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The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories
A collection of various classic Princess tales from different parts of the world and different time periods features enchanting embroidered illustrations which bring each story to vivid life, making them a delight for parents and children alike.
109 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
84 people want to read
About the author
Annie Dalton
97 books98 followersAnnie grew up as an only child in the English countryside during the 1950s. Her father was not always around but when he was, he would tell her fantastical stories, often with her as the principal character. Annie missed him and his stories, which led her to the fantasy section at her local library, thus sparking life-long love of fiction.
After undertaking jobs such as waitressing, cleaning and factory work, Annie went on to study at University of Warwick and soon started writing.
Annie lives in Norfolk. She has three children, Anna, Reuben, and Maria (the inspiration for the first “Angels Unlimited” book, “Winging It”) and two grandchildren, Sophie and Isabella.
After undertaking jobs such as waitressing, cleaning and factory work, Annie went on to study at University of Warwick and soon started writing.
Annie lives in Norfolk. She has three children, Anna, Reuben, and Maria (the inspiration for the first “Angels Unlimited” book, “Winging It”) and two grandchildren, Sophie and Isabella.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 27, 2019
Cute book made up of lots of different stories about princesses. Many are traditonal tales but some are new and exciting tales, with key messages. Would be a lovely book to pick a story out of at the end of the day.
February 19, 2024
Eight folk and fairy-tales featuring princesses from around the world are gathered in this lovely collection from author Annie Dalton and fabric artist and illustrator Belinda Downes. The selections include:
The Princess and the Pea, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic Danish tale, in which a young woman's true royal status is determined by the delicacy of her skin, and her ability to sleep on a pea. This is a story retold countless times, in many different forms. My favorite picture book version is the one illustrated by Dorothée Duntze.
The Frog Princess, in which Prince Ivan finds himself married to a kind-hearted and very clever frog bride, who fulfills all of her father-in-law's demands, and is eventually revealed as Vassilissa the Wise. This traditional Russian tale has been retold in picture book form a number times, including in the beautiful edition done by J. Patrick Lewis and Gennady Spirin, and the fabulous one illustrated by Ivan Bilibin.
King Grizzlebeard, a Brothers Grimm tale in which a too-clever princess finds herself married to a musician and reduced to poverty after her rudeness to all of her suitors. Fortunately for her, her new husband is not all that he seems. I have more commonly seen this story translated as either "King Thrushbeard" or "King Grisly-Beard." Another retelling can be found in Shirley Climo's collection, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World .
The Starlight Princess, an Indian folktale about a beautiful Rajah's daughter who emits the light of stars, and how she is won by a brave Rajah's son, who possesses the ability to speak to animals. I was not familiar with this tale, which is apparently an adaptation of a story entitled How the Rajah's Son Won the Princess Laba'm, to be found in the 1879 collection, Indian Fairy Tales , by Maive S.H. Stokes. Although new to me, some of the story elements here—the hero who aids a series of animals, who aid him in return—were quite familiar, as they appear in many such tales.
The Sleeping Beauty, the celebrated French fairy-tale from Charles Perrault, in which a beautiful young princess is cursed by a vengeful fairy, and falls into a hundred-year sleep after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, only to be awakened by the prince her is her true love. Retellings of this story abound! Two of my absolute favorites are those illustrated by Kinuko Craft and by Trina Schart Hyman.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses, another classic tale from the Brothers Grimm, in which the eponymous princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night, much to the consternation of their father. An injured soldier, down on his luck, is the one who solves the riddle, and wins the hand of the princess of his choice. Here again retellings abound, with favorites including those illustrated by Kinuko Craft, Dorothée Duntze and Ruth Sanderson
The Egg Prince, a Bantu tale from Zimbabwe, in which Princess Lebou is engaged to a magical egg, given to her future father-in-law by his dying wife, and containing a true prince. With the help of her father's magic, Lebou ensures that this egg becomes the prince it is meant to be. This story, with which I was unfamiliar, and which I found rather creepy, was originally collected in the 1921 Specimens of Bantu Folklore by Father J. Torrend.
White-Bear-King-Valemon, a Norwegian folktale in which a princess dreams of an extraordinary golden crown, eventually marrying the white bear which possesses said crown. Eventually falling in love with her husband, the princess disregards his warning, and gazes upon him in the night, thereby setting in motion a curse which necessitates her pursuit of him, through many trials. Quite similar to the better-known East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon , this story has been retold (in a form combined with two other tales) in Tanya Robyn Batt & Nicoletta Ceccoli's The Princess & the White Bear King .
I found The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories to be an absolute delight. Annie Dalton's retellings were engaging, and fun to read, while Belinda Downe's embroidered illustrations were just beautiful. I appreciated the foreword from Downes, describing her method, and the materials she used in creating these visuals, and I enjoyed poring over the illustrations themselves. This is definitely one I would recommend to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those who enjoy princess stories. From a thematic perspective, it could pair very nicely with the Climo collection mentioned above, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World , and from an aesthetic perspective, it would make a good companion to Tanya Robyn Batt's The Fabrics of Fairytale: Stories Spun from Far and Wide , which also features fabric-art illustrations.
The Princess and the Pea, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic Danish tale, in which a young woman's true royal status is determined by the delicacy of her skin, and her ability to sleep on a pea. This is a story retold countless times, in many different forms. My favorite picture book version is the one illustrated by Dorothée Duntze.
The Frog Princess, in which Prince Ivan finds himself married to a kind-hearted and very clever frog bride, who fulfills all of her father-in-law's demands, and is eventually revealed as Vassilissa the Wise. This traditional Russian tale has been retold in picture book form a number times, including in the beautiful edition done by J. Patrick Lewis and Gennady Spirin, and the fabulous one illustrated by Ivan Bilibin.
