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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Beyond a lonely tower lies a world Prince Dolor longs to see—and a plain cloak can carry him there.
In Dinah Maria Mulock Craik’s The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak, a young prince grows up far from the world he is born to rule. Dolor cannot walk well, and his life in a high tower keeps him apart from others. Beyond its walls, lands and people remain out of reach.
Then a kind godmother gives Dolor a travelling cloak that can carry him through the air wherever he wishes. His journeys bring him sights that are sad, kind and strange. As he watches how others live, this gentle fairy tale explores what a child can learn when his narrow world opens wide.
What you’ll discover
- A prince worth knowing Meet Dolor, a lonely child whose longing reaches far beyond the walls around him.
- The tower and beyond Feel the contrast between a life apart and the wide world waiting outside.
- An extraordinary plain cloak Follow a small, simple gift as it carries the prince to places he wishes to see.
- A godmother's quiet kindness Discover a guide who gives Dolor both a magical gift and trust to learn.
- Lessons among distant lands Look down with Dolor on other lives, where sadness, kindness and strangeness share the world.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy fairy tales with a gentle teller, magic that is both comic and kind, and a child who learns courage by facing loneliness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A celebration hides a wound
- The uncle puts himself first
- A false funeral conceals a prisoner
- The prince asks to be loved
- The cloak opens a way outward
- Freedom brings sorrow and kindness
- Courage means using what can change
- Fairyland opens onto the real world
- Kindness leaves room for choice
Who’s who
- Prince DolorA gentle, thoughtful boy who cannot walk, shut away in a tower, who longs for company and learns to face the world bravely.
- The GodmotherA small old woman dressed in gray who appears when the prince asks for her, speaks plainly and gives him a magic cloak.
- Queen DolorezThe prince's gentle, uncomplaining mother, who is too ill to leave her bed on the day of his christening.
- The RegentThe prince's uncle, clever and sure that whatever he wants is right, who rules in the boy's place and sends him away.
- The NurseA condemned woman, hard at first, who must live in the tower and keep the child alive or lose her own life.
- Mag the MagpieA talkative, self-satisfied bird who offers to show the prince the great city and its palace.
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The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak
by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · 1875
A lame prince, locked in a tower on an empty plain, flies out on a shabby cloak his godmother leaves him.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Yes, he was the most beautiful Prince ever born.”
In short
What if the most beautiful baby in the kingdom is dropped on the marble stairs on the way to his own christening, and nobody says a word about it? That is where The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak begins.
The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h1 h 35 min fast, 2 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 28,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1875by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A christening day that ends in sorrow
The story opens in Nomansland, where the new prince is called the most beautiful ever born. His parents, the King and Queen, have waited ten years for him. Only the King's brother, who would have been king without the baby, is not wholly glad.
The christening is to be grand. Twenty-four godfathers and godmothers are chosen, and each gives the baby a name. Meanwhile the Queen lies pale and quiet in her room. Nobody says she is ill, because that would be inconvenient.
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Details
- First published
- 1875
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock. The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-lame-prince-and-his-travelling-cloak.
Craik, D. M. M. (2026). The little lame prince and his travelling cloak. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-lame-prince-and-his-travelling-cloak (Original work published 1875)
Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock. The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-lame-prince-and-his-travelling-cloak.
@book{craik2026little,
author = {Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock},
title = {The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-little-lame-prince-and-his-travelling-cloak},
note = {First published 1875}
}
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What is The Little Lame Prince about?
It tells of Prince Dolor, who cannot walk after a fall as a baby. His uncle sends him to live in a lonely tower, where his godmother gives him a magic travelling cloak that carries him over the world.
Who is the godmother in The Little Lame Prince?
She is a small old woman in gray who comes when the prince asks for her, speaks kindly and honestly and can take many shapes. She jokes about her many names, including Stuff and Nonsense.
What does the travelling cloak do?
The shabby green cloak grows large, rises into the air and flies where the prince wishes. He says Abracadabra, dum, dum, dum to go out and Abracadabra, tum, tum, ti to come home.
The author
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
1826–1887 · English novelist and poet
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (1826–1887) was a British novelist and poet. She was born in Stoke-on-Trent and lived in London and later in Shortlands, Kent, where she died. Her books include Agatha’s Husband (1853), John Halifax, Gentleman (1856), and The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak (1875).
“Yes, he was the most beautiful Prince ever born.”
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