Cinderella is one of the world's most well-known stories, having appeared in one form or another in the tales of many different cultures. There is always a kind girl who is misused by her stepfamily after her mother's death. Sometimes her father is not there, other times he is merely not interested. There is a magical guardian (sometimes her mother) who helps the girl to achieve her wish. Most tales include a piece of clothing (usually a shoe) that helps everyone to see her true worth.

The earliest written version of the story comes from the middle of the ninth century in China. The heroine, Yeh-shen has a magical fish to help her, and a golden shoe is used to identify her by the prince who wants to marry her.

The next written version was by Charles Perrault in 1697. This version introduces the fairy godmother, the pumpkin carriage, the animal servants, and the glass slippers that we are all familiar with. The Grimm Brothers' German version, known as Aschenputtel, or Ash Girl, was rather harsher - instead of a fairy godmother, a white dove from a tree that she plants on her mother's grave has magical powers to help her. Other birds from the tree ultimately peck out the stepsisters' eyes as repayment for their cruelty.

In all there are hundreds of different versions of the story. For more on different English version of the story, visit the Cinderella project.