The Twelve Dancing Princesses

by Ellen Miles

Twelve princesses are trapped in a spell that only love can break.

Princess Jessamine loves to dance. Every night, when the rest of the castle has gone to bed, she and her sisters descend a hidden staircase to an enchanted kingdom where they dance through the night--and right through their shoes!
Their father, the king, is determined to discover where the princesses sneak off to each night. He promises that whoever can reveal the princesses' secret may ask one of them to be his wife!
Suitors flock from far and wide. Can Jessamine and her sisters guard their secret...and their hearts?

Genres: Childrens, Classics, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Middle Grade, Fiction, Romance

112 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ashlyn Miller]

This was incredibly precious and charming!! I adored it!! Way better than the original, but not quite Barbie.

[Tara Sydney]

More like 4.5, perhaps, but it was so charming that I'll give it the five stars.

It was short and sweet; just the right length for a fairytale that has a slightly deeper look at the characters.

I really do need to read the original story some day. But this was lovely.

[Sarak]

If you are choosing this book for a young person, you'd do better to find a different version. On the other hand, I paid $1 for it. ?It will be a weak addition to my class library. The characters are shallowly written. The motivations given for their actions seem as if they were tacked on and not connected to their experiences and lives.

The sentences wander and often repeat content which makes the story take more time and space than it needs. There are LOTS of descriptions of the colors of flowers and gowns but they are like a list. My first questions about the hero were: why is he an orphan if it doesn't matter to the story, why does he just leave his adoptive family with nothing but a thanks? what kind of person is he (because none of the rest of the story has any result from his inner character)

[Maria]

The story is about twelve sisters who love to dance every night they went out, Castle and dance all night. King order if anyone discover the secret they can marry any of the princesses. Very adventures story.

[Junhua Chen]

The story started promisingly. However I felt the ending was just too abrupt like the author was on a word budget and had to cut the story short.

[sliceofmini]

All I can say is I prefer the barbie movie better, this did not age well for me

[Madame Jane]

An enchanting story.

[K P]

I remember reading this and realizing it was a lot darker than the barbie movie and I loved it!

[Rachel]

Good option for younger readers but fluffy and void of the responsibility & consequences conveyed in Grimm's version (which I prefer).

[Sarah]

Great book for elementary students, and the story is sweet, but my reading level was a wee bit high for this one and the simplistic language bugged me. Again, GREAT for elementary girls... but personally, low.

[Laura]

I loved this book! I loved reading about the princesses and the peasant boy who had high hopes and dreams. I loved that Jessamine gave in and broke the spell because of her realization of her love for Julian.

[Kara]

My 6 and 8 year old girls loved this book. They loved the dancing and the handsome gardener. They would say a 5 star rating.

I thought it was cute but the ending was abrupt and the conflict was a resolved to easily and quickly. But for what it was, cute.

[Adeline]

One of my favorites when I was in second grade --> Automatic 5-Star

[Kritika Alka Chauhan]

when I read it in third grade, I loved it! it was so good!!

[Ingrid]

Part of my collection of 12 Dancing Princess stories. Simplistic

[Mrs. McWhirter's Class]

i liked it because it was half mistrey and half funny.