Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls

Ah, here's some bread and butter -- folk tales and female protagonists. This isn't exactly "Rejected Princesses", but it's a nice change from all the fairy tale compilations I've read in the past (Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Book of Goodnight Stories) where, if the hero is a girl, her objective is to learn some kind of domestic skill (like Rumpelstiltskin) or how to stop being a bitch (like The Frog Prince).

In this book, sometimes the female hero is just a substitute for a boy (there's a very Jack and the Beanstalk-like tale at the end), but several remind me of Mulan. There's marriages, there's fighting, there's monsters, as there are in most folk tales. Nothing new there.

Like any short story collection, it's a mixed bag, and it's hard to show more judge stories written nine hundred years ago. I don't know if there are better collections out there, but this seems like a good one to start with. It's a breath of fresh air from Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and if you liked Brave, this will accompany the coffee table nicely. show less

"What makes a hero? Is it being brave, or is it acting while being greatly afraid?" (from "The Girl and the Puma," p. 29)

Such a good collection. Each story is about 5-10 pages, and each has its own full-page illustration. Tales come from Greece, Niger, Germany, Argentina, China, the U.S. (White River Sioux and the Ozark Mountains), Scotland, Poland/Jewish, Japan, France, England. Back matter includes notes on the stories and a bibliography for each.

Cited: The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World by Ethel Johnston Phelps

Finally! A fairytale book with strong women and deep content. In all fairness I do love the moral lessons often found in fairytales but at the sametime the plot is so predictable. Girl is happy, girl has hardship, girl is lost, handsome guy arrives, solves the problem, and they are wed within the week. Where is the depth? I enjoy this book because it's different. For starters the tales take place all over the world. They already give way for geography lessons and conversations about other cultures. On top of that the stories contain strong character development with varying plotlines. I love this book!

An important book, certainly. But at first I was thinking I wasn't going to be enjoying it much, but the stories started weaving their spell about me and I wound up liking it quite a bit. I love one HEA line - They pledged their love. And if they did not live happily every after, it was because they had many more adventures to come." Highly recommended to girls and women who have been told too often to be 'good' and not often enough to be 'brave.'

ETA: I see that the other reviews are inconsistent. One says that all the girls got married, another says that this is anti-men. Um, actually, read with any sort of care and with an open-mind, one sees that neither claim is true. The girls often get married, but only to their equals. And if you show more read other reviews, you don't know whether this is aimed at 4 yr-olds or 4th grade and up. I would say it's fine for families to share with ages 6 and up, and independent readers 8 and up. And, yes, even teens and grandparents (of both/all genders) can enjoy it." show less

I really liked everything about this book. My favorite aspect of this book is the open letters between a grandmother and her daughter and granddaughters. The letters express how the grandmother wants her daughter and granddaughters to know the stories of female heroes since the prevalent ones are all male leads. After the stories the letter back to the grandmother reads that they know women can be heroes too and they appreciate the reminder of these stories and think that even more so boys and men need to be reminded of these stories. I think these letters really tie the book of stories together and give the book a purpose which I really liked. I also liked the descriptions of main characters within each story. My favorite story and show more character was Bradamente, the story described her as brave, noble, a great knight and trusting. All of the female heroes in the stories were described which isn’t always present in folktales which I really liked. The main idea of this book is tell the stories of the female heroes in folktales all over the world, and I also think the book emphasizes on equality between men and women, women can do whatever men can do attitude. show less

Jane Yolen collected and retold (with very few changes) thirteen folktales from around the world that feature girls as the heroes.

In her "Open Letter to My Daughter and Granddaughters," Yolen stated that she doesn't like the use of words heroine or sheroes because those "sound like lesser or minor heroes, just as poetess and authoress sound as if they are not as good as their male counterparts."

I found the tales okay: nothing earth-shattering or deeply moving, but fun and empowering; Susan Guevara's illustrations complemented each tale's hero yet I do so wish the illustrations had been in color. "Notes on the Stories" gave background on how Yolen first heard of a tale or how she adapted / retold a tale. The bibliography was organized by show more tale, which was quite handy.

Not One Damsel in Distress would most resonant with young readers and listeners, ages 8-11, boys and girls alike. For a more in-depth collection, see Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters by Kathleen Ragan. For a more colorful short collection, see The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women by Katrin Hyman Tchana, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

3.5 stars

All thirteen tales along with their brief introduction:

Atalanta the Huntress (Greece) - "Hail Artemis, goddess of the hunt, patron of young women warriors"
Nana Miriam (Niger) - In a village where only men are warriors, the greatest warrior is a young woman"
Fitcher's Bird (Germany) - "In the face of real evil, the hero must use brains as well as brawn"
The Girl and the Puma (Argentina) - "There are many ways to be a hero -- muscle and magic are not the only roads"
Li Chi Slays the Serpent (China) - "Here is a maiden who will not be sacrificed!"
Brave Woman Counts Coup (United States/White River Sioux) - "The Sioux believe this to be a true story, but it has many elements of a folktale"
Pretty Penny (United States/Ozark Mountains) - "Sometimes a quick wit is faster than a pointed gun"
Burd Janet (Scotland) - "Sometimes to be a hero means holding on; sometimes it means letting go
Mizilca (Romania) - "Young women disguising themselves as men to go off to battle are popular folk stories as well as in history"
The Pirate Princess (Poland/Jewish) - "Sometimes a young woman has to make her own fate"
The Samurai Maiden (Japan) - "Sacrifice or hero -- this maiden has a choice"
Bradamante (France) - "A great medieval knight in shining armor -- and she's a woman!"
Molly Whuppie (England) - "Smart, forward, brave -- that's the very definition of a hero" show less

The retelling of the stories in this book are really well done. They are detailed and exciting. There are also great descriptions in the back of the book that give insight into the culture that each story came from and the history of the story itself. This is a great book for older children who are comfortable reading books without pictures and who do not want to stick with a long book.