This book was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I loved that the setting was in Asia, and not the typical blonde hair blue eyed princess. Secondly, I think it was interesting that Nancy Williams told the story from the perspective of the magpies outside the house. On the other hand, I absolutely could not stand the way the story was written, it was almost in poetry format, and I can't stand when an author can't choose between a traditional sentence or a poem. ( )

This was not my favorite version of Cinderella. It is written in a poem style of writing, but I did not quite understand the flow of reading it. This story is told using much more of the bird’s perspectives rather than Cinderella’s or her family’s perspectives. I love this story, I just don’t enjoy this style of writing. ( )

"Cinderella's Dress,"tells the story of Cinderella, but with a twist. The author keeps with the oral tradition of the story while adding her own aspects throughout. This story begins with two Magpies sitting in their nest in a tree which was in front of Cinderella's house. The magpies were very crafty. As they peered into the kitchen door, not too far from where they found a ring, they notice the way Cinderella gets treated and decide to make her their adopted daughter. The merchant's wife gets delivered an invitation for her two daughters, Flora Ann and Fanny Alice, to attend a ball, since the Prince is looking for a bride. She tells Cinderella that the invitation was not for her. Cinderella is forced to help her stepsisters get ready for the ball. In the meantime, the magpies are trying to figure out what their Cinderella will wear to the ball. They design a beautiful dress, a wrist fan, a hair clip, a purse, and shoes. The magpies hung the dress on the door and when Cinderella saw it she was thankful, although she did not know who sent it. When her stepsisters saw the dress, they became jealous and ruined it so that Cinderella could not attend the ball. Cinderella became very sad and wished she had the ring she lost, which was her mother gave to her before she died. The magpies grew dreadful upon hearing this, since they had the ring. They returned the ring to Cinderella and appeared her Fairy Godmother. She fixed Cinderella's dress with her magic wand and Cinderella was taken to the ball in a beautiful dress escorted by beautiful horses pulling a magical pumpkin cart. As the author, Nancy Willard retells this Cinderella tale, she adds her own touch, creating a fairy tale with a bit of humor and rhymes. ( )

Cinderella’s dress is a retold story of the tale we are all familiar with called “Cinderella”. Although this story has the same theme as the most popular “Cinderella” story it has many twists that make it very different and unique. The Magpies are an add-on to the story which plays a huge role in “Cinderella’s Dress”. The Magpies are birds who are collect jewelry and all sorts of goodies and they began to watch over Cinderella everyday. Soon they begin to fall in love with her and they decide to call her their "adopted daughter". The Magpies try and help make Cinderella a dress for an upcoming ball with all of the things they collected. Sadly, the mean step-sisters tore it in half because they didn’t want Cinderella to also enjoy the night. This part of the story is similar to the most popular “Cinderella” story, because the step-sisters convey the same actions and have the same attitude. We soon find out that Cinderella lost a ring important to her that will help her night turn around that the Magpies actually found and kept for their nest. Thankfully the Magpies gave it back and Cinderella slipped it on and her fairy godmother appeared and saved the night by making her beautiful again. This story doesn’t give many details into what Cinderella’s night was like, or her meeting the prince, but it has a different ending that is once again focused on the Magpies. Although the story is a lot different, the illustration still shows familiar occurrences that remind the reader of the happenings in the Cinderella story most readers are familiar with. The author does a great job making the story her own and helps the reader forget all about the normal Cinderella happenings. ( )

A twist on the well-known Cinderella story because it's told from the story of the magpies' point of view. They make her a dress and return her mother's ring so that Cinderella can have help from her fairy godmother. The illustrations in this book are so detailed and colorful. The language in this story is rhyming, which is also different than most other version of Cinderella. This version ends when she goes to the ball, which seems to assume we can make up the rest or are familiar with how the story ends. ( )