Kathleen Ragan

Kathleen Ragan first set out to gather folktales that featured heroines rather than heroes when she realized there was a lack of female protagonists in children's literature. She first discovered the disparity when reading to her young daughter from Dr. Seuss books. Ragan searched many of his books only to find minor female characters. Further investigation revealed this was not an anomaly. 90% of the protagonists in children's fairy tales were male. The result was Ragan's tireless effort to search out traditional literature from around the world that featured heroines rather than heroes. This anthology contains over 100 different folktales. The author apologizes that many of the tales come from countries with British or American influence due to the mere fact that those stories were written down in English. However, there are tales with Native American, European, Asian, Middle Eastern and African origins as well. The language of these stories is as magical as oral tradition allows and young readers will be swept away in the fantastical lands described. There are legends of vengeful daughters, fairy tales about clever mothers and funny stories about tricky wives. Older children will love the cleverness of the tales as well as the various ways good overcomes evil. They are perfect tales for reading aloud. The variety stories means the anthology can be for a short quick read or indulgent longer sessions. Parents who wish to encourage a portrayal of girls and women as strong and powerful role models will appreciate this book.… (mais)

I collect books on folk and fairy tales and this book filled a large gap in collecting stories with female protagonists from around the world. Ragan did a heroic job haunting dusty libraries and obscure collections looking for folktales that showed women in a positive light. As you might expect, they were few and far between, but Ragan gives us over 100 stories from six continents. Kudos for the effort and applause for the result. Recommended for any parent of girls or boys or folks who like a good yarn. Isn't that everyone?… (mais)