Not One Damsel in Distress

Book Review

Not One Damsel in Distress World Folktales for Strong Girls

Yolen, Jane. Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls. San Diego: Silver Whistle, 2000.

This collection of stories includes folk tales from all around the world. The book has thirteen retold tales that introduce strong, brave, female heroes. The stories are Atalanta the Huntress (Greece), Nana Miriam (Niger), Fitcher’s Bird (Germany), The Girl and the Puma (Argentina), Li Chi Slays the Serpent (China), and Brave Woman Counts Coup (United States/ White River Sioux), Pretty Penny (United States/ Ozark Mountains), Burd Janet (Scotland), Mizilca (Romania), The Pirate Princess (Poland/Jewish), The Samurai Maiden (Japan), Bradamante (France), and Molly Whuppie (England).

One of the best parts of the book is the beginning, which is titled “An Open Letter to My Daughter and Granddaughters”. Here, Yolen sets the tone for the book, explaining that girls can he heroes too. As a female that grew up with all brothers, she talks about how she never knew stories with strong female characters. All of the heroes in the books were males. While researching for a novel, she discovered folk tales of female heroes. She uses the word hero purposely, saying that “heroines sound like lesser or minor heroes”. This book retells these folktales about heroes, and each hero is a woman. She also mentions how the stories were not only in folklore, but were a real part of history. This is powerful because it gives young girls the strong female role models that they need, and will be able to see that there were strong women in history. To give the stories more authenticity, the last few pages are titled “Notes on the Stories”. Here, background is given to each story, with historical references and information that prove that these stories are real legends from all over the globe.

The worldliness aspect of the book adds to how beneficial it is for young readers. Not only does it reverse the negative female stereotype of a “damsel in distress” by telling the tales of powerful, brave and smart, the book also presents pieces of cultures from all over the world.

Although there is some violence within the book, it is important to note that it is within the folklore genre. The amount of violence is appropriate for the genre as well as intended age level. Additionally, it adds to the strength and bravery of the female heroes. Although there are not many pictures, there is at least one black and white illustration for each story, and they show the women in the most crucial part of her journey.