When a greedy ogre begins stealing all the corn, pigs and gold he can carry away from her small village, young Molly Mullett decides to put a stop to it, proving once and for all that she's not the "sneezley, wheezley, sniveling girl" her father thinks her. Who cares if the king laughs at her, and no one believes she can do it? Molly just grins, setting out with a bundle packed by her mother...

Published in 1975, Molly Mullett was one of Patricia Coombs' stand-alone picture-books - in contrast to her twenty-book Dorrie the Little Witch series - and has that overt "girls can do" attitude found in so many fairy-tales of the era. Somehow, despite my sympathy for the idea that girls can do, and my long-time fondness for the author, I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I had expected. In fact, I was reminded of my unhappy experience with Coombs' Tilabel, and have begun to wonder whether I should persist in reading the author's remaining non-Dorrie books. I think I'll just content myself with my Dorrie retrospective - sixteen more to go, after all! - and leave it at that. ( )

The village has an ogre problem. Mr. Mullett wishes he had a son to solve the problem and make him proud. Molly, with the help of a black crow, goes on adventures to help the town. The king does not believe that a girl could be so brave and strong. Mrs. Mullett supplies the just needed items to aid in the success of the quests. Odd issue: Mr. and Mrs. Mullett are referred to as just that - not Molly's father and mother. Black and white illustrations; Molly is highlighted in brown tones. ( )

Molly Mullett triumphs over an ogre by not being afraid to be scared and by using her mother's assistance. There is an overt moral about girls not being snivelly and useless, and a covert one about the importance of the mother's contribution; Molly scorns her washing and cooking, but it's her mother's quiet interventions that help her become who she is. Great moral, the 2 year old loves it, and it helped us potty-train (my daughter contemplated the scary automatic-flush toilets in public bathrooms and said "Good thing I'm not afraid to be scared!") ( )