Sootypaws

There was once a little mouse whose steprats dubbed her Sootypaws. She does all the chores, leaving them to laze their days away. Despite her predicament, Sootypaws in unfailingly kind to her garden friends. When her steprats sweep off to attend the Prince’s ball, she goes outside and confides in the frog her wish to go to the ball. In a departure from the traditional fairy godmother sequence, Sootypaws’ garden friends repay her kindness to them (with the help of a little moon magic) to fashion her an exquisite gown of rose petals, spider-woven lace, and ant-crafted rosethorn shoes. Catching the prince’s interest at the ball and then fleeing at midnight, when the Prince arrives the next day looking for the owner of the shoe, he recognizes her without having to try it on her (hallelujah!) and asks her to marry him. In the final two pages, Rosie (Sootypaw’s real name) declares that while she loves the Prince, she doesn’t want to marry, but have adventures—so together they kick off their shoes and head off to a life of adventure. This sudden twist to the classic Cinderella ending has a modern vibe, but without even a hint of Rosie’s adventuresome and independent spirit beforehand it feels unfortunately abrupt. The magic of Sootypaws comes from Rudy’s exquisite and unique illustration style. While her mice (and particularly rats!) may be almost too lifelike for the rodent averse, her carefully crafted characters are impressively expressive and each page is full of lush details to appreciate. From the orchestra playing inside a violin body, to the ball taking place on the face of a clock, to the separate picnic of a child mouse and mole under the final banquet table, there’s something new to discover on each new perusal.