feminist fairy tale suggestions?

[La Sombra]

I adore fairy tales and I think they are an important part of our cultural heritage. But I DON'T want to raise my dd on Rumplestiltskin, Cinderella, Snow White and a host of other neutered female figures waiting around to be saved by the prince.

In fact, I think that there is a tradition of compelling and complex female characters and more empowering messages in the long, ancient history of fairy tales and the oral tradition.

So what I'd love is for some suggestions of books that are either feminist-friendly versions of classic fairy tales or feminist parables with a kind of fairy tale sensibility.

Could anyone suggest anything here? TIA!

[newmum35]

I'm not sure this is a "fairy tale" or not but one of my favorite books as a kid was "Teena and the Magic Pot" it had gorgeous color illustrations to accompany each page. There was a little text, it might have been a 2nd grade level reading, I'm not sure but it was just a lot of fun. I think it was the pictures I loved most. There were no male figures that I recall (I loved a lot of other stories as well, but in trying to remember back to ones with female character this one came to mind) . I think it was a whitman book if I'm not mistaken, the cover was pink. Her and her mother were starving and a fairy turns her pot into a magic one, but in order for it make porridge she had to first say the right words. I won't spoil the rest.

[sebarnes]

The book 'The Maiden of the North' is a collection of feminist myths/fairy tales from around the world.

[crittersmum]

Kathleen O'Dean's got a book called Great Books for Girls: More Than 600 Books to Inspire Today's Girls and Tomorrow's Women; I wonder if that would have any suggestions? I've enjoyed her book for babies and toddlers.

And, sebarnes, I couldn't find your recommendation on Amazon. Could it be under a different title?

[MamaJenese]

The Paper Bag Princess.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by MamaJenese

The Paper Bag Princess.

Dove Isabeau by Jane Yolen, beautifully illustrated by Dennis Nolan. It's about a young girl who is transformed into a terrible red wyrm (dragon) and eats the young men who try to save her. On the surface it's a fairly traditional story with an evil witch and an honourable prince, and the triumph of true love. But it's also about loss of innocence. If you think in terms of the loss of virginity and the multitude of suitors and the fact that she destroys them all save the last (she gets married in a blood-red wedding dress, how's that for symbolism?) - there's lots of non-traditional stuff there too.

Yolen writes a lot of great stuff with strong females - good novels, as well as picture books, some are based on historic events, others on fairy tales.

Unfortunately, I can think of more novels than picture books:

Tam Lin is a Scottish fairy tale where the girl rescues the boy. I don't know of a picture book version, but there are some good novels for older girls. One of them is The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.

/The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, based on the Brothers' Grimm story, has a strong female lead.

Beauty by Robin McKinley is a re-telling of the classic.

[sebarnes]

Sorry, it's 'The Maid of the North' by Ethel Phelps.

[Thalia the Muse]

The miller's daughter in Rumplestiltskin does solve her own problem, by figuring out his name and thus saving her baby.

some others:

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
Beauty and the Beast
Vasilisa the Brave (and many variations)
The Snow Queen
The 12 Dancing Princesses
Snow White and Rose Red
Fairer than a Fairy
The Seven Ravens (there are lots of variations on this one, some with the brothers turned into swans instead, and another called The Twelve Ravens)
And the similar-but-not-the-same The Wild Swans

Some modern fairytalish stories with strong girls:

The Paper-Bag Princess
Outside Over There
Brave Margaret
The Talking Eggs
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

[mata]

Cornelia Funke's The Princess Knight and Pirate Girl are wonderful.

[Teenytoona]

How about Atalanta?

[MamaLo879]

I wish I had this suggestions when my daughter was younger. Better late than never I guess!

[~Heyokha~]

Kate and the beanstalk. Dd and I recently read this and we really enjoyed it :-)

[christinar]

I second The Princess Knight. DD & I also enjoyed The Castle Corona (a novel), also by Funke, that worked well as a read-aloud.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Tam Lin is a Scottish fairy tale where the girl rescues the boy. I don't know of a picture book version, but there are some good novels for older girls.

We read a picture book version of Tam Lin by Susan Cooper sometime in the past year. I thought it was good.

We also have a collection of stories called Tatterhood and Other Tales, featuring strong heroines. We've only read one story in it so far, but I liked that one.

[La Sombra]

Wow, thanks a lot--what a lot of great suggestions!

[meemee]

i woudl also suggest you continue the oral tradition and make up your own princess stories.

i did so with my dd and we would make them up together and she really enjoyed them. right along with cinderella and others. seh got to experience some women can fight on their own steam and some do require help. and i think that's a healthy attitude to have.

[elanorh]

It's a chapter book, but short- The Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye.

The seventh daughter is gifted with being 'ordinary,' which everyone thinks is a terrible burden (in her family). In the end, she goes off on her own. She is kind and hardworking, takes care of her friends/pets, and loves the outdoors. And meets a boy she thinks is a serving boy, who ends up being an 'ordinary' prince who does not want a fairytale princess.

Read it for yourself and see if you like it. I loathe most princess stories, but this one made me cry the first time I read it .... dd1 and I read it together when she was 5.

[philomom]

Tatterhood and Maid of the North are the ones at my house.

[hazelbranch]

I quite like "Lucia and the Light" by Phyllis Root.