories – folk tales and fairy tales, mainly. And then I’d lie in bed,
imagining myself in the stories.
I was always the lead character. It didn’t
matter if it was a girl or a boy. Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty,
Goldilocks – it was me, always me.
So when it came to Cinderella, I was the
one with the bossy brothers, as I had in real life. And, as I grew up, I was
the one who had to do jobs round the house. Well, some of them, anyway. Like
polish everyone’s shoes on a Saturday evening, so we’d all be spick and span
for church the following morning.
And so, over 50 years later, I got round to
writing down the story. In my first draft, Cinderfella lived with
two sisters, Sybil and Slob. But the boys in my family were much more slobby
than the girls, so boys they became – Gareth and Gus.
At first the fairy who helps him was a giant
rat, but somehow he turned into a funky dancing dog. And then a female funky
dancing dog - well, if we’re playing with gender reversal, why not go the whole
hog? And it makes for a good line on the back-cover about his ‘fairy
dog-mother’, courtesy of my clever-clogs editor, Tanya.
At first Cinderfella zoomed off to the
party on a Harley Davidson, but somehow it became a super-sparkly skateboard.
Somewhat safer!
At first Cinderfella took on the role of a
DJ at the party, spinning the discs and saving the night when the booked DJ
didn’t turn up, but somehow it was his hop, bop, giggle and groovy dancing that
took over.
At first it was Princess PeachieBlossom’s
party, but somehow she turned into Kayleigh, the junior karate champ. Much more fun!
Then over to Matt Hunt for some fab
illustrations and there we had it – Cinderfella. HAI-YAH!
You can pick up a copy of Cinderfella at your local bookshop.
