Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls

I have read a lot of folklore - my undergraduate degree was in folklore, basically. Her stories do diverge from the stereotypical male-hero stories. In her other books, Jane Yolen has shown respect to males and given males the chance to be heroes, so the extreme feminism the previous reviewer claimed to have seen seems sought for. In the light of this collection, Jane Yolen obviously did an introduction discussing the fact that such heroines were not widely spread stories in our culture. Her saying this doesn't mean she's starting a feminist extreme group or expecting people (children!) to read these stories with feminist concerns. These stories are geared towards the child who likes fantasy a bit - perhaps the regular Harry Potter fan. Children who found it boring will probably be more enthralled with a mystery or historical fiction story.

This is an excellent collection of stories featuring clever, adventurous heroines. some of the stories were already familiar to me, like Burd Janet and Molly Whuppie, but others I'd never read before, like The Pirate Princess, and The Samurai Miaden. Unlike previous reviewers, I didn't find the stories either boring or too violent. the stories come from a wide variety of different cultures, but all feature enterprising, strong heroines. This book should appeal to any girl who would like to read about less passive heroines than Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty etc.

Jane Yolen has struck in the gold yet again with this collection of folktales starring clever, brave, daring, courageous women from all over the world. There is a lovely poignancy in her introduction and in the response from her daughter and granddaughters, showing how absolutely right she is to revive these stories, to sing out these tales that celebrate the power of women through the ages. Like Ms. Yolen, I too was Robin Hood and Arthur when I was a girl, desperate to play the hero and not knowing any heroic women to model myself on. Well, my sisters, here they are, a grand selection of them, Atalanta and Bradamante, daring Princesses and bold, clever wise women from many cultures. Their stories are all told with the sure and lilting voice - or voices, for she is a wildly talented writer and able to make each tale ring with its own cultural music - of a trusted modern bard. Thank you, Ms. Yolen, for giving new life to these tales with your consummate artistry.

I really liked this book because it tells stories about girls who made a difference in their communities. Ms Yolen has done an excellent job in retelling these folk tales. Each story can be read-a-loud and the illustrations are great. It teaches girls to stay cool and use their brains. Everyone who reads this book will enjoy it.