If the shoe fits . . .

For most children, Cinderella is a blue-eyed Disney princess, twirling through her story with birds twittering around her perfectly coifed blond topknot.

In reality, the story of Cinderella has been around for hundreds of years and spans many cultures. Modern children's books have begun to reflect that richness and to expand upon it.

There are Korean, Mexican, Persian, Cajun, Filipino, Appalachian, Ojibwe, Zuni and Chinese Cinderellas for American children, by fine reteller/illustrators such as Shirley Climo and Tomie De Paola. There's even an Irish Cinderlad.

And, of course, there are many lovely versions of Cinderella by Frenchman Charles Perrault. He introduced the pumpkin and made the slipper glass.

For fun, there are "fractured" versions, such as "Cinderella Skeleton," and "Dinorella: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale."

Now there's a Cinderella to top them all.

In "Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella" (Holt, $16.95), author Paul Fleischman and illustrator Julie Paschkis blend tales from many lands into one astounding and beautiful story.

The next page is set in Mexico. A widow with two daughters gives treats to a girl who has lost her mother. Believing the widow to be kind, the girl persuades her father to marry her.

And so it goes.

The story continues in Iran, moves to Russia, Iran, India and Ireland, eventually covering 17 cultures.

The girl scours pots, weeds rice fields and tends cattle.

She gets help from talking cows, Godfather Snake, a fairy, a crocodile and a magical Aunty.

On her feet appear glass slippers, diamond anklets and sandals of gold.

Fleishman's words dance from one culture to the next without interrupting the flow of the story, at the same time making it joyously clear that this is no ordinary Cinderella. He even slips some subtle Irish lilts and Appalachian twangs into the appropriate sections.

The folk-art inspired illustrations by Paschkis, who lives in Seattle, are a marvel. She ties each piece together with a textile-like patterned background. Each culture is assigned its own background color.