The Twelve Dancing Princesses

            This fairy tale is called The Twelve Dancing Princesses and it is written by Marianna Mayer and illustrated by K.Y. Craft.  It is directed toward 4^th-5^th grade students and I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

            The Twelve Dancing Princesses tells the story of twelve princesses, all sisters, who mysteriously wear out their slippers nightly.  Their father, the king, is so intrigued and concerned he declares that any man who can find out their secret will be allowed to marry one of the princesses.  All the men who ventured into their bedroom at night were never seen again and the secret remained a mystery.  However, a young man named Peter used a magic flower from the garden where he worked to turn invisible and watch the princesses as they escaped their bedroom at night and went to a hidden castle to dance with all the missing suitors.  Once he knew the secret, he left little hints that he knew for the youngest sister, Elise.  She became irritated and paranoid and the sisters plotted to give Peter the same drink the other men had had: a potion that turned a heart into ice.  Elise grew fond of Peter and eventually refused to let him drink the potion, so she and Peter fell in love and got married.

            This book would be great to introduce fairy tales to older students who feel like they have outgrown the genre.  It is a lengthy book with a lot of advanced vocabulary and vivid imagery.  Also, it does not only appeal to female students since it has a lot of mystery involved and the main character is male.  However, the mystery is far from complicated since the title of the book completely reveals what the princesses are doing to wear out their slippers.  This kind of defeats all the building of suspense since you know from the start what the girls like to do.  Students can be encouraged to write their own longer fairy tales, including details that allow the reader to feel like they are in the story.  The illustrations in this book are very magical and detailed.  It is hard to drag your eyes away from them as you read the text.