The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Willard, Nancy

Cinderella's Dress

32 pp. | Scholastic/Blue Sky | October, 2003 | Trade ISBN 0-590-56927-9 $$16.95

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jane Dyer. A pair of magpies are concerned observers of the goings-on in a house near their nest. When Cinderella needs a dress for the ball, the mamma magpie realizes that a stolen ring she has been hoarding has the power to call up Cinderella's fairy godmother. No need to take the story past that point, and Willard doesn't. This appealing bit of fluff is well served by Dyer's romantic watercolor illustrations, glowing with becoming colors.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2004