Magic Ballerina 07 – Rosa and the Secret Princess

Darcey Bussell's Rosa and the Secret Princess is a magical ballet story for 6 year olds about a girl whose hand-me-down red shoes turn out to be enchanted.

What happens

Rosa can't wait to get back to Madame Za-Za's ballet school after the summer. She's wearing the red ballet shoes her older friend Delphie passed on to her last term. Delphie said something very odd when she gave them over. Watch out for King Rat.

The first day back goes wrong fast. Rosa loses track of time warming up and misses showing her new friend Olivia round. Then she snaps at her. Then she treads on Olivia's foot in class by accident. Rosa's mum is always telling her to think before she acts, and today she really hasn't.

When everyone else has gone home, the shoes start to sparkle. Rosa is spun away to Enchantia, a land where the characters from the ballets live.

A young fairy called Nutmeg is waiting for her. King Rat has captured Princess Cressida and put a spell on her. She's a swan all day and only turns back into a girl at night. It's just like Swan Lake (which Rosa happens to be learning in class that very day).

It's a quick, exciting read. There are mouse guards with swords, a locked room in a castle, and a very dusty plant pot that makes Rosa sneeze at exactly the wrong moment! Her plans are brave and not always very well thought through, which is part of the fun.

What's really nice is that her temper isn't brushed aside. She charges in, gets it wrong and says so. For a child who sometimes says things they wish they hadn't, that's a comforting thing to see in a heroine.

There's a gentle bit of home life too. Rosa's mum was a ballerina before a car accident left her in a wheelchair, and now she helps Rosa practise. It's mentioned simply and warmly, as part of who Rosa is.

This is Rosa's very first trip to Enchantia, so it's a good place to meet her. If your reader loves dancing round the kitchen, it's a lovely mix of real ballet class and fairy-tale adventure.

What to read next

If they fall for the red shoes, the first Magic Ballerina stories follow Delphie, the girl who wore them before Rosa, from the snowy night Madame Za-Za first lends them to her.