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Summary
Summary
The classic story of Cinderella gains even more charm in this glamorous retelling by world-famous picture book writer and illustrator Shirley Hughes.
Ella Cinders loves helping her father in his dress shop and laughing with her friend Buttons, the store's delivery boy. Then comes the terrible day when her father remarries and everything changes. Her stepmother makes her sew in the dreary basement. Her stepsisters mock her shabby dress. And to top it off, the new Mrs. Cinders forbids Ella to attend the duke's grand ball. Heartbroken, Ella is sure that her life will never be what she dreamed. But with the help of a fairy godmother and some sparkling courage of her own, this Cinderella discovers that dreams can come true in the most unexpected of ways.
Join Ella amidst the dazzle and fashion of the roaring twenties as she takes happily ever after into her own hands
Author Notes
Author and illustrator Shirley Hughes was born near Liverpool, U. K. on July 16, 1927. She studied drawing and costume design at Liverpool School of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford. At first, she was an illustrator of other author's works, but in 1960 she published Lucy and Tom's Day, which was the first book she wrote and illustrated. Since then, she has written over 50 books and has illustrated 200 children's books. In 2015, she wrote a young adult novel entitled, Hero on a Bicycle. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Dogger in 1977, the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished services to children's literature in 1984, and the OBE for services to children's literature in 1998. Hughes was given two Honorary Degrees, one from the University of Liverpool in 2004, and the other from the University of Chester in 2012. In 2017, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Shirley Hughes died at her home in London on February 25, 2022. She was 94.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Starred Review. Gr 1-4-Is there room for one more "Cinderella" variant in your collection? The answer is yes if it's this charming version set in the 1920s. Ella Cinders, her father, and Buttons the doorman/delivery boy run a dress shop until the terrible day when Mr. Cinders remarries and his nasty new wife moves in with her equally nasty daughters, Ruby and Pearl. "His new wife seemed to pop up from nowhere like a sharp-eyed, expensively dressed jack-in-the box." Ella's life is misery from then on, mitigated only by the care and attention of the faithful Buttons. Her Fairy Godmother sends her off to the ball where the Duke of Arc is smitten with her, but in the end Ella chooses a different happily ever after, with Buttons. Hughes's gouache-and-pen-line illustrations exhibit her usual meticulous attention to detail, with the ball scenes inspired by Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies, and the original dress designs by important French couturiers of the period. This insightful retelling also offers a fascinating visual peek at a glamorous time.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Publisher's Weekly Review
British author Hughes (the Olly and Me series) updates a classic with flapper fashions and an unexpected finish. Red-haired Ella Cinders and her father run their own dress shop, along with their delivery man, Buttons. When Mr. Cinders remarries Madame Ren?e (who "seemed to pop up from nowhere like a sharp-eyed, expensively dressed jack-in-the-box"), Ella's life takes a miserable turn as she endures the taunts of her lazy stepsisters, and Mr. Cinders gets "far too much under his wife's thumb to interfere." The length of this jaunty, if sometimes clicheed, retelling, as well as some of the vocabulary ("languid," "divan") and British colloquialisms may prove daunting to a younger audience. However, Hughes's fluid lines and bright colors contribute to illustrations with such graceful movement that they might have been inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger's movies, as well as by 1920s French couture. Pen-and-inks ornament each framed block of text, and depict either a preceding or subsequent scene to the action shown in the larger full-color illustrations. Most of the tale stays true to the original, but a twist at the end may well leave readers admiring the sprightly heroine in Hughes's version. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This 1920s version of the fairy tale features exquisitely drawn flapper fashions and a down-to-earth heroine, Ella Cinders, who declines the duke's proposal for a less ritzy but more fulfilling future with her delivery-boy sweetheart, Buttons. As usual, the attention to detail in Hughes's ink and gouache art lends an appealing concreteness to her fully imagined settings. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Few illustrators could so stylishly dress up the tale of Cinderella with the dash and glitter of the roaring '20s as Hughes has done here with aplomb. Ella and her father, Mr. Cinders, are fashionable dressmakers who run a shop with the help of Buttons, a young man who serves as doorman and delivery boy. When Mr. Cinders remarries a woman with two daughters, happy days are over, as Madame Renee takes over the shop, Ruby and Pearl model the clothes, and all three treat Ella spitefully. The anticipated transformation takes place; a Mary Poppins-like Fairy Godmother taps her umbrella, turning cat into chauffeur and Buttons's delivery bike into limo. The ball scenes (inspired by Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies), sparkle and the surprise ending is a cunning twist. The book design is also stylish, with text in boxed rectangles with petite ancillary black-and-white drawings underscoring the drama. Hughes has added shimmer to her familiar pen-and-gouache style and elegantly fashioned a delightful, revisionist fairy tale. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. It's the 1920s, and Ella Cinders works with her father in his dress shop, along with their young doorman, Buttons. After Mr. Cinders remarries, his new wife puts him under her thumb. Ella is soon exhausted from working at her sewing machine, while her stepsisters are modeling the gowns Ella has designed. The story follows a traditional course until the very end. When the suave socialite duke puts the slipper on Ella's foot, she dismisses him and turns to Buttons, who has been her solace through her ordeal. Together they will go off and start a shop of their own, a more preferable life than being dressed like an expensive doll. A stylish enough work, this is a bit of an indulgence for Hughes, and the high-fashion setting and the flapper costumes don't add much to the tale for a young audience. The new ending will get their attention, however, and this self-empowered Cinderella makes for an interesting change of pace. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2004 Booklist