King Grizzlebeard, a Brothers Grimm tale in which a too-clever princess finds herself married to a musician and reduced to poverty after her rudeness to all of her suitors. Fortunately for her, her new husband is not all that he seems. I have more commonly seen this story translated as either "King Thrushbeard" or "King Grisly-Beard." Another retelling can be found in Shirley Climo's collection, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World .
The Starlight Princess, an Indian folktale about a beautiful Rajah's daughter who emits the light of stars, and how she is won by a brave Rajah's son, who possesses the ability to speak to animals. I was not familiar with this tale, which is apparently an adaptation of a story entitled How the Rajah's Son Won the Princess Laba'm, to be found in the 1879 collection, Indian Fairy Tales , by Maive S.H. Stokes. Although new to me, some of the story elements here—the hero who aids a series of animals, who aid him in return—were quite familiar, as they appear in many such tales.
The Sleeping Beauty, the celebrated French fairy-tale from Charles Perrault, in which a beautiful young princess is cursed by a vengeful fairy, and falls into a hundred-year sleep after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, only to be awakened by the prince her is her true love. Retellings of this story abound! Two of my absolute favorites are those illustrated by Kinuko Craft and by Trina Schart Hyman.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses, another classic tale from the Brothers Grimm, in which the eponymous princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night, much to the consternation of their father. An injured soldier, down on his luck, is the one who solves the riddle, and wins the hand of the princess of his choice. Here again retellings abound, with favorites including those illustrated by Kinuko Craft, Dorothée Duntze and Ruth Sanderson
The Egg Prince, a Bantu tale from Zimbabwe, in which Princess Lebou is engaged to a magical egg, given to her future father-in-law by his dying wife, and containing a true prince. With the help of her father's magic, Lebou ensures that this egg becomes the prince it is meant to be. This story, with which I was unfamiliar, and which I found rather creepy, was originally collected in the 1921 Specimens of Bantu Folklore by Father J. Torrend.
White-Bear-King-Valemon, a Norwegian folktale in which a princess dreams of an extraordinary golden crown, eventually marrying the white bear which possesses said crown. Eventually falling in love with her husband, the princess disregards his warning, and gazes upon him in the night, thereby setting in motion a curse which necessitates her pursuit of him, through many trials. Quite similar to the better-known East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon , this story has been retold (in a form combined with two other tales) in Tanya Robyn Batt & Nicoletta Ceccoli's The Princess & the White Bear King .
I found The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories to be an absolute delight. Annie Dalton's retellings were engaging, and fun to read, while Belinda Downe's embroidered illustrations were just beautiful. I appreciated the foreword from Downes, describing her method, and the materials she used in creating these visuals, and I enjoyed poring over the illustrations themselves. This is definitely one I would recommend to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those who enjoy princess stories. From a thematic perspective, it could pair very nicely with the Climo collection mentioned above, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World , and from an aesthetic perspective, it would make a good companion to Tanya Robyn Batt's The Fabrics of Fairytale: Stories Spun from Far and Wide , which also features fabric-art illustrations.
April 3, 2020
I have had this book since I was a child and I haven’t touched it in years! I decided to pick it up for the read-a-thon so I could finish the prompt. This is a beautiful children’s picture book with eight different fairytale stories and my favorite part of it is definitely the stunning pictures. The illustrations aren’t actually drawings but rather embroidery pieces the artist created for the book.
If you have a little one who loves princesses, this may be a book to get to read to them!
If you have a little one who loves princesses, this may be a book to get to read to them!
August 21, 2018
Wow, the embroidery is stunning. The stories are enhanced by this beautiful art form. The details are breathtaking. I could look at the pictures for hours and still find new stitches I hadn’t noticed before. Wow!
December 6, 2021
This has some fables I've never heard before, which is rare, and there is such a richness to the collection. And then there's the illustrations - it's all done in fabric. It's such a beautiful book!
September 1, 2011
In The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories, Annie Dalton has gathered together stories from various backgrounds, including "The Starlight Princess" from India, "The Egg Prince" from Zimbabwe, and "White-Bear-King Valemon" from Norway amid some of the better known faery tales. As enjoyable as Annie Dalton's retellings are, however, it is Belinda Downes' needlepoint illustrations that make the book really stand out. Her embroideries are richly textured and vividly colored, each story rendered unique by Downes' careful attention to the characters' fashions and settings. Notes about the illustrations and the stories themselves add just the right finishing touch to this excellent fairy tale collection.
February 9, 2009
This is a fun book to read, mostly because all the illustrations are made out of embroidery and scraps of cloth - neat! Some of the stories are familiar and some, like the Starlight Princess and the Egg Prince and King Grizzlebeard, were new to me. All classic fairy-tales, though, where the heroes have to complete impossible tasks and usually have a bit of magic to help them along... good stuff.
October 18, 2007
We had this book and we loved it so much! Then it got left in the car and was ruined. I wish we could find another copy. The look of the book is so cool, with the stitching on the pages and the intricate pictures.
April 26, 2010
Grade 1-4 SLJ
a collection of 8 different princess folktales from around the world each "illustrated" with cotton, silk, dyes, and embroidery. Amazing to look at the details and expressions captured through embroidery.
a collection of 8 different princess folktales from around the world each "illustrated" with cotton, silk, dyes, and embroidery. Amazing to look at the details and expressions captured through embroidery.
October 19, 2018
Adorable! The illustrations in this book are actually embroidery and patchwork, which I find immensely appealing as a fellow needlework enthusiast.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews