Grimm's Fairy Tales: Twelve Dancing Princesses by Saviour Pirotta and Cecilia Johansson
| Grimm's Fairy Tales: Twelve Dancing Princesses by Saviour Pirotta and Cecilia Johansson | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: One of the lesser-known Grimm's Fairy Tales produced with the emerging reader in mind. Recommended both for personal and library use. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2012 |
| Publisher: Orchard | |
| ISBN: 978-1408308431 | |
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There was once a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. Frightened that they would sneak out and go dancing he locked them in a big bedroom at night, but each morning he would find their satin shoes danced to pieces. As he couldn't work out how they escaped he issued a proclamation to all the young men of the land. Any prince who worked out how they escaped could marry one of the daughters and would inherit the kingdom. But - if after three nights he hadn't discovered the secret, he would lose his head.
Forget the improbability of having twelve daughters all of dancing age - triplets each year for four years and a very tired mother is obviously the answer. Ignore the loss of life - they were mere princlings - and skip over the dubious morality of marrying your daughter off to someone who had ratted on her and her sisters. It's a fairy story after all and this is a lovely retelling.
It's aimed at the emerging reader, although it's still going to be a good one to share. The text is clear and well-space so that it's easy to follow. The vocabulary is accessible but slightly demanding in places and there's nothing there that isn't an intrinsic part of the story. The illustrations are delightful with princesses and even princes who don't look too different. Our copy is a hardback. It's designed to last but it's of a size which small hands won't struggle to hold. With just thirty-two pages the emerging (or even reluctant) reader is soon going to be proud of having got a book under their belt.
The quality of this book is such that it would make a good present and it's robust enough to stand library handling.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
We've another take on this story - this time in an African setting. If you'd like to see more from Saviour Pirotta, then we can recommend something massive! We also enjoyed Grimm's Fairy Tales: Rumplestiltskin by Saviour Pirotta and Cecilia Johansson.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Grimm's Fairy Tales: Twelve Dancing Princesses by Saviour Pirotta and Cecilia Johansson at Amazon.com.
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