Katya Sheppard

This book is quite obscure, but if you can get it it's worth reading. The stories are short, typically three to five pages each, and I think would interest adults and children equally. There are some illustrations, not too many. A short glossary is provided at the beginning for people unfamiliar with words like "bey" and "Padishah," but it's easy to tell the term meanings from the context in the story.

I quite liked these tales, more so than Western fairy tales. Women in Western fairy tales tend to be passive and helpless, but many of the women in these Tajik stories were strong, smart and independent. In fact, several of the stories were about them getting it over on men.… (more)