Not One Damsel in Distress: Heroic Girls From World Folklore, written by Jane Yolen, reviewed by Anneliese White

Summary: Originally published in 2000, and republished again in 2018 with two additional folk stories, “Not One Damsel in Distress: Heroic Girls from World Folklore,” explores fifteen folktales that feature women heroes (not heroines, or sheroes, but strong women heroes!). Yolen compiled this collection for young girls, especially her granddaughters, who unlike her as a child, could have a book that represents strong women, who use weapons and/or their wit to fight peril. Featured are a collection of stories from all livable continents of the world including Niger, Germany, Argentia, China, Scotland, Greece, Romania, the United States, Poland, Japan, France, England, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan. Not only does it give young readers a varying scope of world cultures, it shows them women heroes come in numerous variations, giving them a range of champions to identify with. It is a beautiful and well put together collection, and I especially enjoyed enough representation of stories from the Middle East and Asia, which may be especially new to American readers.

Straight Talk for Librarians: School libraries’ non-fiction collection is often lacking, and this title is a perfect purchase for the folklore section. It has such a diverse collection of stories that readers will feel transported across the globe and will savor each hero. Yolen perfectly pieced this collection together to show that girl champions come in many forms, from princesses to warriors to average girls. This title has so many lesson possibilities with folk tales, studies on individual foreign nations, and of course bravery and courage. Notes on the stories at the end of the book fantastically explain the origin and variations of each story. My only criticism is I wish there were more illustrations, and that those illustrations were in color. In an open letter to Jane Yolen at the end, her daughter and granddaughters perfectly sum up that they in fact, did not need this book because they already know girls have the power to be heroes, but that boys need this book even more so they know that girls can be heroes too.