Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World

Rating:
Summary: highly useful and thoughtful collection
Review: This book is a much needed addition to the world of multicultural and feminist stories. Because the author has broadened her definition of heroine to include qualities traditionally attributed to women and subsequently denigrated by the society, the book succeeds in bringing us new definitions of what it means to be a successful human being. Honoring qualities like creating a "hearth" for a family, kindness, perseverance and cleverness rather than physical strength (though delightful tales featuring female strength are included too!),Ragan brings to our attention stories that celebrate feminine qualities. As a storyteller, I have found stories that I can use immediately to build my repertoire of performance pieces. The care with which Ragan has sought out those sources closest to the oral tradition makes the storyteller's job of "translating" written text to oral performance much easier. I highly recommend this book to educators, librarians and storytellers. It also makes a great resource collection for parents who want to expand the kinds of stories they offer to their children, both male and female!

Rating:
Summary: Actually pretty boring to read straight...
Review: This book is split up into sections by location containing folk and fairy tales with women heroines. While I had some favorites "The Three Sisters and Their Husbands, Three Brothers (Ireland), Little Red Cap (Germany), The Pigeon's Bride (Yugoslavia), The Innkeeper's Wise Daughter (Jewish-American) and How Parvatibai Outwitted the Ducoits (Makarashtra, India), I found lots of the other stories to be confusing, boring or both. It might be good book if you are really into the topic or need to do some research, but not great for pleasure reading.

Rating:
Summary: This book is terrific - I highly recommend it!
Review: This book is terrific - the stories I read in "Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters" has completely changed the way I view the portrayal of women in folktales. When I was a kid, many of the books I read had male protagonists, and early on I realized that in the stories and plays I was reading the males got all the good parts. They went off and did the courageous things while the female characters tittered, blushed and occassionally fainted in safety. The women in this book do brave things the men can't (or aren't smart enough) to do. They fight monsters, outwit giants and save lives, yet they they have traditional feminine qualities such as patience, devotion and compassion, and a soft spot for babies. The tales in this anthology are as diverse and varied as the women they represent. They come from all around the world and cross all cultural lines. To help readers understand the cultural context, the author has included her notes at the end of each tale expressing her personal reactions and the cultural background. I liked reading her remarks, and enjoyed the way they helped put the tales in context. I highly recommend this book - it is really refreshing to find out that women's empowerment is not something new! [D.A. age 14]

Rating:
Summary: This book is terrific - I highly recommend it!
Review: This book is terrific - the stories I read in "Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters" has completely changed the way I view the portrayal of women in folktales. When I was a kid, many of the books I read had male protagonists, and early on I realized that in the stories and plays I was reading the males got all the good parts. They went off and did the courageous things while the female characters tittered, blushed and occassionally fainted in safety. The women in this book do brave things the men can't (or aren't smart enough) to do. They fight monsters, outwit giants and save lives, yet they they have traditional feminine qualities such as patience, devotion and compassion, and a soft spot for babies. The tales in this anthology are as diverse and varied as the women they represent. They come from all around the world and cross all cultural lines. To help readers understand the cultural context, the author has included her notes at the end of each tale expressing her personal reactions and the cultural background. I liked reading her remarks, and enjoyed the way they helped put the tales in context. I highly recommend this book - it is really refreshing to find out that women's empowerment is not something new! [D.A. age 14]

Rating:
Summary: My daughters and I took a trip around the world together
Review: This collection of fairy tales is great--it's not dominated by stories from Europe as is every other collection of "Fairy Tales from Around the World". It truly is a worldwide collection. Her heroines do all kinds of things in all kinds of ways. Ragan hasn't toed the line of political correctness--she lets the world's cultures and their women speak for themselves. The heroines in this wonderful collection aren't anemic passive beauties --they have character and blood. Ragan has enriched the word "heroine" and has given my daughters hopes in all kinds of new directions. As we read these stories together it was like taking a trip around the world and in each new country we were invited to sit down by the fire and listen to what makes the local hearts beat and to feel the resonance of our common humanity. I like Ragan's short commentaries at the end of each story because they gave me background information that helped me tell my daughters a little about the cultures from which the stories came. They also clearly revealed an emotional center of each story. I can't wait for Ragan's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Get this book into your library!
Review: What a feat--to have ferreted out these wonderfully rich stories from around the world! These tales, left in their own cultural idioms, invited me to transcend ages-old boundaries and to explore life in other lands and eras. The introduction, coming from a mother who was concerned about her daughters' literary role models, didn't fully prepare me for what I had in store, though: don't go looking for a "book of virtues"-type anthology with clear object lessons or easy reading for your kids. Heroism comes in many different guises throughout these tales, in ways that chivalry and good manners might not ordinarily accept. Because these heroines are not readily categorized as the feminine archetype, they may not be obvious role models for women (and girls), but they do create much more interest and discussion than the Cinderella-type stories which women can't even begin to emulate. For some of the protagonists, their heroism lies in their ability to break out of the mold that their societies gave them--or at least, to stretch them so that their feats are unexpected by those surrounding them. That's a refreshing lesson in any culture. I very much hope, in any case, that Ms. Ragan will reach back into those 30,000 surveyed stories and, with her daughters once again in mind, come out with a collection of stories edited for our children. We wait with bated breath....