My Rating ~ Five stars

5-gold-stars

RELEASED: 3 September 2018

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Format: Hardback

Pages: 118

RRP: AU$24.99

Source: Received from Allen & Unwin in exchange for an honest review

Blurb

Renowned girl hero and feisty author Susannah McFarlane presents an illustrated collection of ’tilted’ fairytales featuring girls with smarts.

Feisty: typically describes one who is relatively small, lively, determined and courageous.

Girls can rescue themselves – just watch Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Thumbelina create their own happily ever afters in this beautiful and emboldening bedtime book.

A glorious treasury for young girls – and boys – featuring artwork from four leading Australian illustrators: Beth Norling, Claire Robertson, Lucinda Gifford and Sher Rill Ng.

Review

Many thanks to Allen and Unwin for providing me with this copy of Fairytales for Feisty Girls in exchange for an honest review.

This stunningly illustrated children’s book paints some of our favourite fairytales in a new light, where the girls save themselves. Rapunzel is a dab hand at building things and figures out how to escape the tower on her own. Red Riding Hood is wonderfully intelligent and keeps her own botanical journal – the real reason she kept wandering from the path into the woods. Cinderella loves working on her farm and rescuing animals. Her ball gown has woodland animals embroidered into it (I was a little jealous, I want one of those gowns for myself!) and, through conversation, the prince and her discover they have common interests to discuss. Cinderella also challenges his thinking about doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done’.

The girls in these stories were portrayed as not only brave and resourceful, but kind and friendly as well. Something that sometimes gets a little lost when talking about girls being feisty. I love that the author showed girls can easily be all of these things and more at any time. Showing our softer side does not make us any less courageous or independent.

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and I especially enjoyed the fact that many of our favourite characters were shown as people of colour. This will be a book that will take pride of place on my young daughter’s bookshelf for many years to come.

I am honoured that Susannah McFarlane has agreed to answer a few interview questions for me about her book. Watch this space, because I will be posting her answers here in the next few weeks!