Early Book Review: Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls by Anita Ganeri, Khoa Le

Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls, written by Anita Ganeri and illustrated by Khoa Le, is currently scheduled for release on July 15 2019. This inspiring collection of myths, legends and stories from around the world showcases narratives that celebrate strong, independent women. These heroines aren't reduced to being wives or witches! They run free and possess the qualities we would hope for in our daughters and friends: self-confidence, strength, wits, courage, fearlessness, and independence. They live freely, happily ever after, without restraint or narrowly defined roles. The stories include; Atalanta the Huntress (Greece), Nana Miriam (Niger), Fitcher's Bird (Germany), The Girl and the Puma (Argentina), Li Chi Slays the Serpent (China), Brave Woman Counts Coup (US/White River Sioux), Pretty Penny (US/Ozark Mountains), Mizilca (Romania), The Pirate Princess (Poland/Jewish), The Samurai Maiden (Japan), Bradamante (France), and Molly Whuppie (England).

Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls is a group of fairy tales about strong willed girls and women taking matters into their own hands, standing up for themselves, and getting what they want and need via strength and intelligence. I love fairy tales and legends, particularly if they are from different cultures or with twists I have not seen before. So far as that goes, this book was just right. The stories covered a good variety of regions and the main characters were smart, cunning, and brave. However, two minutes into reading the book my heart dropped a bit. The adage "show don't tell' came to mind. The stories, characters, and action were all good- but they lacked the dimension and depth that I was hoping for. I know it is hard to get character development into such short stories, but I felt some could have been done- because I have seen it. I loved the idea, and wanted to adore this book. It does offer what the title suggests, but did not capture my heart, mind, or imagination as I read.

Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls is a fairy tale collection with good intent and some interesting tales. However, I felt like it could have been so much better with a bit more depth.

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