Cinderella--with Dogs!

by Linda Bailey, Freya Hartas (Illustrator)

Overview

A hilarious picture book featuring a dog-loving kingdom and the most fabulous, far-out fairy DOGmother ever!

Here is a Cinderella story like no other. When Cinderella wishes for a fairy godmother, she’s not expecting one that barks! And this fairy dogmother has a different agenda. Yes, Cinderella will have a new dress, but made of a cozy dog blanket. Yes, they will go to the ball, but they will run there and chase squirrels along the way. It turns out having a furry fairy dogmother is more than she could have wished for—after all, there’s nothing like a canine companion to get a girl out of the house and her mind off her troubles! Yes, indeed, dogs do make everything better—and they’re a reminder that you don’t need “happily ever after” when you have the joy of now. Readers will get a kick out of this retelling with its lovable cast of characters and refreshing ending.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798217005901
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Linda Bailey (LindaBaileyBooks.com) is the author of more than thirty-five books for chil­dren. Her picture books and novels have been published all over the world and have won multiple awards across North America, including the California Young Readers Medal, the Ontario Blue Spruce and Silver Birch Awards, the Arthur Ellis Crime Writers Award, and the Georgia Picture Book Award. Linda lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, close to the sea.

Freya Hartas (FreyaHartas.co.uk) is a UK-based illustrator of children’s books. She lives in the vibrant city of Bristol with her partner, Sam, and their ancient black cat, Katsu, and works from her cozy, cluttered desk in a shared studio down the road. Freya would probably consider herself more of a cat person, but she very much enjoyed drawing all the silly dogs in this book!

Editorial Reviews

Who doesn’t love a good “furry tail”? . . . ‘Cinderella’ details get ‘doggified,’ and the ball ends up being a howl in more ways than one. Spoiler alert: There’s a twist on the glass-slipper-leading-to-marriage ending. Not to worry. This one’s much better—and involves squirrels. This rollicking story will arouse plenty of giggles as young readers enumerate the ways in which it veers from the original. Adults can encourage little ones to think of how ‘Cinderella’ might work with other animals subbing in for the fairy godmother. The imaginative, colorful digital illustrations burst with energy and expressiveness. . . . The brown, floppy-eared, tutu-wearing dogmother is adorably memorable. A barking good time will be had by all.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Although the jaunty text ruff-ly follows the traditional tale, in the end, Cinderella exhibits independence with a prince she likes but doesn’t know well enough to marry. Cheery, cartoonish illustrations lend to the cleverness in this feminist, fractured fairy tale.” —Booklist

“Something gets hilariously lost in translation in Bailey’s fairy tale retelling, in which a cat lady Cinderella makes a wish for a fairy godmother and instead gets a pink-tutued fairy dogmother (‘WOOF!’). . . . Additional humor abounds in Hartas’s depictions of Cinderella’s multiple cats and the exuberant pack of palace pooches who bowl Cinderella over with kisses.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-10-12
Who doesn’t love a good “furry tail”?

This book opens as expected: Cinderella sweeps the fireplace and bemoans her sad, lonely, boring existence. Then her wish for a fairy godmother is fulfilled in the form of a fairy dogmother, who’s crestfallen when Cinderella explains whom she actually wanted. However, Cinderella, an empathetic dog lover, decides to give this a go. Alas, a misunderstanding occurs when Cinderella asks about preparing for the “ball.” The Fairy Dogmother interprets the word differently at first, envisioning a frolicsome game of fetch. However, she’s got magic up her sleeve and whips up a nifty outfit, footwear, and hairstyle for Cinderella, albeit with a canine aspect. Other “Cinderella” details get “doggified,” and the ball ends up being a howl in more ways than one. Spoiler alert: There’s a twist on the glass-slipper-leading-to-marriage ending. Not to worry. This one’s much better—and involves squirrels. This rollicking story will arouse plenty of giggles as young readers enumerate the ways in which it veers from the original. Adults can encourage little ones to think of how “Cinderella” might work with other animals subbing in for the fairy godmother. The imaginative, colorful digital illustrations burst with energy and expressiveness. Cinderella is light-skinned. The royal family hosting the ball is brown-skinned, and background characters are racially diverse; the brown, floppy-eared, tutu-wearing dogmother is adorably memorable. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A barking good time will be had by all. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews