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The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The king has a problem. His twelve daughters wake up every morning with their slippers in rags and tatters. Where are they going? The palace is guarded to the hilt, and the shoemakers are exhausted. The king has promised his kingdom to anyone who can solve the mystery in three days and three nights. Prince after prince fails, then a disheveled soldier arrives at the palace door. Will he succeed? Miss Clara's dazzling artwork takes the twelve princesses shimmering and waltzing across the pages of this classic fairy tale.
62 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Mary Hoffman
278 books594 followersSee also works published under Mary Lassiter
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.
Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel
Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.
Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 15, 2018
Both me and the daughter I read this to were hooked to the story up until the ending which fell flat. The mystery carries the story: where are the sisters going every night? And which prince will figure out their secret and be able to marry one of them?
Once the one prince, helped along by magic, discovers their secret, it's a let down. The author doesn't bother to explain why they were doing what they were doing every night. The one you thought was a focus character did not end up being anything special in the end.
I realize this is a retelling and previous versions may end this way as well, but retelling should complete stories in a satisfying way for the current audience they are telling it too.
Once the one prince, helped along by magic, discovers their secret, it's a let down. The author doesn't bother to explain why they were doing what they were doing every night. The one you thought was a focus character did not end up being anything special in the end.
I realize this is a retelling and previous versions may end this way as well, but retelling should complete stories in a satisfying way for the current audience they are telling it too.
January 27, 2014
The pictures really made this for me; I read this to Madam (she was familiar with the story thanks to a Barbie version . . . *sigh*), and we had a good time picking out which princess we would like to be and the differences between the two versions. I plan on reading to her many different versions of this as it is one of my favorite faery tales. The ending was abrupt; whatever did happen to those princes and that palace under the palace anyway? Left me wanting to know? Not settled here, that's for sure! Hope that Violette was kind to the soldier, too. (sarcasm intended)
July 23, 2017
Gorgeous illustrations!!!
May 14, 2019
As a kid this fairy tale was one of my most favourite bedtime stories — just re-read as an adult and adult me gives it two stars. Unpopular opinion: I didn’t like this version’s illustrations.
April 28, 2025
The art in this is utterly stunning and carries most of these stars - the photographed maquette technique is so beautiful, you can practically feel the textures of all that rich brocade and silk and lace.
The story's pretty appalling but that's hardly the author's fault; only so much you can do with a classic fairy tale if you don't want to go too far off-script. Just a few of the terrifying highlights, though:
1. The queen spends 12 years pregnant, has a baby every year, then dies in childbirth at the twelfth. Royalty goals!
2. The bereaved king loves his daughters very much so he wants to find them all husbands right away. Sire, your youngest is a newborn.
3. The princesses mysteriously disappear every night, so the man who can solve the mystery gets to pick a princess. Literally any one, they don't get a say, don't be silly.
4. At this point in the story, the youngest princess is presented by both the narrative and the art like she can't be much older than six; she's definitely a young child (she's tiny, plays with toys, dad reads her bedtime stories). But let's be generous and say she's eight - that means her next oldest sisters are nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and so on. Meaning even by absolutely medieval standards, half of these princesses are literal children. So, here, random stranger, solve this random mystery and have your pick of marrying one of my daughters; I have a wide selection of young children and teenagers.
5. Oh, and if you don't solve the mystery, you get killed. Gotta have stakes, lads!
6. Several princes try and fail. They're killed. What were they princes of? Neighbouring kingdoms? Did the king not just trigger multiple wars for idly murdering nearby royalty?
7. The princesses go dancing in an enchanted mystery land with enchanted mystery princes every night. They drug the wine of whichever prince is on duty to watch them. We'll have to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they don't know that dude will get killed if he inevitably fails to solve the mystery; otherwise we have a dozen girls here who are very murder-complicit and cheerfully, chillingly remorseless. Which could honestly make for a more interesting story.
8. The dude who eventually solves the mystery, with the help of a random fairy, does pick the eldest princess, which is very mature of him, I suppose.
9. Once the king finds out where the princesses go every night, he just has the access sealed up and that's it. No word on what happens to the enchanted dozen of princes or the magical nighttime Narnia. It's just over. I guess the king will have no time for further investigations as he'll be too busy fighting wars with all those kingdoms whose princes he murdered.
The funny thing is my only previous exposure to this particular fairy tale was a queer retelling and I guess I didn't expect the original to be quite this much of a mess, lol. Could have been grand if presented as an actual terrifying tale of horror!
