Author: Jessie Burton
Illustrations: Angela Barrett
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Details: 160pp
ISBN number: 9781408886915
Inspired by the Brothers Grimm tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Jessie Burton has created a modern fairy tale for the 21st century. In the original story, the 12 princesses are a homogenised group of girls with no distinct personalities and the crux of the plot is to discover their secret and bring them back into line. By contrast, Burton has given each of the princesses a distinct personality and a special gift, but not the gifts that are traditionally attributed to princesses (you know the ones: beauty, charm, grace, etc). Polina can read the stars, Bellina can speak five languages and Mariella is a talented mathematician - qualities that are most undesirable in princesses. After the death of his beloved wife, King Alfredo forbids the girls from indulging their talents, takes away their possessions and locks them in a room for their own protection.
With the princesses suffering through grief and frustrated by boredom, their salvation comes in the form of a hidden door that leads to a magical forest with a tree palace, where they feast to their hearts’ content and dance themselves into exhaustion. Their sheer joy and exuberance at having freedom is brought to an abrupt end when the king discovers their shoes filled with holes every morning and declares that whoever can uncover the secret of their disappearance shall have his crown and one of his daughters for a wife. Furious at her father’s decision, Frida rages against his decision and is banished from the kingdom. But this is not a fairy tale with an expected ending, and the king soon discovers that his daughter is far cleverer than any man he could hope for to rule his kingdom.
It is fierce, bold and completely enchanting, and I just adored this feminist and diverse retelling of the classic story. A true celebration of sisterhood, bravery and the power of imagination. Angela Barrett’s sumptuous, rich artwork complements Burton’s glorious storytelling beautifully. The Restless Girls would be a really engaging and thought-provoking book to share in upper key stage 2.
Jo Clarke is school librarian at Whitchurch C of E Primary in Hampshire. Her book blog can be found here and she tweets @bookloverJo
Pupil reviews
‘Full of wonder and magic’
The Restless Girls is awesome. It is full of wonder, magic and imagination, and Jessie Burton described the setting perfectly. I loved the determination of the main character, and that she did everything she could to make her sisters happy. I couldn’t take my eyes off it because it was so interesting and tempting to read on. She wrote the type of story I love as if she knew exactly what I enjoy.
Susanna, aged 8
‘An enchanting fairytale story’
The Restless Girls is a magical book based on the adventures of the 12 princess sisters. Their father, King Alberto, is very protective of his daughters as his wife, Queen Laurella, died several years before. One day Frida, the eldest princess, finds a secret door behind the painting of their mother. The princesses discover a magical kingdom of forests made of gold, silver and diamonds, a sparkling lagoon and the elegant Tree Palace. They dance for so long in the ballroom that they wear holes in their shoes. The king is suspicious and he questions Frida, but she refuses to tell him their secret and he decides to banish her. The author creates an enchanting fairytale story with wonderful descriptions and the illustrations are beautiful.
Emily, aged 9
‘Oozing with fun and suspense’
The Restless Girls is a thought-provoking book because it is curious, exciting and oozing with fun and suspense. It gives you clues and delivers a moral: “Believe in yourself and others, and you can achieve anything.” I was fascinated with the pictures created by Angela Barrett. They are so intricate, detailed and beautiful. My favourite character is Frida because she stands up for what she believes in. This story has been adapted to show women more positively. In the original book, a real man finds out and the girls get arrested. In this book, Frida gets crowned and becomes Queen Frida.
Maisie, aged 9
‘An amazing bond between the sisters’
The Restless Girls is a rewritten version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. But it is a clever book because, unlike in the original book, Jessie Burton gives each girl a name and a special talent. It is really funny in the end that Frida manages to outsmart the King. My favourite character is Agnes because she just loves all her older sisters and I admire how she hardly ever argues with them. I love the amazing bond between the sisters.
Evie, aged 9
