Barbie and The 12 Dancing Princesses

Click here for the easy, fast way to get Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses toys, books and merchandise at Amazon.com.  A wonderful surprise for her – light up your little girl’s face – just in time for Christmas!

Imagine the smile on her face!  Make 2006 a Christmas to remember. 

Girls are mad about Barbie and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  Amazon is gives you a huge choice to suit your budget.  From the most desired doll below… to every book, toy and accessory your little girl could dream of.  All 12 princesses are available.  Even the prince!  And of course, accessories galore.

You love the toys… but do you know the original story?  Read a snippet right here – thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The tale

Twelve beautiful princesses slept in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors were securely locked, but in the morning their shoes were found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night.

The king, perplexed, promised his kingdom and a daughter to any man who could discover the princesses’ secret within three days and three nights, but those who failed within the set time limit would be put to death.

An old soldier returned from war came to the king’s call after several princes had failed in the endeavour to discover the princesses’ secret. Whilst traveling through a wood he came upon an old woman, who gave him an invisibility cloak and told him not to eat or drink anything given to him by one of the princesses who would come to him in the evening, and to pretend to be fast asleep after the princess left.

The soldier was well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the eldest princess came to his chamber and offered him a cup of wine. The soldier, remembering the old woman’s advice, threw it away secretly and began to snore very loudly as if asleep.

The princesses, sure that the soldier was asleep, dressed themselves in fine clothes and escaped from their room by a trap door in the floor. The soldier, seeing this, donned his invisibility cloak and followed them down. He trod on the gown of the youngest princess, whose cry to her sisters that all was not right was rebuffed by the eldest. The passageway led them to three groves of trees; the first having leaves of silver, the second of gold, and the third of diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, broke off a branch from each grove; only the youngest princess heard the noises made, and voiced concerns that the eldest princess again ignored.

They walked on until they came upon a great lake. Twelve boats with twelve princes in them were waiting. Each princess went into one, and the soldier stepped into the same boat as the youngest. On the other side of the lake was a castle, into which they all went in and danced the night away.

The princesses danced until their shoes were worn through and they were obliged to leave. This strange adventure went on the second and third nights, and everything happened just as before, except that on the third night the soldier carried away a golden cup as a token of where he had been. When it came time for him to declare the princesses’ secret, he went before the king with the three branches and the golden cup, and told the king all he had seen. The princesses saw there was no use to deny the truth, and confessed. The soldier chose the eldest princess as his bride for he was not a very young man, and was made the king’s heir.

You can buy all the Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses toys, books and merchandise at Amazon.com.  Just in time to light up your little girl’s face for Christmas!

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, lists the Barbie Princesses names as follows:

Characters

The interesting thing about the names of the 12 princesses is that their first names start with the first 12 letters of the alphabet; for example, A for Ashlyn, B for Blair, etc.

Genevieve (GEN-eh-veev)

The graceful and good-natured heroine of the story, who intentionally tends to be late for all sorts of occasions. Genevieve is the seventh sister of twelve, who loves her family dearly. The most important thing in her life, aside from her family, is dancing. Her favourite gemstone is a pink opal and her flower is a pink rose. She has platinum blonde hair and wears a dark pink and white dress.

Ashlyn (ASH-lin)

The oldest sister, who is practical, calm, and knowledgable. She loves music and especially likes to play the flute. Ashlyn is straightforward and cares for her sisters, for whom she tries to act as a role model for. Her favourite gemstone is the garnet and her flower is a geranium. She has dark brown hair and wears a purple dress.

Blair (BLARE)

The second sister, who loves horses, tends to be a bit of a dreamer, and is close to Ashlyn. She is very vocal and is the first to complain about Rowena’s presence in their lives. Her flower is the larkspur and her gem is the ruby. She has black hair and wears a red dress.

Courtney (COURT-nee)

The third sister, who enjoys reading and is frequently found with her nose in a book. She is easily oblivious to everything around her as a result. Her flower is the forget-me-not and her gemstone is sapphire. She has brown hair and wears a dark blue dress. (note: “Courtney” is also a recurring character in the Barbie toy line)

Delia (DEE-lee-ah)

The fourth sister, who likes sports, especially croquet and horseback riding. She is close to Edeline. Her favourite flower is the sunflower and her gemstone is the peridot. She has blonde hair and wears a green dress.

Edeline (ED-eh-leen)

The fifth sister. Like Delia, she loves to play sports, especially badminton. She tends to be messy and disorganized. Her favourite flower and gemstone are honeysuckle and citrine respectively. She has light brown hair and wears an orange dress.

Fallon (FAL-len)

The sixth sister, who loves animals and tends to be a romantic who likes happy endings. She likes pearls and camellia flowers. She has strawberry blonde hair and wears a pink dress.

Hadley (HAD-lee)

The eighth sister and Isla’s twin. She loves to dance on stilts, something she shares with her sister. Her favourite gemstone is the topaz and narcissus flowers are her favourite. She has blonde hair and wears a turqouise dress.

Isla (AYE-lah)

The ninth sister and Hadley’s twin. Athletic Isla wants to become an acrobat and enjoys dancing on stilts. Emeralds are her favourite gemstone and she likes lily of the valley flowers. She has brown hair and wears a purple dress.

Janessa (JA-ness-ah)

Janessa is the bossiest of the triplets and the tenth sister. She is interested in bugs and collecting them. Her gem is an aquamarine and her flower is a jonquil. She has brown hair and wears a light turqouise dress.

Kathleen (KATH-leen)

The eleventh sister and one of the triplets. She loves art and enjoys painting, even if it can become somewhat messy. She is close to Janessa. Her jewel is a pink diamond and her flower is a daisy. She has red hair and wears a light pink dress.

Lacey (LACE-ee)

The youngest sister, Lacey is a triplet along with Janessa and Kathleen. Lacey loves her sister Genevieve dearly. The smallest of the triplets and the most timid and clumsy, she is often uncertain of her place her large family. Her favorite stone is an amethyst and her favorite flower is a white lily. She has blonde hair and wears a lilac dress.

Derek (DER-ek)

The handsome Royal Cobbler (shoemaker), who is a friend of Genevieve’s. He secretly loves her and she feels the same for him. He intends to help Genevieve stop Rowena.

Duchess Rowena (ROW-ee-nah)

The King’s cousin, who is brought into the castle in order to help him raise his twelve daughters. She strips the castle of all fun and secretly poisons the King in order to take over the kingdom. She has a monkey named Brutus, whom Fallon likes and Twyla hates.

Queen Isabella (Is-ah-BELL-ah)

The deceased mother of the twelve. She is only seen once, as a portrait.

King Randolph (RAN-dolph)

The father of the twelve dancing princesses, who is slowly being poisoned by his cousin Rowena.

Twyla (TWY-lah)

A cute kitten in the palace, who thinks she is a tigress. She is very proud and brave and does not get along with Rowena’s monkey Brutus.