The story's pretty appalling but that's hardly the author's fault; only so much you can do with a classic fairy tale if you don't want to go too far off-script. Just a few of the terrifying highlights, though:
1. The queen spends 12 years pregnant, has a baby every year, then dies in childbirth at the twelfth. Royalty goals!
2. The bereaved king loves his daughters very much so he wants to find them all husbands right away. Sire, your youngest is a newborn.
3. The princesses mysteriously disappear every night, so the man who can solve the mystery gets to pick a princess. Literally any one, they don't get a say, don't be silly.
4. At this point in the story, the youngest princess is presented by both the narrative and the art like she can't be much older than six; she's definitely a young child (she's tiny, plays with toys, dad reads her bedtime stories). But let's be generous and say she's eight - that means her next oldest sisters are nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and so on. Meaning even by absolutely medieval standards, half of these princesses are literal children. So, here, random stranger, solve this random mystery and have your pick of marrying one of my daughters; I have a wide selection of young children and teenagers.
5. Oh, and if you don't solve the mystery, you get killed. Gotta have stakes, lads!
6. Several princes try and fail. They're killed. What were they princes of? Neighbouring kingdoms? Did the king not just trigger multiple wars for idly murdering nearby royalty?
7. The princesses go dancing in an enchanted mystery land with enchanted mystery princes every night. They drug the wine of whichever prince is on duty to watch them. We'll have to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they don't know that dude will get killed if he inevitably fails to solve the mystery; otherwise we have a dozen girls here who are very murder-complicit and cheerfully, chillingly remorseless. Which could honestly make for a more interesting story.
8. The dude who eventually solves the mystery, with the help of a random fairy, does pick the eldest princess, which is very mature of him, I suppose.
9. Once the king finds out where the princesses go every night, he just has the access sealed up and that's it. No word on what happens to the enchanted dozen of princes or the magical nighttime Narnia. It's just over. I guess the king will have no time for further investigations as he'll be too busy fighting wars with all those kingdoms whose princes he murdered.
The funny thing is my only previous exposure to this particular fairy tale was a queer retelling and I guess I didn't expect the original to be quite this much of a mess, lol. Could have been grand if presented as an actual terrifying tale of horror!
September 9, 2017
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is about a king with twelve daughters who sneak out each night to go dancing. The king wants to know how his daughters are leaving the castle, so anyone who can figure out the secret can marry a daughter of his choosing. A soldier comes to the castle and figures out the princess's secret. I love the illustrations in this story. They are very victorian and go wonderfully with this story. The illustrations are dark and illuminating, which compliments the fact the the setting of this book takes places the majority of the story at night, while the princesses are dancing. At times due to the dark background it was difficult to see the font. The storyline is very similar to other fairy tales, in the fact that a male figure is the hero in the story, which is a little cliche. I do enjoy that the princesses sneak off in the night to dance it is clever and different. This story would appeal to children and teachers because everyone loves a good fairy tale. Kids will love the illustrations and idea for the story, whereas a teacher could utilize this story to have their students write an alternative ending or place where the princesses go at night. Teachers could really foster creativity using this story.
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April 20, 2022This story fascinated me when I was growing up, even though none of the characters are as individually interesting as in some of the other fairy tales. I always loved the idea of all those princesses!
I quite liked this retelling. It took the better parts of the original story and played down the lass likeable parts. It’s a detailed version—not a normal picture book length by today’s standards.
The artwork was magical. I loved the colour palette and all the little details in each image. The dreamy style with the eighteenth century-inspired costuming was nearly perfect.
One complaint is that doll-like look to the characters—their long, skinny necks in particular.
However, that’s one small thing in an otherwise gorgeous book.
I quite liked this retelling. It took the better parts of the original story and played down the lass likeable parts. It’s a detailed version—not a normal picture book length by today’s standards.
The artwork was magical. I loved the colour palette and all the little details in each image. The dreamy style with the eighteenth century-inspired costuming was nearly perfect.
One complaint is that doll-like look to the characters—their long, skinny necks in particular.
However, that’s one small thing in an otherwise gorgeous book.
June 22, 2024
The traditional story, told with some unique "illustrations". I enjoyed this adaptation, though I would rate this one for older children. The king offing the princes that fail to solve the mystery does heighten the stakes, but may not go over well for sensitive readers.
