The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Another blahsome retelling of a Brothers Grimm story by Rachel Isadora. These retellings have all the personality of a wet paper bag. The artwork is cool, but what about the STORY? Kids want excitement and fun, not a Wikipedia synopsis.

Two questions here as well:
1) How are these princesses able to do this every single night? They are (presumably) awake all day, doing princessly things, and then all night long they traipse through the woods, dance until their shoes are worn through, and then traipse BACK through the woods to go home. How much dancing do you think it would actually take to wear through a pair of shoes every night? Even a thin pair of slippers? I think a lot. How are they not exhausted?

This leads me back to the story show more having no personality... A little magic would add a lot to this story. For instance if the slippers themselves are magic, or each new pair is imbued with magic, and they are able to extend the night and dance as much as they want without getting tired as long as they are wearing the slippers, but when they wear through, they must go back and sleep. Or maybe they have a deal with 5 Hour Energy and get unlimited supply. Something!

2) How friggin' selfish & sociopathic are these bitches that they will allow men to come try to figure out their secret, and pretty much condemn them to death by sedating them with spiked wine? I mean jeez... You'd think that King Daddy would cut off THEIR heads after a while! Think how much they must be costing him. 12 pairs of shoes a night for uncounted nights, plus secret tunnel installation, plus sedatives, and wine to put it in, plus Headman & axe, plus Headman's salary and grinding wheel for axe upkeep, and body and blood cleanup and head recovery personnel and their salaries...

I know MY dad wouldn't put up with that. He'd make me go barefoot at the very least. show less

This story is about a royal African family. One important theme in this story revolves around control. The father wants to keep his daughters locked away at night, which results in them rebelling to such treatment. They sneak out to a secret underground world of parties and dancing. Another important theme is that of honesty, truth and virtue. When their father asks his daughters if the soldier spoke the truth, they confess to their father. This would be a good addition to a traditional tale/fairytale unit of study.

Based on the well-loved Brothers Grimm fairy tale, this is the story of 12 princesses who continue to wear out their shoes every night without leaving their bedroom. The confused king offers a reward to anyone who can solve this mystery. The story is about the mystery of their worn shoes. It's an enchanting tale filled with secret passages and magic to try and find out where the kings daughters go at night. A soldier follows them until he discovers their secret. They go to a place underground where they dance with princes all night.
This book is filled with bold, rich collages of color, and dramatic shapes that resemble an African theme. Great interpretation of a classic fairy tale, with one disappointment. I didn't like the ending. The show more soldier who solves the mystery ends up marrying the eldest princess, but there's no development of their relationship.
A new twist having the fairy tale set in Africa. Very creative and engaging illustrations. Still a good read for lower grades.
Recommended grades: K-3 show less

"Twelve Dancing Princesses” is a traditional fairytale told by a different culture. This is what made this book so interesting for me. I really liked that the styles of dress that was shown in the book was not what I tend to imagine when I imagine princesses. Not only was the differences shown with clothing but hair styles, jewelry, and lifestyle. Also, the illustrations were really neat, they almost looked like they had been done by cutting out different pieces of paper, sometimes painted and sometimes patterned. The main idea of this story was to retell an old fairytale about princesses.

This is an interesting folktale story about a king who's 12 daughters appear to be escaping at night because their shoes are worn down in the morning. He grants the right to any prince who discovers where they are going at night the hand in marriage of any of his daughters. While the illustrations are beautiful, the story line is anticlimactic and certainly doesn't give much credit or say to the 12 princesses.

A king was the father of twelve princesses. Every morning the king would find his princesses' shoes worn out as if they had been dancing all night. He was very confused to how this was happening because he lock them in their room all night. The king decided that he was going to allow a man to marry one of his princesses if he could find out where they go at night. A solider was determined he would find out, but he was not sure how. Until he met an old lady that gave him a cloak that made him invisible. That night he pretended he was sleeping and when the princesses left he followed them. He did this for a few nights before he told the king. Finally he told the king and the princesses said it was true. That same day the solider got to show more marry the oldest princess and everyone got to dance all night! A great book to show children when teaching about folklore. It shows children that classic fairy tales can be interpreted into many forms and cultures. show less

I really love this book. Night after night, the twelve princesses mysteriously wear out their shoes. But how? The king promises one of his daughter hand in marriage if they solve the mystery. This was great retell of Brothers Grimm story with a african twist