In this sort of Cinderella tale, the main character goes next door to retrieve a ball of yarn she's dropped into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor asks her to do a series of tasks, which the girl completes, but not the way the woman wants her to. Instead of smashing all the dishes in the kitchen, the girl cleans them and makes the kitchen nice. After all is said and done, the woman tells the girl to bath in two different pools outside. This makes her extremely beautiful. But when her stepsisters does the same thing, she does EXACTLY what the woman tells her, and when she bathes in the pools she finds she turns ugly. The pools reflect what is in your heart and soul. It was a touching book with the message that sometimes those that are sad don't know how to properly ask for the help they need.