The Twelve Dancing Princesses

by Jacob Grimm

A collection of fourteen fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, including The Donkey, The Mongoose, Iron John, and Jorinda and Joringel. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080370237X
• ISBN13: 9780803702370
• Release Date: March 1986
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 99 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Age Range: 4 years and up

Customer Reviews

my favorite fairy tales

I was given this book of fairy tales as a child and have reread it countless times. The fairy tales are written with a wonderful style and humor and the illustrations are brilliant. It may seem old-fashioned now but I think anyone who gives this version a chance will be delighted with its clever, sharp writing. The beautiful illustrations alone are worth the price of the book.

old fashioned stories

I have no idea why but I was given this book twice in one year. There's nothing particularly anti-feminist about these princess stories. The heroines got into trouble and had to find their solutions. I would never have picked up this book on my own because of the pink cover but it's well-written.

The rare real classic

When a certain kind of book is read to you as a child, and read repeatedly at that, the child in question is affected in ways that cannot be gauged tangibly. I was read "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", illustrated by Errol Le Cain, repeatedly as a child and it has stuck with me ever since. Some books just do. For the entirety of my childhood life I loved "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" more than any other fairy tale, and it was all due to this beautifully mesmerizing book. The classic story of how a king attempts to discover the reason why his daughters wear out their shoes every night is rendered here in sumptuous detail. Artist Le Cain spent much of his life in Singapore and India, and his early experiences are well represented in his work. From the gloomy caverns through which the princesses must walk, to the glittering gold, silver, and diamond forests located below the castle, I am still truly mesmerized reading this story. Every page opposite the text contains a border of delicate imaginings and illustrations. Heck, I've noticed things in it now that I never even THOUGHT to discover as a child. Who knew that the good fairy spied on the final wedding? Not I. It's, to my mind, the most beautifully illustrated fairy tale ever made. If you doubt me, I only ask that you look at the last picture in the book. A parting shot of the abandoned princes, waiting for the princesses to return to their underground realm. Each looking depressed and unhappy as the fake stars and moon hang glittering in the underground sky. Beauty incarnate.

Pure Art

These illustrations are fit for framing. The story is lovely, magical and fun. This is the stuff of great childrens books. A gem.

A beautiful children's book

This is one of the best books my five year old daughter and I have ever read. We first got it out of the library, but I just ordered it because it's a book I know we'll re-read hundreds of times. Everybody knows the Grimm's story: twelve princesses escape every night to go dancing. Their father, the king, doesn't know where they go, only that that in the morning their dancing shoes are in tatters. He offers the hand of one of his daughers in marriage to any suitor who can discover their secrets.Many try, and finally one succeeds. There are two wonderful things about this version. One is that it's clear at the end of the book that the daughter who is chosen doesn't marry the man who figured out their secret. She chooses him „ and plans to keep right on dancing after she gets married! The second great thing about this book is the illustrations, which are so beautiful, you just want to look at them again and again. More important, the princesses are all beautiful, but in exotic and interesting ways. No one size fits all Disneyesque beauties here. Each face is unique. One even wears glasses! Terrific book.