Feminist Fairy Tales


      Kate and the Beanstalk

      Red Riding Hood by Ernst,

      Molly Whuppie and the Giant

      The Fourth Pig

      The practical princess by Jay Williams

      Princess Smartypants  and Prince Cinder, Babbette Cole

      Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter , Author: Stanley, Diane    Illus. by: Stanley, Diane   In this revised fairy tale, Hope, Rumpelstiltskin's daughter may not br able to spin straw into gold, but she is more than a match for a monarch whose greed has blighted an entire kingdom.

      Little Red Cowboy Hat, Susan Lowell

      Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird, Vivian Vande Velde

      Cinder Edna, Ellen Jackson

      Sleeping Ugly  (Yolen?)

      The King's Equal (Paterson)

      Jane Yolen's collection called Not One Damsel in Distress.

      "Mutsmag" is an Appalachian folktale with a strong heroine and she's even more independent and resourceful than her European counterpart, Molly Whuppie, who is in many of these feminist anthologies.

      R. Rex Stephenson's first published play, which is still performed for young audiences by theatres in various places, is The Liberated Cinderella,

      The Return of the Godfather, a One-act Comedy.  Schulenburg, TX: I. E.Clark, 1974.

      Franny's Dream  is a spin-off of Cinderella.

      Antonia Barber's The Enchanter's Daughter is a beautiful picture book with a strong female and contains power struggles with father figures.

      Princess Florecita and the Iron Shoes: A Spanish Fairy Tale by John Stewig and K. Wendy Popp (Knopf, 1995).

      Sleepless Beauty by Frances Minters is a zany contemporary parody.

      Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters.

      Dove Isabeau by Jane Yolen (in a picture book with illus. by Dennis Nolan) is a great tale based on old ballads about a young woman changed into a
      dragon (rescued by her lover and in Yolen's version she rescues him in return and is admired for her dragon spirit).

      The Old Woman Who Used to Live in a Vinegar Bottle. This tale is one where a fairy grants the wishes .of an old woman who is never satisfied and is always seeking something grander despite having said that she would be satisfied with the one change.

      Jane Yolen, Not One Damsel in Distress. Silver Whistle/Harcourt, 2000. 112p.

      Beatrice Masini, A Brave Little Princess. Barefoot Books. 2000. 32p. The princess is 8, but looks as if she were 6, and she is tired of hearing how small she is. She has three adventures and saves the kingdom.

      Jim and the Beanstalk

      Katherine Patterson. The Wide-Awake Princess. Clarion. 2000. 48p picture book.

      Eleanor Farjeon, Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep, Candlewick, 2000 48p. picture book.

      Ruby by Michael Emberley (A Red Riding Hood tale)

      Little Red Riding Hood, A New Fangled Prairie Tale by Lisa Campbell Ernst

      To Capture the Wind by Sheila MacGill Callahan, ill. by Gregory Manchess

      Rimonah of the Flashing Sword, adapted by Eric A. Kimmel, ill. by Omar Rayyan

      Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole

      Princess Furball (A Cinderella tale) by Charlotte Huck (not as overtly feminist as some of the others on this list, but still good.  One of the
      few modern versions to imply the incestuous relationship desired by the father that exists in older versions of the tale--take a look at the
      pictures of the ogre she is supposed to marry...)

      A collection, with Tatterhood as part of the title, was popular with a class of kindergarten/first graders where I co-taught. The stories would
      appeal to older elementary, also.

      "Don't Bet on the Prince," edited by Jack Zipes.
       
       

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