April 13, 2026
The illustrations are very dark, making it difficult to see what is happening and even hard to read the text. The style is a mix of paper cut outs, photos of paper figures and dolls, silhouettes, and all of it done in a Gothic style that will probably only appeal to the budding Goth reader.
August 6, 2018
I didn’t feel the illustrations did anything to enhance the story. Also the plot had too many of the wrong holes filled in and made more holes.
August 31, 2019
While the story was a pretty straightforward telling, the illustrations were so lovely!
July 18, 2021
Intriguing artwork. Perhaps a little overwhelming for young kids, but really interesting and unique for me.
November 25, 2022
Super cute, loved the scrapbook illustrations.
November 26, 2014
The Twelve Dancing Princesses is about a King who has 12 daughters. Each morning the Princesses need new slippers made for them because they ruin their slippers by dancing all night, but the King cannot figure out why they are dancing enough to ruin their slippers. He wants to find out, so he tells his kingdom that the man to figure this out for him can have his pick of the princesses to marry, but if they fail they will be killed. After some failed attempts, one man, a soldier decides to figure out why the princesses keep dancing their shoes to ruin each night. He is very surprised when he finds out the reason...
The illustrations for this book are amazing, beautiful and very unique. They are extremely well done and make this book very appealing to the eye. The characters are like dolls in the illustrations and it looks like a mystical, magical kingdom.
The story line of The Twelve Dancing Princesses is interesting. I enjoyed the page pacing and think it went well with the illustrations on each page. What i didn't like about this book was the concept of the father needing a man to come into the castle and try and solve the problem of the tattered slippers, when he could just ask his daughters why they are ruining them and prevent having to kill the unsuccessful men who can't figure it out.
Overall, i enjoyed reading this book, the story was interesting but mostly because the illustrations were so beautiful and unique to look at.
The illustrations for this book are amazing, beautiful and very unique. They are extremely well done and make this book very appealing to the eye. The characters are like dolls in the illustrations and it looks like a mystical, magical kingdom.
The story line of The Twelve Dancing Princesses is interesting. I enjoyed the page pacing and think it went well with the illustrations on each page. What i didn't like about this book was the concept of the father needing a man to come into the castle and try and solve the problem of the tattered slippers, when he could just ask his daughters why they are ruining them and prevent having to kill the unsuccessful men who can't figure it out.
Overall, i enjoyed reading this book, the story was interesting but mostly because the illustrations were so beautiful and unique to look at.
December 28, 2014
The illustrations in this book are breathtaking. Beautiful book and a lovely story. Through out the story I kept reading until I reached the end. My daughter and I couldn't wait to find out what those sneaky princesses had been doing all night. This book is available through Barefoot books. I also sell Barefoot at wonderland-books.barefootbooks.com
June 9, 2015
An eloquent rendition and the illustrations are magical. One part Tim Burton, one part Pure Princess. They are exquisite and detailed but also very whimsical. The story itself, retold by Mary Hoffman, reads charmingly and beautifully. Nothing is simplified or sacrificed and the fantastical whimsy of a classic fairy tale still rings through.
May 26, 2016
This lyrical retelling of the 12 princesses and the mystery of their tattered slippers is propelled to another realm by the magical illustrations. I want to live in a Miss Clara world, or at least have a Miss Clara room! Each fabric and paint stroke evokes beauty and luxury in this Royal fantasy.
September 8, 2016
Four stars for the artful illustrations - a beautiful and interesting technique involving crafting the scenes combined with photography. Could spend all day lingering over these pictures. This was one of my favorite fairy tales as a child.
February 19, 2013
i found it so weird that out of all the fancy princes there was this knight that found out the secret of what the princesses where doing.
April 16, 2013
Stunning illustrations by Miss Clara for this classic fairytale retold by Mary Hoffman.
July 19, 2013
Thank you Alana for getting me a copy of this beautiful little book!!
Brings back good memories! :-)
Brings back good memories! :-)
October 11, 2013
Excellent, beautifully told with lush, enchanting illustrations.
November 23, 2013
love the illustration and the story
February 5, 2014
I found this to be a pretty good retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses with beautiful illustrations by Miss Clara. I enjoyed reading this story.
February 24, 2014
Rating it 4 for the magnificent artwork.
March 3, 2014
Beautifully unique illustrations.
February 1, 2018
a stunning book
May 15, 2013
J398.2 HOF
August 9, 2017
Gorgeous artwork!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews