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Tuesday, March 7, 2017

If the Magic Fits (100 Dresses #1) by Susan Maupin Schmid, Lissy Marlin (illustrator)

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If the Magic Fits (100 Dresses#1) by Susan Maupin Schmid, illustrations by Lissy Marlin
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Number of Pages:  304
Published:  October 25th, 2016

Source:  Library


Why I wanted to read this: That cover is gorgeous and I wanted to know more about the dresses.  

Opening lines:  "I wasn't born in a tower or in a golden chamber.  I wasn't born a princess or even a lady.  But I was born in a castle built by dragons."

Darling Dimple has lived with her adoptive mother Jane in the kingdom of Eliora ever since her own mother passed away shortly after she was born.   Jane works in the castle's kitchen slicing vegetables until an accident causes her to be transferred to picking flowers in the garden. With nowhere else to go, Darling soon finds that everyone who stays in the castle must perform some job, and her first one is scrubbing the pots and pans for the Supreme Scrubstress.  That is until Darling's storytelling and daydreaming cause her to splash dirty water all over the Supreme Scrubstress and lead to her getting reassigned to the upper attics ironing the princesses linens for the Wardrobe Mistress.  Darling's new position comes with an unusual task, removing Princess Mariposa's canary from her chambers and finding a safe place to keep it nearby.  When Darling chooses to put the canary into one of the many wardrobe closets, she inadvertently finds a room with one hundred dresses that once belonged to Princess Mariposa's grandmother.  The dresses become magical when the canary begins to sing and each dress Darling tries on disguises her as someone else.  While disguised, Darling is able to pass as the castle staff and is how she overhears Prince Baltazar plans to marry Princess Mariposa and wreck havoc on the kingdom by releasing the stone dragons being held in the castle spire.   With a little help from her friends and a white mouse, Darling will do everything she can to protect Princess Mariposa and keep the castle safe.  

If the Magic Fits has many of the fairy tale components that I enjoy, a beautiful princess, magical castle,  a helpful white mouse, and dragons.  Although in this case, the dragons have been encased in stone and are for the moment secure in the castle spire.  I really liked the premise of the magical dresses being able to disguise Darling, but somehow still have questions about the magic.  It's the canary that selects which of the hundred dresses that Darling tries on and then the dress transforms her into someone from the castle, but how and why she turns into that particular person I'm not sure.  It's also interesting how the dresses seem to have a mind of their own once Darling is wearing them, they grab at her ankles and "extend their sleeves to shake hands."  While Darling is wearing these dresses, she does retain her own personality and an eagerness to help the princess.  She also works really hard at trying to figure out what to do.  She's not perfect and makes mistakes, but her heart always seems to be in the right place.   At the beginning of each chapter,  there is a drawing of one of the dresses and I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of each of the dresses designs.  I guess it speaks to the younger girl in me who enjoyed playing dress up with her Barbie's.  There's also somewhat of a mystery as to who is helping Prince Baltazar, with lingering questions about Darling's father who was lost at sea and a special family heirloom. The second book, Ghost of a Chance has a planned release for July and looks promising as well.  


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3 comments:

  1. I was intrigued by the title of the book and the cover is really pretty. I am a fan of fairy tales and this sounds like it has a lot of the elements that I enjoy too. I am curious about the magic and how those dresses work! Thanks for sharing. :)
    ~Jess

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    Replies
    1. Those dresses really grabbed me too, I adore the covers.

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  2. I would have read this book just from the cover, too, but those opening lines totally grabbed me! I have to check this one out!

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