The text is a great read aloud without being too short, although this retelling is much more lighthearted than some other retellings I've enjoyed. The illustrations took me a few pages to get used to, but the further into the enchanted land the princesses ventured, the more lush and engaging Ray's art became. I especially liked that the princesses represent a variety of women---dark-skinned and fair, curly- and short-haired; a couple of the princesses even wear glasses. A warm and imaginative retelling. ( )

. Bibliographic Information: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, Illustrated by Dorothee Duntze, Published by North-South Books, ©1995, 26 pages
Genre: Folktales, myth, fables and legends
Summary: This story is about twelve princesses who go to bed each night with nice shoes. Their father locks the door until morning. When he checks them in the morning he finds that their shoes have holes in them. So he says any man who can find out how their wearing their shoes out can marry one of his daughters. Men come from miles around but none succeed. Then a poor soldier runs into an old lady who tells him the secret to finding out and gives him a cloak that will make him invisible. So he goes to the castle and takes the challenge. He pretends to be asleep to trick the princesses. The he follows them down a secret passage way under one of their beds. He follows them to lake and across the lake is a huge castle. On the bank there are twelve princes waiting for them. They go to the castle, dance, dance and dance until wear holes in their shoes. He beats them back home and pretends to be asleep in bed. The next morning he tells the king the whole story and the princess finally confess to their actions. The soldier marries the oldest daughter and they dance.
Tags: Luck, Dancing, Mystical
My Response: This book was okay. I thought from the front of it that it would have been better to read but it was not. Though it is not the worst book I’ve read it was not the best either. I do think a little girl would like to read it though.

I enjoyed this story for a few reasons. First, I like the detail of the illustrations. Jane Ray paints a perfect picture of this dream-like world the the princesses are visiting every night. Next, I enjoyed the classic folktale/fairytale aspect. The story has familiar features such as: a "magic" cloak to make a character invisible, as well as an enchanted world that the princesses go to dance in. The main problem of the story is that the king does not know where his daughters are going every night, or how they are getting there. It takes a very wise man, with help from a strange old woman of course, to figure out the mystery. In the end, he figures it out and becomes king. ( )

Match found in the German National Library.