Title: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Author: (As told by) Marianna Mayer
Illustrator: K. Y. Craft
Publisher: Morrow Junior Books
ISBN: 0-688-08051-0
0-688-02026-7 (lib. bdg.)
Summary: A strange dream prompts the farmer Peter to go to the castle where he hopes to help the king break a spell ensnaring his twelve daughters.
Butterfly’s notes: I like this story because while Peter does set out to rescue the princess Elise, in the end she is the one who breaks the spell.
The magical world in this book is beautiful and enchating, but it makes the princesses haughty and cold. Throughout the story, Elise learns what it means to really love someone and why it is better than the false love she enjoys within the enchantment. In a way, this is a story about growing up, because only by leaving the world of fantasy that they have discovered can the princesses begin to truly live.
Categories: ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fairy tales, picture books, geared at girls, fantasy
