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The Twelve Dancing Princesses

“There was once a king who had twelve beautiful daughters.”

From Grimms' Fairy Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

This story was collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and published in the nineteenth century as part of their famous collection of German folk tales. The Grimm brothers gathered traditional stories from oral storytellers and preserved them for future generations. This tale has become one of the most beloved fairy tales in the world, remembered for its magical underground castle, its glittering groves and its mystery that only cleverness and a little magic can solve. It reminds us that wisdom and careful observation can succeed where strength or status cannot. This text reflects its era.

Band
Green · Independent readers, earlyTypical starting range: ages 9–11
Length
long · about 875 words in 6 sections · 3 pictures
Source
Grimms' Fairy Tales, Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
First published
see the About page in the reader
Regions
Canada · United States

Included formats

  • · Web reader and PDF
  • · EPUB for e-readers
  • · Home-print sheet
  • · Folded booklet
  • · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
  • · Worksheet
  • · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
  • · Read-aloud script
  • · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Lesson at a glance

Reading
about 10 minutes at this band
Pause questions
2
Words to Know
7
Quick Check
10 questions, with the answer key
Let’s Talk
2 questions for afterwards
Worksheet
questions, an activity and a drawing prompt

About 35 minutes with one story, all of it.

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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The same story

The Twelve Dancing Princesses at other bands