After a terrible day, Ella Peterson goes to the library to escape in a book. Instead she literally ends up in another world after being taken through an enchanted mirror by a footstool. On the other side, she finds a panther trapped in a cage. He is waiting for a hero to free him and help him reach the cursed castle he can see through the prison window. Ella is taken home and the first opportunity, but, unable to ignore the panther's sad eyes, Ella packs up her knitting bag with what she thinks she'll need for a journey in a strange land, and goes back through the mirror to find a way to free the panther and help him on his quest.