The Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales

Cinderella 

 The Bremen Town Musicians

Little Brier-Rose

The Shoes That were Danced to Pieces

years collected: 1812-1818
reading level: 9-12
http://hca.gilead.org.il/

The Shoes That were Danced to Pieces
Genre: Fairy Tale
Summary:
There was a king who had twelve daughters. They were locked in their room every night, but somehow their shoes were in pieces every morning from dancing. The king promised any man could marry one of his daughters and become the next king if he could find out where they went dancing every night. Any one who tried had three days to figure it out, or they would be killed. Many young men tried to figure out what the solution was, but they all failed. One day a soldier was on his way to the city when he was given an invisibility cloak and was told not to drink the wine he was given and he could find out where the princesses went.

He decided to try his luck and went to the castle. The princesses gave him wine and he pretended to drink it and to fall asleep, snoring loudly. The oldest princess knocked on her bed and it sunk to the floor and they all climbed down with the soldier following behind in the cloak. He decided to bring back some proof and snapped off a branch (scaring the youngest princess). They continued on the path until they reached a river with twelve princes waiting to row the princesses across. The soldier got in with the youngest princess and her escort. On the other side of the river, was a magnificent castle with a ball at which the princesses danced until 3am when their shoes were danced to pieces. They then got back in the boats (this time the soldier got in with the eldest and her escort) and up the path and back into their bedroom (the soldier raced ahead of them to pretend to be asleep).

He followed them again the nest two nights to see the beauty of it. Then the time came for him to tell the king where his daughters danced every night. His answer was "in an underground castle with twelve princes" and showed the king his proof. None of the princesses were able to counter this accusation, so the soldier married the eldest princess and became the king in his time.

Recommendations and Conflicts:
The Grimm's fairy tales are very grim. I would not suggest these fairy tales to elementary aged children
Reaction:
Some of the stories I read were gruesome. I wouldn't want my young students or my own children reading these until they were mature enough to handle them.